Printable USGS Maps 

About to hike the narrows top down in Zion and I was looking for this video. I remembered it from years ago, thanks Ivan!

I wanted to circle back and let you know that I made a map for my last trip. It was a trip that required a decent bushwhack, so a good topo was essential. It all worked great! Also, I wanted to let you and your viewers know, I tried some of the waterproof laser paper like I suggested in a previous comment. I got the TerraSlate Paper 4 MIL 8.5" x 11" Waterproof Laser Printer/Copy Paper 25 Sheets from Amazon (no affiliation or compensation - just a happy customer). On a per-sheet basis, the stuff is stunningly expensive - around 64 US cents per page. However, it was completely waterproof in the tons of rain we had, the print never ran or smudged, and it was dang near indestructible. I indiscriminately stuffed/yanked it in and out of my pack several times a day, and it still looked almost pristine when I got home. After getting home, I tried to rip it with my hands for the fun of it....failed. If anyone is going into harsh conditions, I would highly recommend checking it or products like it out. It is worth the price, and with this method, you can make a great tool of a map.

I have been using this method for years of hunting. The only difference is to keep the map water proof I put maps on a piece of plywood and use spray clear lacquer on heavily then hang to dry. Can be folded for ease of storage. Great video and thank you 🙏

just found this out when i emailed Nat Geo about scale. these maps have been reformatted to 1:31,680 from 1:24,000 for easy printing. so for those that use map tools can use the maptools.com/product/UTM-MK tool. they have a bunch of other great stuff too. EDIT oh and for those asking about UTM/MGRS those blue marks on the sides of the map are UTM/MGRS all you have to do is get a straight ruler to draw the lines. EDIT2 the map of the state park near doesn't have UTM/MGRS lines but it has the labeled marks on the sides you need to connect with a ruler, however my town and surrounding areas i checked do have labeled UTM/MGRS lines.

For those that try this, the maps through nat geo are now 1:31,680 scale. I adapted a military protractor. Squares are about 1 and 3/32nd inches across. Cut one of the other scales on the protractor to that size and make a mark every 3.5 32nds. Use a really fine sharpie to mark them 1-10, laminate or tape so it doesn’t rub off. If theres 10 spaces and it fits the grid square you did it right. No idea if this will work but I’ll try it soon and update. Others have already mentioned the blue marks are MGRS You can buy one but I needed one fast and already had a few other protractors with scales

Great video. Thanks

Cool resource. Thanks for sharing

Great vid, easier than the confusing USGS site, thanks.

This is excellent. Thanks so much for making this. Liked, shared, and subbed.

Use to own an Epson R200 photo printer, it can print out oversized images to A4 sizes or what ever told to! Images had all the index marks on the edges how to stitch them together. Ink cartridges were easy to refill, back than they had no security chips. Printed some large images of famous painters on special papers, stitch it, looked good. Just my 2 cents! 👍😂

Another great video, thank you for making it. When I used to walk my guys home from preschool, one of them would hold a piece of paper, pretending he was using a map to guide himself. You know what else is amazing? In the UK, you can get world class topos in any bookstore, camping store, or stationary. They will have been updated some time in the last week or so, and have NATO military levels of detail.

***Read the fine print***, I went to the site downloaded the file and it gave me the maps. As I was trying to find my location, I realized a major freeway was missing (it wasnt built until the 1993), the map instead marked train tracks. The Map was Dated from 1981, this was downloaded 1-09-21, before you hike read when It was last revised!! They updated the declination, but not the map of the area.

Thank you.

Nice video, thanks! Out of curiosity, have you ever tried any of the Rite in the Rain laser printer paper? Here in the Southeast we get a lot of rain in the summer hiking season, and I was thinking of using this technique with it. It is pretty stunningly expensive (compared to regular laser printer paper), but if it works as well as their other stuff, may be worth a try. By the way, I had a hard time concentrating on the information given. Where you are filming is so incredibly beautiful, I was just staring at that. Hahaha

Where would you go to get those "big expensive maps of everything"

Ive played around with these a bit, and while they are a great resource. I have found that when piecing together large maps you will run into figment issues and the maps dont line up. This isn't really a problem if you can handle having multiple maps for a large location, but in my experience the area i wanted was smack dab in the center of 4 quadrants. Piecing them all together made a hodge-podge of gradeschool looking crud. Ill just have to buy a professional made map for that area. But none the less. It is a great resource should it fit your particular hike

The USGS base maps that NatGeo used for these are, in come cases, decades old. You can download current USGS maps for free from here: store.usgs.gov/map-locator

Really like your vids. Short and to the point. Looks like you are near SLO?

lived in santa maria..68-81,im in the free state of NV now

Ivan, what protractor and compass are you using for these maps?

Does anyone know if we can add a UTM Coordinate Layer to these National Geographic maps before printing?

Where can I access the same style maps but in “military” scale 1:25000 or 1:50000? This is what my protractor reads and most maps I find are 1:24000. I don’t know what the best solution is. Any help on this would be much appreciated!

so who will be buying the nat geo maps from their map stores if these are all freely available?

i know i am years late on this comment but I got to have a shirt like that one. where did you get it?

Can you get MGRS maps?

Wow great tip! I've used mytopo. Com for years but it gets expensive. Although there product is awesome. Can't wait to try this

Not available in AK

map seal by aqua seal

Are these the right scale?