Hiking Grand Teton Trails Topographic Map

Rating:
Summary: Your all-in-1 guide to explore one of America's wonderlands
Review: Who has not been at least somewhat "awestruck" by their first view, either in person or in a photograph, of the Grand Teton mountains, the rare view of majestic mountain peaks unobscured by intervening foothills? This "grand view", of course, should make you want to see more, and this map, while perhaps not perfect, is an excellent way to explore this National Park.

First of all, it should be durable, since it is printed on latex-coated stock, much better than the usual paper maps to take to the "field" with you. And, even though it is based on USGS Topo maps from the 1950's & 60's, "shrunk" from scales of 1:24000 and 1:62500 to 1:75000 (a nice scale for a hiking map), "cultural" features have been updated to 2001. Also, labels were replaced for legibility from the quad maps, and the contour interval was "standardized" at 80', whereas it was at 20, 40 & 80' on the original quads (kept at 40' on the upper tier of 15' quads).

On the opposite side of the map are contained "location" maps of each area of the park, and detailed descriptions of 33 different trails, ranging from less than a mile and level, to 20 miles and better than a 3700' elevation gain, and a little bit of everything in between. Included are accessibility by horse, skis, or boats, trail length, possible wildlife sightings, and plants and trees to be found in the area. Plus, some nice black & white photos are included. All in all, a lot of information, that should keep you busy through a long visit. There is also a list of precautions for this high mountain area, such as unpredictable weather, bear encounters, etc. It might be added that since most of us aren't used to hiking at an elevation of 6500' and up, that the easier trails be attempted first, until you have a chance to acclimate.

Even though most of the trails are shown on both the topo and location maps, apparently some were not around in the 60's, and consequently are not shown on the topo map, such as Flagg Canyon and Sheep Mountain trails, and most of Signal Mountain and Blacktail Butte trails. Also, only the beginning and end are shown of the Blue Miner Lake trail (on the area and topo map, respectively), and the first part of the Grizzly Lake/Blue Miner Lake trail, from Red Hills Campground, is missing. Another "oddity" is that the first trail shown under "Moose - Teton Village", Blacktail Butte, is actually found on the location map for "Gros Ventre". Still, these "glitches" notwithstanding, this is a fine map and guide to seeing some great country.

Rating:
Summary: Your all-in-1 guide to explore one of America's wonderlands
Review: Who has not been at least somewhat "awestruck" by their first view, either in person or in a photograph, of the Grand Teton mountains, the rare view of majestic mountain peaks unobscured by intervening foothills? This "grand view", of course, should make you want to see more, and this map, while perhaps not perfect, is an excellent way to explore this National Park.

First of all, it should be durable, since it is printed on latex-coated stock, much better than the usual paper maps to take to the "field" with you. And, even though it is based on USGS Topo maps from the 1950's & 60's, "shrunk" from scales of 1:24000 and 1:62500 to 1:75000 (a nice scale for a hiking map), "cultural" features have been updated to 2001. Also, labels were replaced for legibility from the quad maps, and the contour interval was "standardized" at 80', whereas it was at 20, 40 & 80' on the original quads (kept at 40' on the upper tier of 15' quads).

On the opposite side of the map are contained "location" maps of each area of the park, and detailed descriptions of 33 different trails, ranging from less than a mile and level, to 20 miles and better than a 3700' elevation gain, and a little bit of everything in between. Included are accessibility by horse, skis, or boats, trail length, possible wildlife sightings, and plants and trees to be found in the area. Plus, some nice black & white photos are included. All in all, a lot of information, that should keep you busy through a long visit. There is also a list of precautions for this high mountain area, such as unpredictable weather, bear encounters, etc. It might be added that since most of us aren't used to hiking at an elevation of 6500' and up, that the easier trails be attempted first, until you have a chance to acclimate.

Even though most of the trails are shown on both the topo and location maps, apparently some were not around in the 60's, and consequently are not shown on the topo map, such as Flagg Canyon and Sheep Mountain trails, and most of Signal Mountain and Blacktail Butte trails. Also, only the beginning and end are shown of the Blue Miner Lake trail (on the area and topo map, respectively), and the first part of the Grizzly Lake/Blue Miner Lake trail, from Red Hills Campground, is missing. Another "oddity" is that the first trail shown under "Moose - Teton Village", Blacktail Butte, is actually found on the location map for "Gros Ventre". Still, these "glitches" notwithstanding, this is a fine map and guide to seeing some great country.