Also, as a nostalgia fix for me it was worth the $30 - I have developed quite an attachment to some of the USGS maps I've had for over 40 years.Ĭons: Not routable, USGS maps can be dated. Puts the same paper map I have in my hand into my GPS unit. Pros: Provides a USGS map view which I like for mountain terrain. I prefer to use my nuvi for in-city navigating because of the larger, landscape-oriented screen but it is handy to have available in the 62st. Pros: Good city street coverage, routable.Ĭons: “City-oriented”, not outdoors.
GPS FILE DEPOT FREE CUSTOM GARMIN PC
Nice to have on a PC to use with MapSource and BaseCamp because you can easily create a route on trails and then view the elevation profile.Ĭons: Expensive, trail coverage spotty, snowfields and glaciers not delineated (That means I buy some of these things not just to address functional needs but rather because I can be obsessive.)Ĭons: Pretty useless to me, should have saved $ and just gone with the 62s I am also kind of a “mapping techno-weenie” – I have done cartographic work in the past (for NOAA) and in my work as a s/w developer I wrote the navigation s/w for what I will call a “fast flying aircraft”. I use this unit primarily for hiking, biking, and climbing – I am not a geocacher. I have 5 Garmin units dating back to the 12XL. I should note my use and background because that colors what I like and dislike wrt the map products I use. Here is what I have on my 62st for the state of Washington and my personal view of the pros and cons. The free maps are so inferior I don't even have them on my GPS' and rarely open them in MapSource. I'd be curious, at some time in the future, if you'd post what maps you have and the respective Pros & Cons.įor Colo, I have the Garmin 24K Topos and Above the Timber topos, basically I only use the AtT unless I want to use the Garmin routing. Nice supplement/option to the others I have downloaded. They are quite nice - I went ahead and bought the Wash state map. Followed your advice and checked these out.