An All-Encompassing Map
 

Hello to all who read this. I have very strong ambitions to go on a long-term touring excursion sometime later this year and I'm just focusing on gearing up as of now. Recently I have been trying hard to find an all-in-one map, so to speak, which could cover pretty much all bike routes and trails across the United States. Is there anything close to this on the market today? Should I just stick to a GPS? Any help would be greatly appreciated.



-James

Google maps might be your best option for this.

What, exactly, do you mean by "bike route?" There are lots of short bike paths all over the US. There are long distance bike routes created by the Adventure Cycling Association: http://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...rview-map-pdf/

A map that was detailed enough to use to find a daily route yet included the entire US would either be huge or come in a map book that would be heavy to carry.

Unless you are doing something unusual, the ACA maps, which are specifically designed for use while biking are a great place to start planning.

I often print out sheets of paper with Google maps on them for places where I need specific directions.

Google maps, combined with a GPS, can do a lot, if you pre-plan routes. Sketch out routes for the coming days when you have internet access, turn them into GPX files and put them on the GPS, then just follow the purple line. Combine this with paper road maps you can pick up along the way of each state, and you're golden.

2nd on Adventure Cyclist. They have great maps and several routes to choose from.

If you have an Android phone, try OsmAnd, they download the OSM maps, which have several cycling options depending where you are.
An alternative / add on to Google maps.

There are other apps for various platforms that utilize the OSM maps. All free, no advertising and they don't collect all the personal information that Google does.

I recently bought a cheapo Polaroid 7 in. Android tablet, and have been playing with the free Maps with Me Lite, which uses the OSM maps. All of California in a 200 MB download, for example--not bad since it shows every street address in San Diego County, lots of hiking trails and bike paths, many POI (points of interest) including every freaking McDonald's...even down to the level of showing individual tent cabins in Yosemite Valley (was looking to see if the backpacker's campground showed up (the backpacker's restroom showed up, good enough!))

Will have to check out OSMand, too. Anybody know of one that shows the Open Cycling Maps with the topo lines?

Yes, try out Oruxmaps, that let's you try out a number of different map types including the OSM cycling maps online.
I'm still playing around with the downloading and map management side of it, not as user friendly as OsmAnd.

They have some settings for Garmin maps, will have to research that as some places I go a free Garmin compatible map has by far the most information.

I didn't get on well with Mapswithme.