Help with Nat Geo TOPO!

I am getting ready to purchase some mapping software.
I have decided to go with TOPO! (unless someone changes my mind) but I am trying to choose between the Backroads Explorer 3D software, and the TOPO State Series.
The Backroads lists at 49.99.
If I go with the State Series it will cost me 200.00 since I will have to purchase both N&S Carolina, and TN&KY at 99.00 each.

I don't mind spending the money if needed, I must be able to work in the highest level of detail possible, and 1:24 000 is a must. I could not determine from their website if the Backroads Explorer 3D software had that level of detail.

If you have used either please give me some input.

Thanks guys.

My only experience is using the TOPO machine at a local map store. I assume it is the same software. The TOPO machine lets the user choose the area to map regardless of whether it overlaps from one USGS quad to another. It has a little picture that shows 9 of the adjoining quads and in red, the area of the map itself, so you know where your map came from. The scale I used was 1:24000 for a part of Yosemite. The map is printed on waterproof paper and is about 13x18. It is a USGS map with all of the details and cost $10.

The map has a fuzzy low resolution look that you get with a digitized image printed on a color inkjet printer, kind of like looking at a tv screen from about 6 inches away, but you can still read everything, even the small print. It's a little hard to read when the contour lines are really close together, though.

REI has these machines and I think you can order maps online. It may be worth it to see one in person before deciding on what software to buy.

Thanks Tom D.
Thats how my prints from Google Earth look, of course that's just a digital picture, not a map. I have not tried setting my printer to "photo", and using photo paper though. I haven't used a machine yet, or printed any maps at home.
So far all my maps have come from USGS, and I map seal them.

That may help. In comparison, Tom Harrison's maps are also printed on waterproof paper, but use a different printing process-maybe a high res offset process of some kind. Whatever it is, they are crystal clear. I have looked at both under a photo magnifiying loop and there is a big difference. Not to say the TOPO maps are unusable,because that isn't the case, but that the other ones are just easier to read. Unfortunately,the Harrison maps are only available for parts of CA and the scale is 1:125000. He is one of the few, if not the only private mapmaker in CA.

I'd bet Bill knows the difference between TOPO and the other program.

I've been using Google Earth to search the upper sections of streams that I want to fish, and locating blue holes in areas that are not close to a trail.
With my cursor over the spot I like, I write down the coords and also print it out in 3D with the tilt on. I use the shading feature to help bring out the contour.
This makes it easier to plan my trip, using the 3D picture from Google and transferring that info to my 7.5 quad from USGS.
Of course it is not exact, I have found Google Earth to be off a good bit with their lat/lon coords, and the streambed configurations are not a constant either.
So I'm looking to "tighten up" my research.

If you go to the USGS website, it says you can download topo maps for free, but I am not sure how it works. Look for the "map locater" and the free toolbar. I haven't tried it yet, but I can see the maps.

Yeah, I've checked that out. The USGS is using Google Earth themselves, but they don't have many features. All they have is zoom in/out, left/right, up/down. You can switch between satellite and road map. Really stripped down compared to Google Earth.

Backroads and the State series are complementary, not substitutes for each other. Backroads covers the whole US at 1:100k scale, so you can get a good look at the area without the State maps. The State series goes to 1:24K (1:25k in some cases when the USGS in their bureaucratic wisdom has published a few quads in metric, usually preliminary issues of a quad - but it does get confusing to find adjacent quads in metric and ft for elevations, or in 1:24k scale next to one in 1:25k, or sometimes in the NAD83 datum in the midst of an area in NAD27 - we have one single quad in the SF area in NAD83, the rest in NAD27). NatGeo has done a good job in scanning the paper maps to adjust for these anomalies.

The USGS is actually using NatGeo scans for the topographic maps in their digital form, as does Google Earth. But Google Earth adds satellite (Ikonos) and aerial photography, in addition to a proprietary line-graph map for the simple streets and roads maps, and their own trucks to drive by your house for the "street-level" views (the photos of my house are pre-bulldozer, but from earlier this summer). USGS is currently looking at multiple commercial vendors for various map products, though the engraved maps will apparently still be done in-house (at least according to the folks at the Menlo facility, just up the road from me).

I like Topo! Our SAR team uses it to print 1:24000 maps for search areas. There are MANY print features and the software is compatible with our eTrex GPS devices, enabling us to plot where we have searched. Also, you can draw a route and print it for reference.

Addition to above:

1:24000 is as large as large a scale as you can go with this software. likely, this is the reason for the slightly blurred edges when maps are printed. Any time you zoom on a pic.(of anything) some sharpness is lost. As you retract, the maps are sharper when printed. The resolution is not so bad though, that you should not consider this software.

Additionally, keep in mind that printing maps on waterproof paper on some home printers, does NOT necessarily make them waterproof. Some printer inks are not compatible with glossy or plasticized papers, and some inks themselves are not waterproof. A few drops of water and you have nothing more than a print that looks like it was made on a spirograph. A quality map case is always recommended. Test this before you go out into the wilderness with your new maps.

"The real world is no place for experimentation."
- Unknown

I think as far as the map I actually take in the woods, I will stick with my full size, mail order USGS quads. When properly sealed I have found them quite durable.
I was looking to use the software for planning, and in conjunction with my GPSR. However I'm being told that TOPO! is not compatible with my Garmin E-trex.

trouthunter -
ummm, in what way is Topo! not compatible with your eTrex? As far as I know, the only eTrex that is not compatible is the basic unit that has no computer interface. Topo! can read and send waypoints, routes, and tracks with all other eTrex models, including the latest "H" versions. You cannot load maps from Topo! to any Garmin unit - only Garmin proprietary software can up and down load maps to and from Garmin GPSRs.

But I transfer the waypoint, route, and track information between the set of eTrex loaners (the ones I have from Garmin for my land navigation courses) and Topo! all the time, as well as my GPSMap 60CS, 60CSx, and 12Map, and the various other models that students bring with them to the course.

You can draw a route on Topo!, create a waypoint/route list from the route (just click the "create GPS Route" on the pull-down), then transfer it to the eTrex (again, with a click of the menu item). And then print the map on waterproof paper, so the paper map and the eTrex have the same information. Again, I do this all the time, and have done so for over 10 years.

Thanks Bill S.,
That makes me feel better, I was told today, just briefly, that there was a problem loading maps. But the info you just gave cleared things up for me.
I have never used a GPSR loaded with maps.
I have used my Garmin on backpacking trips for a few years, but I have not used it in conjunction with any software.
So this should be a fun thing for me to learn, and I think the ability to draw a route with the software and load it into the GPSR, along with a printed map will be useful to me.
I suspect I have been doing a few things the hard way, and I would like to spend the next few months working on nav. skills. I did get in touch with an orienteering club in NC and hopefully I can get up there this fall.