CalTopo - Backcountry Mapping Evolved
If that does not come up right then you need to use one of the visitor maps options on the right pull down menu.
Great site! I could spent hours playing with all the features.
If a person is able to write down the lat and long they convert the degree, minute decimal that the Forest Service uses to the degree, decimal system on these maps then its just a matter of scrolling through the map to get the correct position. The availability of the Forest Service topos is fantastic. The Forest Service topos with private land boundaries, forest boundary, road numbers, trail numbers, ranger district boundaries and other features used to be produced by the Forest Service themselves. These maps were not available to the public and sometimes we would run out of quadrangle and have to wait until the next printing. The decision for the USGS and Forest Service to jointly produce the quadrangles that have National Forest land on them was made to reduce costs. They are available for the public as well.
There is a disadvantage when the legal description is given (Township, Range, Section, 1/4 Section). The visitor maps are often cut off at the margins or a National Park map is overlaid and the township/range labels are not available. When I hear a dispatch I'm able to memorize the township, range, section and quarter section by just remembering the numbers, e.g. 3 - 27 - 14 - SE (Southeast). I can't remember the lat, long with the decimals very well. If I'm sitting at a desk and hear the dispatch in time I can have a notepaper and pen ready. I then need a calculator to do the degree format conversion. That conversion has to be made while a lot of command and tactical traffic might be heavy.
On the other hand, looking up the legal description on a map involves having a map that is feet across and dealing with all that paper is a pain. However, if I'm away from my desk or don't have notepaper handy I can't use the lat, long system and have to deal with all the paper.
I'm going to try this site as the advantage of not having to deal with all the paper is enough for me to try it.
Thanks for passing this site along. I'm a map freak and didn't know about it.
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