Google Maps as a planning tool

[MikeRodenak]

I have been discovering the wonders of the Google Maps while planning out county points. The "Hybrid" feature that shows actual satellite images with current road maps is really helpful with some of the areas where private property and access are a concern. I can see which roads get me close and whether or not constructed improvements (i.e. someone's house) exist in the area. I can then switch to "terrain" to get topo information and find ridges and drainages I can follow to reach the summits.

Sometimes that sort of stuff is not visible from the road without a lot of driving around in circles seeing as you can't always see your entire route from the "trailhead". I don't know how current the Google Maps are, but this definitely helps with pre-planning to eliminate having to drive to certain areas. Especially in my county where several peaks border exclusive gated communities with $10 million homes.

Thanks John for linking to these maps on the peak pages, it will come in handy for sure!

[DSunwall]

Google maps are pretty good, especially with the terrain feature, and the fact that LOJ can link to them.

Live.com maps has more current photos, at this time anyway, I'm sure google will update their photo's some year. They do not have a terrain feature yet though I don't think. They do have "Birdseye" for some Front range areas which is pretty cool at times.

With TopoFusion you can toggle between the USGS topo maps and aerial photos. They have a choice of many types of Aerials, Landsat, and the most detailed with color Urban photos. You can use your GPS with Topofusion, it has waypoints and tracks, which is an advantage over Google Maps.

No road overlay in TopoFusion which is nice with the Google maps. Guess I'm ramblin this morning.