How do you organize your maps?

We have  “magazine boxes” –

… that are 4″ wide.  We have a box for Colorado Trails Illustrated maps in numerical order. We use the  index on the back of each map to find the map number of interest. The other boxes contain “regions” rubber-banded together -Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, France, Italy, etc, alphabetically.

Not sexy, but i rubber band mine, organized by brand (=size usually). Then they go on a bookshelf.

currently thrown into a bin with minimal organization except that the most used ones float to the top.

That is my system of map organization…

In a drawer by area, kinda.

I use an artsts portfolio, basically a big tough envelope. Green Trails maps are just filed by number.

I have no solution. My personal issue is that I cut up topos and only take the parts I need for that outing.  So, i have a bunch of “scraps” that are still useful.  Caltopo has helped.  I still buy the real topo for planning, but print the parts on Caltopo on Rite in the Rain waterproof paper to take with me and keep the good topos in a pile.  i am not much help on the original problem.

I have an assortment of Trails Illustrated, guidebook + maps, state forest/park maps (shout out to the PA DCNR who does an AMAZING job with providing access to maps), and print outs from sources like MidAtlanticHikes or HikingUpwards. I use a crate and hanging folders, with the maps sorted by state and sub-sorted into region within in the state if needed. Books, guidebook+map sets, and thru-hike level map sets like the AT, PA MidState, Tuscarora, etc go into a second crate.

A friend uses one of those hanging shoe organizers on the inside of the gear closet door, which seems like a good method.

What I feel I really need to get better at is filing and sorting my electronic map and .gpx files. Those are really kind of all over the place.

I long ago gave up any kind of filing system in favor of a piling system.

I use the magazine boxes on a shelf next to my desk for the frequently used ones.  I create “1/3-cut” tabs (one tab on the left projecting above the maps, next one in the middle, etc) out of cardboard or cardstock to label groups of maps (“Kenai Peninsula”, “SE Alaska”, “California”, etc).

For less-frequently used trail maps, foreign maps and 200 or so USA road maps, I use 12-bottle beer boxes:

with a cardboard divider going lengthwise, giving me two rows of maps, which I then divide and label with more 1/3-cut tabs.  Then each box is labelled, “Europe”, “Mexico”, “Western US”, etc.

I print out the box labels on my printer and use 2″ clear sealing tape to affix them to the boxes.  It’s easier to read large print on white paper than my handwriting on the boxes themselves.