scoutabout
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by Dave Halsey, NOHVCC Contributing Writer
Riding in Idaho this year? Need a map? After reading this article, go to http://www.trails.idaho.gov and you’ll have everything you need.
That’s the website for the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation (IDPR) Trail Mapping system. Click the link and on your computer screen will be a mapping application showing motorized routes on U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands across the state, where you can legally ride your motorcycle, ATV, Side x Side, highway-legal 4x4 truck or car.
You can search for trails by the nearest city, by a trail name or number, or just zoom in and out of areas in search of a new place to ride. You can find trails that suit the motorized needs of your riding group and their mix of off-highway vehicles.
You can choose the kind of map you want to view: topographic, terrain, road or hybrid. Click on “Distance,” plot points A and B, and you can view the shortest route or alternate routes, complete with a list of motorized uses allowed and the on-the-ground distance.
You can print maps up to 22” x 44” in size, export maps to open in Google Earth and view them in 3D, or send them to your GPS. Want to ride to a scenic area, then do some hiking? Non-motorized trails are included. You can even get the weather forecast.
Jeff Cook, Outdoor Recreation Analyst in the Recreation Bureau of IDPR, created the mapping application to meet the needs of OHV riders. It was funded by Idaho OHV registration fees, launched in August of 2010, and updated in September of 2011. “About 5 years ago, our board kept hearing that nagging question: Where can I ride?” said Cook. “There was a broad variety of maps out there. At the same time, we had the U.S. Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Rule; it had been implemented fairly quickly in Idaho. We saw copies of those maps and realized they were good to show what routes are available, but if you try and use them to go riding, on the ground they’re really not of any use.”
While the Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is a poor navigational tool for OHV riders, it contains the data framework necessary to create OHV mapping systems. “We got this information from the National Forest. We’re showing the same thing that’s on their MVUM, with the addition of non-motorized trails,” said Cook. “And it’s not just black and white, it’s in full color, and you’re able to select through the various maps offered through Esri®. We’ve got a street map, a hybrid which is an aerial image service, we have a topographic, and a terrain map, which is more of a relief layer.
“It’s been a good cooperative effort between the BLM, the Forest Service and the Idaho state lands,” said Cook. “We generally get the data for free, but we had to buy a server and do software development and so forth; it was approximately $300,000.”
Trying to show all the Forest Service roads in Idaho, including those that are decommissioned, would have made the mapping system unreadable, so Cook included only those trails and roads that are open to motor vehicles.
The online mapping system may look confusing at first, but the more you work with it the more intuitive it becomes. “For myself, I really like the topographic map because it combines both the relief and topographic lines,” said Cook. “Depending on the zoom level, I use the general street map to reach the area I’m looking for, then zoom into the area where I want to go and ride. I then click on the topographic and it gives me a better view. It’s giving people the ability to design their trip to the recreational experience they want to have. All the comments we get are that it’s been an absolutely fantastic application.”
Riding in Idaho this year? Need a map? After reading this article, go to http://www.trails.idaho.gov and you’ll have everything you need.
That’s the website for the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation (IDPR) Trail Mapping system. Click the link and on your computer screen will be a mapping application showing motorized routes on U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands across the state, where you can legally ride your motorcycle, ATV, Side x Side, highway-legal 4x4 truck or car.
You can search for trails by the nearest city, by a trail name or number, or just zoom in and out of areas in search of a new place to ride. You can find trails that suit the motorized needs of your riding group and their mix of off-highway vehicles.
You can choose the kind of map you want to view: topographic, terrain, road or hybrid. Click on “Distance,” plot points A and B, and you can view the shortest route or alternate routes, complete with a list of motorized uses allowed and the on-the-ground distance.
You can print maps up to 22” x 44” in size, export maps to open in Google Earth and view them in 3D, or send them to your GPS. Want to ride to a scenic area, then do some hiking? Non-motorized trails are included. You can even get the weather forecast.
Jeff Cook, Outdoor Recreation Analyst in the Recreation Bureau of IDPR, created the mapping application to meet the needs of OHV riders. It was funded by Idaho OHV registration fees, launched in August of 2010, and updated in September of 2011. “About 5 years ago, our board kept hearing that nagging question: Where can I ride?” said Cook. “There was a broad variety of maps out there. At the same time, we had the U.S. Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Rule; it had been implemented fairly quickly in Idaho. We saw copies of those maps and realized they were good to show what routes are available, but if you try and use them to go riding, on the ground they’re really not of any use.”
While the Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is a poor navigational tool for OHV riders, it contains the data framework necessary to create OHV mapping systems. “We got this information from the National Forest. We’re showing the same thing that’s on their MVUM, with the addition of non-motorized trails,” said Cook. “And it’s not just black and white, it’s in full color, and you’re able to select through the various maps offered through Esri®. We’ve got a street map, a hybrid which is an aerial image service, we have a topographic, and a terrain map, which is more of a relief layer.
“It’s been a good cooperative effort between the BLM, the Forest Service and the Idaho state lands,” said Cook. “We generally get the data for free, but we had to buy a server and do software development and so forth; it was approximately $300,000.”
Trying to show all the Forest Service roads in Idaho, including those that are decommissioned, would have made the mapping system unreadable, so Cook included only those trails and roads that are open to motor vehicles.
The online mapping system may look confusing at first, but the more you work with it the more intuitive it becomes. “For myself, I really like the topographic map because it combines both the relief and topographic lines,” said Cook. “Depending on the zoom level, I use the general street map to reach the area I’m looking for, then zoom into the area where I want to go and ride. I then click on the topographic and it gives me a better view. It’s giving people the ability to design their trip to the recreational experience they want to have. All the comments we get are that it’s been an absolutely fantastic application.”
