Customer Reviews

Garmin TOPO! Topographical Maps (Canada)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The topo maps are fine on this product, but for hiking I wouldn't bother - there are no trails. I searched around Jasper National Park and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, and couldn't find *any* trails in this map set at any level of zoom or detail. If you're used to the US Topo maps by Garmin, you'll be disappointed. The disks I received from Amazon said "Version 2.0", which were ordered in August, 2007.

Just used the Mapsource Topo Canada on my Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for a week on Lac Kipawa in Quebec. Was amazed at the amount of detail, very small islands and small changes in the shoreline were shown. Easy to load on my computer and easy to transfer to a micro SD card.

Good topo maps. Most lakes, streams, peaks are marked, along with surprisingly good coverage of minor roads and back roads (which are routable in MapSource). MapSource calculated driving routes are often sub-optimal, but this is to be expected given that this is the topo product.

My biggest complaint is that few trails are marked.

I recently bought the Garmin Topo Canada software for my eTrex Venture HC, even though a search on Garmin's site did not list it as compatible software.

I found it worked exactly like the Garmin US Topo (more on this) and loaded on the eTrex without any problems.

The Canada Topo does a nice job listing all major and minor roads, streams, mountains, and hiking paths in SW Canada (my favorite area). I was also pleased with the high road detail in Banff, Lake Louise, Calgary, etc. Oddly, it did not list the famous "tea houses" above Lake Louise, though it did list the paths leading to them. It also omitted the famous Prince of Wales hotel at Waterton and the paint pots above Johnston Canyon.

Garmin still resists updating their incredibly clunky software. Instead of a single DVD, Garmin still ships four CD's requiring switching out disks to load maps, a real chore when your path leads between map sections. Plus the software still operates like it did under Windows 95! Slow, awkward, expensive and clunky, but it does work.

Having owned or used Trimble, Rockwell, Magellen and Garmin...Garmin is the most user friendly. That said, the Canada topo is very good. It downloaded into my 60CS with no blips, bumps or other issues. When I travel from the US to Canada (and vice-versa) it transitions right at the border line. The maps are accurate - roads, rivers and trails are right on.

Garmin Customer Service is superb. They recently performed warranty work on a 7 year old 12CX - no charge and very rapid turnaround (no, I do not work for Garmin - they really are this good).

I found this product very helpful and sufficiently detailed to be useful with my Garmin GPS. I do wish there was a bit more detail on the maps such as campsites (some are listed but no all) canoe portage trails, rapids, etc. Overall I am quite pleased with this product and would recommend it.

I received the topo map just before leaving for Algonquin Park. Loaded into my Garmin 60CSx with no problems (have a 2 gig card installed). I was able to plan out the entire trip and mark the beginning and end of each portage. It was amazing to be paddling down a 15 mile lake and look down at the canoe floor to see an arial view of where we were in the lake, our speed, time to the next portage and a red arrow pointing the direction to paddle. The topo maps covered the park very well, but detail not there once you leave the park areas and travel on the roads... but enough information to allow us to navigate our way back without any problems. I used a carabiner clip to attach the unit to the thwart of the canoe and that worked well.

Good topo maps but this product lacks key things. Mountain huts,shelters and hiking trails are not marked. Furthermore many well known passes, lakes and creeks are not named.

Great piece of kit your hand held GPS. I use it on my etrex Legend C, it has more detail than the City Navigator for my area. If you're thinking of buying a City Nav. from Mapsource take a look at the "actual view" feature on the Mapsource web site and compare the two before you buy... you might be surprised at how much better the Topo is. It's easy to download the area's you want to view, save yourself some time and read the instructions. It actually does exactly what it says in the user's manual!! I'm a MAC user and had to do it all on an old beaten up PC, and it was very straightforward. (Just wish Garmin made MAC compatible stuff... come on guys get with MAC!!)

I bought this primarily for an 8-day canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial park. Having this level of detailed mapping software made my GPS the go to navigation tool while on the move. I was pleasantly surprised to even find the portage trails marked accurately in the software. Highly recomended if you like to stay found.