Libre Map Project

[hambone]

Free 7.5 min topographic USGS maps of all 50 states! How can you go wrong?
http://libremap.org/

[hambone]

Useful! Thank you Hambone of th Past.

[BellePlaine]

Thank you!

[hambone]

I like to zoom in on an area of study with Windows Image Viewer, do a screen print, paste it into Paint. That way I can add abandoned trails etc. Lo-teck.

[BellePlaine]

I'm envious of the campsites that the Pacific Northwesterners visit which include a drive down a wooded trail. I want to find those kinds of trails/camping sites in my area. Using the Libre maps, I found some interested prospects. Thanks again Hambone for posting the link.

[hambone]

Oh sure! It's been moldering for a while out here.
Usually public lands are the best bet for finding intact forests. Possibly state lands too, but that's often a hodge-podge.
You will probably have the best luck the further north you go. And along the Mississippi. And 10,000 other places, but mostly lakes. Even cool private landowners can provide fantastic experiences, but very hit or miss. Wooded Wonderland in Galena, we got lucky there.
When you can swing it, come on out NW for some tall trees and damn fine hoppy beer. And a bonus: a bear won't eat you! (unlike Soviet Russia etc.) We'll take ya someplace special.

Here's a good one for wilderness:
http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fus ... w&state=AK

[ruckman101]

I love Creative Commons.


neal

[turk]

While the PNW is a gold-mine of easy to reach outdoor beauty, they also have their downside. The weather is a big one. I think there is a gold-mine of outdoor beauty here in the midwest, in all directions. It just takes a little more investigating, a little more curiosity, and a little longer drive; usually all three, but I should also add, a little more heartiness, depending on what season it is here. And I don't think I even needed to point this out to who it really matters to. It's just for the less discriminating among us. Sometimes, it's right in front of our noses, but we are looking too hard.

[ruckman101]

Yeah, it rains. Makes things green and pretty, and when we get good weather days, like today, they are appreciated rather than taken for granted.

neal

[turk]

You have a few nice seasons. We have a few too. Wanna fight about it? If you wanna get Jungian, all the seasons in both locations are for you to enjoy for what they are. Everywhere is cool. Anywhere is dope. Nowhere is bogish. I like cold weather, as much as the hot steamy shite. I like rainy days. Sunny is cool to see the crowd pleased. Grab a may-fly by its abdomen gently in the spring. Then let it flutter to perch on yer nose. Reap as you sow.

[Westy78]

Really Turk? You take a completely innocent thread and turn it into an argument? Truly douchey move. Don't you have better things to do?

[turk]

Really Turk? You take a completely innocent thread and turn it into an argument? Truly douchey move. Don't you have better things to do?

What did you disagree with? One can't find stuff in the midwest comparable to the PNW? I think it's as good in a different way. Some things are better here. Some are better there. A Native American friend of mine once told me about his experience in the PNW, how he got so sick of the color green after days through it, it was too much of one thing. That's a perspective of one person over beers in a pub. Is it an argument? I guess. Who cares? To say it's better there is an argument too. So what? I think both places have their ups and downs. I pointed out something about here. It takes a little more to find some cool places. But they are out there. Plus, we get more seasonal change, and wildlife is more easily observed than in the Cascades and Columbia Plateau, only from experience! I am as exuberant about here as I am about there. They're both awesome. I will heartily continue arguing it. So what?

[Westy78]

A complete miss of the point. No surprise. Not everything has to be a "debate" as I'm sure you would call it.

[turk]

Yeah, right. No one is debating this. It's a fact. Left out but needed to be said. The PNW is "God's Country". So is everywhere else, in different ways. And yep, you can find more camp spots to get to on wooded lanes then you can imagine, along with a lot of other stuff.

[deschutestrout]

Yes, the Pacific Northwest is a wonderful place to explore. Many opportunities for camping, hiking, etc.

But all those in other parts of the country have equally beautiful and unique opportunities too! Check maps, talk with others on this wonderful forum, you'll find some neat stuff! Some great fun and adventure can be had in even questionable weather conditions. And please, share your discoveries with us all!

There...just re-wrote Turk's initial post ... I'm hoping this is what he "meant" to convey