Topo Maps

OCTOBER 2025: The issue with being unable to download new maps to my device has been fixed. when trying to download new maps, I would get an error message saying the map wasn’t available for download or something like that. I sent an email to the app developer last night, and six hours later he had responded and said the problem was fixed. And it really was! After all these years, this is still the best topographic map app out there for use in conjunction with hiking and exploring.

I'm a land surveyor and this app comes in extremely useful. The quads are pretty well registered and the contours are quite accurate. The biggest downside is that many of the usgs quads are not current.

I’ve been using these topo maps for years - pretty much everywhere I go I download the local area with these maps if I’m going to be out and about at all. Also, where I live I like to explore the back country, often overland with no trails or roads or on old two-track roads hours away from anywhere with cell service. These maps have been invaluable for offline use. I would say, however, that the most interesting use has been the fact that the old WGS84 took maps this app uses show a huge amount of things that modern maps omit. Old structures, mines, prospects, old roads, trails, and miscellaneous items that have been forgotten by all - including modern cartographers - are shown on these maps. A lot of these old things are still around, and are still visible even on satellite maps, but if you were only using modern (non-satellite) maps you would never know they were there many times. I love detail, and I hate how modern maps ignore so many different features that are in fact extant. These maps are perfect in ways so many other newer maps fail. A few things I wish it had though: 1. The ability to add kml files, including tracks and shapes etc. 2. A mode where the gps would still track but not force you to be centered on your position. The second tap just shows where you were when you tapped it the second time. 3. The ability to switch between a height map and the gps elevation. The app currently uses a hidden elevation map (the same thing it uses for the line of sight feature) to tell you your elevation, not the gps. There can often be pretty drastic differences between your actual elevation and the elevation it shows. I’ve seen these when I’m flying my plane a number of times. 4. All of the above without a subscription and add on features you have to pay for as well (like the new app).