News

Pages: Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Waypoints in the Great Smoky Mountains

Sunday, January 20th, 2008

Manual CoverHiker Great Smoky Mountains GPS Data Pack
Waypoints & track GPX data for trails, trail intersections, backcountry camps, summits, gaps, and many other locations for backcountry navigation.
Download: 36 megabyte
Format: GPX & PDF
Pieces: Map Guide, GPS Manual, Gazetteer, Data
Ownership: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NPS

Great Smoky Mountains GPS Data Pack: $6

Our data pack contains 16 GPX files, companion gazetteer, and historic topographic map with 1-minute GPS grid. The product is offered only as a 36 megabyte download, which includes all documentation, maps, and data. Buyers have free access to new releases and updates.
(more…)


Cumberland Gap Trip Planner

Sunday, January 20th, 2008

Trip Planner Great Backcountry Trips at Cumberland Gap
This webpage with zoomable map shows awesome backcountry trips in color-coded loops, all of which use some segment of the Ridge Trail. Trips are organized as weekend excursions with suggested camping and water access. The map is a simplified version of the full topographic trail guide found here. The full map also contains the useful elevation profiles for trails.

The page also has links to audio about recreation in Cumberland Gap. The audio is part of the free audio driving tour we produced entitled, The First Frontier Audio Driving Tour. The entire tour can be download for free at firstfrontier.org. The audio was part of a grant provided by Tour Southern and Eastern Kentucky (tourseky.com).

Hiker Hiker Cumberland Gap Trail Guide
Ownership: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, NPS
Google to trailheads

Cumberland Gap Trail Map: $12

Great Smoky Mountains Weather Station

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

WeatherWe introduce our new weather page for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This site aggregates the best weather data and maps for the national park and surrounding mountain area. Maps are from the National Weather Service (NWS) and composited with the national park boundary for easy location. The data is fed from real-time NWS observations and watches, warnings, & advisories.

We think this is the best page for your weather needs if you plan to visit the smokies or long to be there now. For example, the map at left shows the visible satellite of the region centered on the park, shown in the yellow polygon. Cloud cover is good to consider for photographic trips. If the map is dark, well…you’ll need a flash or long exposure.

Other weather information and tidbits we include are links to the official NWS forecast page, which is an excellent site, and webcams for Look Rock and Purchase Knob. We have a link to the high & low temperatures, precipitation, and snow depth for the Sugarland Center, Newfound Gap, Cades Cove, Oconaluftee, & Mt. LeConte.

You can visit the page here: http://www.outrageGIS.com/weather/grsm. We also constructed a page that has current radar, visible satellite, and weather statements here.


NACIS Conference 2007

Sunday, October 14th, 2007

Lunch-time excursions to Forest Park. That’s how I spent my free time at the North American Cartographic Information Society conference in St. Louis. While it was exciting to see new maps and presentations about cartographic history and even making maps, I had to visit a prominent swath of green on my St. Louis Map.

Enter Forest Park; an urban park established after the Civil War and used as the site for the 1904 World’s Fair. Today you can freely walk along a sculpted archipelago of scenic lakes & historic monuments, freely visit an art museum and fantastically intimate zoo. I wish my city had a Forest Park.

Some photos: http://www.outragegis.com/pixel/071009_14-ForestParkMO
note: these photos were shot with a camera phone, so at best they’re distinctive.


GEO or UTM? Graticule or Grid?

Saturday, September 15th, 2007

We’re developing our latest map for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and we had a question. As a hiker and user of maps, do you prefer a detailed GEO graticule (you know…the degrees, minutes, seconds…) or do you prefer the military grid, UTM, which is in meters?

We have both on most of our maps, but which would you use most?

Of course the graticule would be most useful with a GPS unit in default configuration. If you choose a GEO graticule, do your prefer units in decimal minutes (e.g., 36° 45.35′) or decimal degrees (e.g., 84.2546°).