HOLY COW! TOPO 24k + Birdseye = Awesome

Former Member over 11 years ago

I just purchased 24k topo for Southwest and when layered with Birdseye it makes my Birdseye views 3d, nearly just like you get in Google Earth. I had no idea it would do that. AND, maybe i am just lucky, but nearly everywhere we ride, the majority of the trails are included and of course Routable.

(Note to Garmin Marketing: If I had known that 24k TOPO was going to make my birdseyes 3D, I would have purchased a long time ago.)

I have been using birdseye and third party topos for a few years now. Routing was not possible with my 3rd party maps, and of course our desert and mountain runs were not routable with City Navigator North America. When I purchased 24K Topo I really did not expect many of our trails to show up, but I was pleasantly surprised.

So now I have Google Earth type 3D view AND Routable trails. I am tickled to death. Thanks Garmin.

0 atlas_cached over 11 years ago

where in the Southwest are you? More to the point, what area are you surprised to see so many trails available on the map?

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

I am from the Phoenix Arizona area. We use trails almost exclusively for ATV riding, so that might give you some idea as to the trail types.

I was surprised to find a good representation of our usual trails in the 24k Topo at:
BumbleBee Cleator area
Sheridan Mountain Smith Mesa OHV Trail System
Munds Park was extremely well represented
Rolls OHV Area - The trails in this area follow long washes and ridges that run north and south. Going from east to west or vice versa requires long treks north or south to find short latitudinal trails over ridges. As a test here for routable trails I asked basecamp to build a route between two east and west waypoints. To my amazement it created routes almost identical to the tracks we previously recorded.

The Boulder OHV area was not represented at all. That was a surprise in the negative sense. Boulder is a well maintained riding area and has fairly good trail documentation on its own.

The areas mentioned above are a sampling of areas we ride that I checked for representation as soon as I loaded the 24K Topo. (kid with a new toy syndrome) My expectations were pretty low due to the nature of trail mapping in general: They change a lot, they disappear due to non use, nature itself changes them, the governing bodies seem to make changes constantly, etc.

As earlier stated, overall I am quite pleased.

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Hello - that is interesting input for those of us who are trying to determine the best ATV routing situation. IN the meantime, however, did you ever have trouble downloading the Birdseye imagery? I cannot get any size/scale image to actually complete downloading without errors? Any advice on that issue in particular given your experience.

I know I have a good network connection as I have been downloading other files from the internet and other GPS sites.

Thanks!

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

In my experience the Birdseye server is not completely reliable. Most of the time it is reliable, but it has bouts of stubbornness. There have been times where it will only allow me to download small 5 meg segments at a time. Other times I can download the max segment size (my experience is there its a 275 meg max) one right after the other with no issues. Other times I cant download anything. Usually if I am having troubles, within 24-48 hours its cleared up.

I have also experienced what you describe: errors after the download has started. Try again in 24 hours is my best advice. I realize if you are preparing for a ride later today, that does not help. I have been frustrated within that same scenario myself.

good luck, ZBEAR-Hopps

0 atlas_cached over 11 years ago

Thank yo for your reply, Randy!

PM Sent.