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Steve, the map author of NorthWest TOPO would prefer that you post on the switchbacks.com  forum for support on his maps as he doesn't come here looking for users to support: http://www.switchbacks.com/forum/

Ok, thanks, I'll take it up over there.

My experience is that when I'm about 100 feet up the wrong trail with a routable trail map any of my GPSrs starts to nag me to U-turn until I either acquiesce or continue far enough so that it finds a shorter way to my specified end point.

Thanks, I wondered if they'd be accurate enough for that, on a parallel trail. Guess it might be worth purchasing Garmin's routable 24k maps after all...

When using an automotive GPS, it often thinks I'm still on the highway after exiting onto a parallel service road. Or it thinks I've exited (because that's what the routing said to do) when I'm still on the highway.

So it's hard to imagine that a routable trail would tell me that I've accidentally "exited" onto a parallel trail. It could be miles before the new trail veered off enough for the GPS to distinguish the mistake. Is this what happens in practice?

...Steve

When hiking with NW Topos, the trail is clearly marked on the map. The icon wanders a bit, but is in general proximity to the trail. If this was a routable map, what would be gained? Would it be accurate enough to determine which of 3 or 4 branching trails is the correct one? Does it tell me to turn left or bear right or whatever?  Thanks!

Steve

Is NW topos supposed to be routable?  Most free mapsets are not.

Is there any way to tell whether a mapset is routable, other than in the author's description? (I don't see any mention of this one way or the other)

To get the compass to work you'll probably have to set your routing preferences to Navigate off road, or Direct.  I don't own a Montana, but those navigation preferences work for most of Garmin's handhelds.

Under Setup > Routing, I have Activity set to Hiking and Lock on Road set to No.  I don't see anything else in Setup that would affect the compass...

Thanks babj, appreciate the info!

...Steve

I've read the whole manual, particularly the navigation sections. I've used Garmin's automotive hardware for years, so I'm generally familiar with waypoints, routes, etc. But this is my first hiking GPS, and I don't see any obvious way to work with trails rather than roads.

Today I entered a waypoint at the trailhead, then used Where To > Waypoints to navigate back, but was informed that there were no routable roads. Even the compass didn't work for simple navigation back to the waypoint. Guess I must be missing something...

I've loaded and enabled NW Topos on the Garmin Montana. Suppose I want to hike the Comet Falls trail on Mt Rainier - can someone walk me thru how I'd access and use the maps and trail info? Thanks!

...Steve

Does the NW Topos mapset include the trail info from NW Trails, or do both mapsets need to be loaded?  Thanks!

...Steve

During the NW Topo installation process, it asks which kind of trails I want - solid, dashed, outlined, green, or 256 color scheme. There's no help file associated with this, not sure which to choose. Any recommendations? Thanks!

...Steve

Thanks Boyd. Wow, it looks like Garmin is finally starting to compete on map pricing. No longer any need to spend big bux on the regional DVDs?

If we can get a $30 subscription from Garmin, does that affect the need for the custom state maps posted here?

I'm looking at a DeLorme GPS, which includes 7.5 minute series (1:24k) USGS maps. Wondering if I'd be better off with a Garmin, using the gpsfiledepot custom WA map. Any idea how the two maps compare?

Thanks!

Steve