TOPO US 100K inaccurate; can't print screen since 4.2.4 update

Under the "Help" menu in BaseCamp, there is a report map error tool. BaseCamp has no control over the data within the map, it is simply a display of the map.

I am unable to reproduce your screen shot issue. Alt + Print Screen produced a pasteable screen shot for me.

As to printing maps, that is something I will need to check on. I am not at Garmin for terribly long, so I am not sure of the policy.

The US Topo 100K map roads and POI's are known to be inaccurate in places because it is a topo map not a road one. Even the roads/POI's in Topo 24K maps (what I use in my Oregon 450) aren't perfect. However 24K topo roads/trails are routable unlike those in Topo 100K.

If you want the best roads maps City Navigator should be your choice. Ironically these contain some topo data which no Garmin unit or software currently uses to my knowledge.

All that said the contours in Garmin's topo maps seem pretty accurate--at least where I live (in mountains). Also relying on anything but actual marked trails around here can be hazardous to your health. A lifetime local died recently here because they were "off trail" and thought they were invincible. They weren't. If you fall hundreds of feet it doesn't matter how well you know the area.

Thank you for replying. For some reason, my Print Scrn key is working today, so I will send a screen shot using the Help menu.

The US Topo 100K map roads and POI's are known to be inaccurate in places because it is a topo map not a road one. Even the roads/POI's in Topo 24K maps (what I use in my Oregon 450) aren't perfect. However 24K topo roads/trails are routable unlike those in Topo 100K.

If you want the best roads maps City Navigator should be your choice. Ironically these contain some topo data which no Garmin unit or software currently uses to my knowledge.

All that said the contours in Garmin's topo maps seem pretty accurate--at least where I live (in mountains). Also relying on anything but actual marked trails around here can be hazardous to your health. A lifetime local died recently here because they were "off trail" and thought they were invincible. They weren't. If you fall hundreds of feet it doesn't matter how well you know the area.

Thank you for your reply. I don't buy the excuse that the topo can't show local roads accurately because its a topo and not a road map. A map is a map, either show things where they are or don't show them at all. Not very useful when the streets are shown 1000 feet from where they actually are. I used to have a Garmin GPSMap 60cx and don't recall ever seeing streets overlap a hiking area on the topo that was used. Unfortunately, that unit died on me and Garmin, in their infinite wisdom, would not allow me to install my old map product, which I purchased, onto my new GPS. I do have City Navigator and find it to be accurate, so far.

I don't buy the excuse that the topo can't show local roads accurately because its a topo and not a road map.

Ok let me put it another way.

Garmin does not make their own maps. They buy map data, from various sources depending upon the country etc, and then put it in their own proprietary format for use on their products. You can look at the copyright data for any map product to see where the data came from. For example in the US street maps originate from NAVTEQ. My bet is that all major GPS manufacturers do the same.

In the case of US topo's the data comes from the US government. Since topo data doesn't change often (why would it?) the map data is probably old--perhaps decades old. I bet the roads are off in the original data.

Now Garmin already releases roads maps every 3 months or so in the US and Europe. I've seen two US topo 100K map products released in the last 12 years.

Now in theory they could, with a lot of effort, incorporate road and topo data and release a new product every year or so. My guess is that the maps wouldn't sell well since many users have road and topo maps and the "new" topo wouldn't offer much.

Now I never seen a map, paper or digital, that was 100% accurate yet for some reason people expect the latter format to be perfect. I remember the days when I kept a Mapsco street map in my vehicle. Sometimes those were inaccurate.

We live in a world where people want everything

• Now!
  
• Perfect!
  
• At no cost!
  

Reality never has and never will work that way.

In the case of US topo's the data comes from the US government. Since topo data doesn't change often (why would it?) the map data is probably old--perhaps decades old. I bet the roads are off in the original data.

That used to be the case Stuart, but not anymore. Garmin recently updated the 100k topo (version 5) and it now has the same Navteq roads as their other products.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-trail-maps/topo/topo-us-100k/prod127633.html

Includes updated road content, by NAVTEQ (non-routable).

This is what you get on the newest "t models" like the Oregon 600t. But the OP has a 450t which includes the old maps you describe that are based on TIGER data from the Census Bureau. I have never seen the new 100k topo myself so I have no idea how much it's improved (I still have the old US Topo 2008, which I haven't looked at in years).

You can view the new 100k topo online here:
http://www8.garmin.com/cgi-bin/mapgen/webmap.cgi?p=185925633&l=0&u=0&v=0&cp=4B21D85AFEFD585A&z=0&w=600&h=450&d=2&rz=0&k=1&sc=1

As for the rest... well said! :D

For printing, have you tried capturing the screen with the snipping tool? There is also a free program called Gadwin Printscreen that I have found very handy.

That used to be the case Stuart, but not anymore. Garmin recently updated the 100k topo (version 5) and it now has the same Navteq roads as their other products.

Thanks. I wasn't aware of that. I use 24K Topo's myself although I too have Topo US 2008.

PS: The new Topo DVD is locked unlike the ones I have.

This product may be unlocked and used on 1 compatible device (to unlock, simply follow the instructions on the certificate that comes in the packaging). If you want to use this same map on subsequent devices, you must purchase a new map for each devic