Topo Canada V4 Free Download
Sebastian Thorndike
Several years ago, I bought Topo Canada maps from Garmin. Since that time I bought a Mac and have no idea how to load the maps so I can put them on my GPS. I have already d/n Map Install, but am not sure how to use it as there are no instructions. Has anyone else run into this?
Thankfully I dont have Windows on my computer now do I have access to a Windows computer. :-) I have Basecamp on my Mac but how can I get the map files into it? It's not copy protected so that should make it easier. Can I just copy the img files over?
Not sure if you can do that or not. Not sure how the files are stored on the CD. If they could be copied off the CD and into a folder Basecamp knows about then yes. If not then you may have to forgo using those maps. I think Garmin keeps that stuff pretty locked down so people can't easily distribute the maps to be used on multiple devices. On the bright side there are allot of good free topo maps.
Most of the maps download with an installer some are just the map files. Those that are just the map files will work on any system. Just open them up through Basecamp. Most of those that have an installer are Windows only but some have Mac installers. Here is a direst link to the Canada maps.
Quite a few of the free maps are already available in the Mac format, and in my experience the map makers are pretty receptive to doing the conversion if you ask nicely. If your Garmin map disk is old enough that it doesn't include the Mac format maps you should at least try contacting Garmin to see if they would send you a new disk. The conversion is easy, but if you don't have acces to a Windows machine available it can't hurt to ask.
Since you say several years, I will assume you mean Topo Canada previous to v4. I have Topo Canada v4, and the Mac installer is right there on the CD. It puts Basecamp on your system and that's all you really need. MapInstall is useful for transferring maps to your GPS and Road Trip is also useful for 2D map views, waypoint management.
If you don't have Windows on your Mac you can use VirtualBox to temporarily run Windows in a virtual machine. Virtualbox is free but you'll need to get Windows somewhere and install it there. But it does mean you can technically convert older maps to .gmap format without having to have a Windows /computer/ just Windows itself. Virtualbox is a bit less of an impact on your Mac than Boot Camp is. I am speaking from the experience of using an Intel Mac - as that's what I am using for my primary computer.
Are there issues with older versions of the 1000K series? I have TOPO USA 1000K but it is version 2. When converted to the older maps work in BaseCamp or do you need RoadTrip? What is the difference with them? Looks like BaseCamp is updated more often.
We've mapped every hill and valley for your next great adventure. This map covers the finer details of the outdoors, including terrain contours, topo elevations, summits, routable roads and trails, rivers, lakes and geographical points.
Topographic maps are suitable for a wide variety of applications, from emergency management, urban planning, surveying, resource development, to camping, canoeing, hunting and fishing to name a few. Why? Because they represent the earth's features accurately and to scale, on a two-dimensional surface. This section provides information to facilitate the use of topographic maps, and also how to obtain paper and digital maps.
Topographic maps produced by NRCan conform to the National Topographic System (NTS) of Canada. They are available in two standard scales: 1:50 000 and 1:250 000. Each map in this system has a unique number, which is a combination of numbers and letters. The area covered by a given mapsheet is determined by its location in Canada. To understand the numbering of these maps, refer to the National Topographic System Index Maps.
Official topographic, road, and trail data from National Resources Canada. Digitized from scanned quads, these detailed, easy-to-read maps include comprehensive stream, lake, and vegetation information, providing everything you need to plan adventures of any shape or size.
I am currently planning a 2010 trip that will feature about 1,250 miles through the Canada, mostly in the Yukon but I may also pass through corners of British Columbia and/or the Northwest Territories. Obviously I will need to map out this portion of my trip, and I was hoping to find a TOPO!-like software package for the task.
I recently spent almost a day researching Canadian topographical map products, and below I am reporting my findings in the hope that I can save others some time, frustration, and expense. I describe the products roughly in order of their functionality, from the most basic to the most powerful/full-featured.
I am aware that this list does not include every mapping software product available for Canada, but I believe it includes the bulk of them. If you think a product should be included in this list, send me an email telling me about it and I will update this page.
2- The CTI has made all of its maps available via FTP through its GeoGratis portal. There is no cost for or restrictions on the maps. This option would work for a short trip: only a few maps would need to be downloaded; they could be easily stitched together in Photoshop; and a new map (or two) that covers the entire trip could quickly be printed. For a long trip, however, this would be a very tedious process.
This package includes a proprietary map browser, Fugawi Map Viewer, as well as digital scans of the CTI maps for each province, sold separately. Note: Map packages for the territories are not available. At just $50 this package is less expensive than TopoTracker or Etopo, but the map browser is not as robust or fully-featured as Memory-Map Discoverer, and personally I would probably be willing to invest in the more powerful software. With the Fugawi Map Viewer, the user can only do the following three things: pan seamlessly across the map images, print selected areas, and search a geographical index.
Outdoor enthusiasts: Garmin has mapped every hill and valley for your next great adventure. This mapping product covers the finer details of the outdoors, including terrain contours, topo elevations, summits, routable roads and trails, rivers, lakes and geographical points.
West Canada Topo Coverage - Includes topographic detail of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Also includes full coverage of Wood Buffalo National Park and the Queen Charlotte Islands.
It's winter. I daydream of trips in various areas. Using Google/Apple/Bing maps is frustrating. Openstreet has trails if you are near civilization, but names are weak. None of them have coordinate overlays (Lat/Long, UTM)
The above is a screenshot of Open street map showing the SW corner of Cree Lake, SK, with the Brustad River running down from the north. This is about a 10-15 km view. Not a useful level of information. No names. No portage trails.
I have used google earth on the desktop. No water names to speak of. Few feature names. No boundaries. No real contour lines. No trails. Roads are a matter of being long skinny clearings, and vanish in heavy vegetation. Watersheds once you get below about 25 feet wide aren't conclusive. Since it's aerial photos you get situations where it is very difficult to visualize what you are looking at. This is especially true for steep terrain, where the shadows can lie part way up the next mountain.
c80f0f1006