Great Poster Map of Sierra Nevada – A Recomendation

[Marko Botsaris]

My Christmas present to myself was that I ordered this map of the Sierra Nevada:

http://www.imusgeographics.com/sierra-nevada-map

The rest of the site is very interesting too.

I have always wanted one like this. I just got it today can I have to say it is fantastic.

This guy has won awards for his maps – I didn't know there were such thing until recently. The map is in poster form – a huge 30 x 50 inches. I got the poster paper version ($30). It is on heavy paper, feels very similar in thickness and finish to the waterproof paper you get at REI when printing topo maps. The printing is absolutely impeccable. The map goes from Lassen down to Tehachapi. The PCT, JMT and some other major trails are marked and labeled. However this map is too small scale to use for trip planning. However if you want a nice wall decoration, perhaps used to check for areas you have never been to, or maybe if you are the type to put in push pin marking your trips, then this is a very beautiful map. For what it is is is also quite cheap.

Anyway thought I would just post it here in case anybody might be interested.

[BlackHatGuy]

Nice looking map, thanks, I think I'm going to get one so I can gaze at it and dream.

Awful nice letting us know for such a mean person.

[Kevin Burton]

I'd love to have a way to cross off sections of the trail that I've done… my goal is to hike most of the sierra nevadas… I mean it will take me like 10-20 years at my current rate but being able to say you've hiked an entire mountain range is a nice accomplishment.

But is it laminated? :)

[Bob Gross]

"But is it laminated?"

That is one of the ordering options on the web site.

–B.G.–

[Marko Botsaris]

Yep. $10 extra for laminated. First time I have heard of a professional-quality map made by an authentic cottage industry, in this case just this one guy.

[USA Duane Hall]

It's good to know they have the complete Sierra Nevada. I got a set of maps maybe 20 years ago, they cut off the Sierra at Yosemite. The Sierra Nevada goes further north to just about Lassen VNP area where the Cascades start.
Duane

[Marko Botsaris]

Do keep in mind this isn't a topo, and even by the size alone you wouldn't be able to use it for trip planning. Looks like he also has a few actual topos as well. He is said to take years working on individual maps getting things right, so probably shouldn't hold our breath for lot more map. Still I'm now a fan.

It has shading for topography, but it is more like a very nice regular map, with roads and landmarks, etc.

Yeah, geologically it stops up by Lassen. For some reason people think the northern lower elevation stuff doesn't count. I remember a particularly miffed book reviewer complaining that the Sierra North guidebook stopped around emigrant. 1 star. LOL

From reading stuff about the mapmaker it sounds like the abbreviated maps would be something that would infuriate him. At a first guess I would not be surprised if that was the whole motivation for him making the Sierra map. He thinks people are woefully ignorant of geography in the US and be mostly blames the mapmakers.

[Sean Heenan]

If you love maps, I do, then another fantastic map maker is Raven Maps out of Medford Oregon. They are shaded relief maps and they are works of art. I have their map of North Carolina and the United States they hang in my office and when I feel like I need to take a vacation from work I walk over and look at the maps and think of where I 'd like to go next weekend or next vacation.

[Marko Botsaris]

Nice site. The Crater Lake map looks fantastic. I wish they had a zoom feature, but probably for the best – I would waste an hour looking at it.

Yes, I am obsessed by maps as well. I like annotating them with information before, during and after my trips. I like looking at places I know I will never go. I like the names, and some of the history they imply.

My most recent obsession is a trail on an older map of Emigrant Wilderness name "Trail of the Ancient Dwarves". LOL I have to go there next spring and check it out. Wasn't able to find that name on other maps, or find out anything about it when I looked on the internet.

Of course in the pure-fantasy version the "Trail of the Ancient Dwarves" is just on MY map!

Edit: Ah bummer. This time I did find info about it. Knew I shouldn't mess with the fantasy:

"The Trail of the Ancient Dwarfs is a half-mile walk through a forest of ancient dwarf trees. A visit to the Trail of the Ancient Dwarfs is best coupled with a view of the ancient Bennett Juniper as they are both near Eagle Meadow."

Not nearly as romantic as a secret portal to Middle Earth. LOL

[USA Duane Hall]

I like trying to find old, non-maintained trails, going off of old maps I've had since the 70's. Part of one is down in the Emigrant Wilderness and two in Desolation Wilderness, around Two Peaks from Loon Lake and another between Buck Island Reservoir and Tells Peak. I found more of the Tells Peak trail this year on my vacation in late July. At 60, I'm starting to think I may be too old for that. We'll see.
Duane

[David Thomas]

Cool map. I noted "Peach Growers" on the road to Hetch Hetchy (Evergreen Road off of Highway 120) – something that mapquest.com can't find. It is certainly what we called it 40 years ago, although the name dates from the 1920's when the Peach Grower's Association operated their own lumber camp to provide knot-free, sugar-pine lumber for making peach crates.

[Bob Gross]

Old trails are great. Sometimes you can start from a topo map and figure out that something is there. Google Earth has good satellite photography, but it isn't quite perfect. You need to read some history books first, and then you have to get on the ground and kick a few clods of dirt over.

One good trail is the Tioga Road in Yosemite. This is not the modern paved Tioga Road where we speed along in our cars. This is the old Great Sierra Wagon Road before it was paved or straightened. It started from the native American trading route across Yosemite, then became a mine road going to Bennettville. There are places where the wagon wheel grooves are still visible in the rock, especially northwest of Porcupine Creek Campground. As you walk along this route, you find old debris piles, rusted cans, and junk. By studying the stuff, you can figure out its age. When you find a miner cabin with square-cut nails, you know you are back to 1890 or earlier.

An even better route to find is John Muir's route for herding sheep through Yosemite in the late 1860's. By reading about his first summer in the Sierra, you can find obvious places and then connect the dots across the park. I found where he had his flock cross Yosemite Creek.

–B.G.–

[Edward Z]

I am searching for a place to source a large PCT map in a farm table size to put under glass and cover my big ol' kitchen table. I have to check this out! Anyone know of a high quality file or image I can send to a custom printer to have this done?

[brian H]

Here are 2 fave poster maps of the Sierra Nevada
focused on the JMT seciton
both adorn my living room, mounted on foam core:

http://johnmuirtrailposter.com

+1 on Raven Maps
their North America map is framed on my wall

one last tip
my all time high sierra artwork is by Ton Killion:
http://tomkillion.com/gallery/show?keyword=sierra

[Rex Sanders]

+1 on the Raven map of California. Good for dreaming, not detailed enough for backpack trip planning.

Decades ago I covered the walls of my bedroom with good old fashioned USGS 1:250,000 topo maps, to plan a "lap around California" bicycle route. Never did that, but the maps provided hours of entertainment, and a few awkward conversations with girlfriends. I'm not sure they make those any more. The maps, that is.

— Rex

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