Product Details

• Size: Complete National Parks
• Color: Complete National Parks
• Brand: National Geographic

Features

• Interactive maps of U.S. national parks on CD-ROM
• All 60 national parks--from Acadia to Death Valley to Hawaii Volcanoes to Zion
• Up-to-date National Geographic maps
• Easy to upload and download to handheld units
• Trip planning information included

Amazon.com Product Description
Get the finest in national-park map data in an easily searchable format with the National Geographic TrailSmart Complete CD-ROM. These interactive topographic maps were compiled by National Geographic using the most up-to-date and accurate information. All 60 national parks are included, from Acadia to Death Valley to Hawaii Volcanoes to Zion. Contained on five CD-ROMs, these maps also allow users to upload and download position and route information directly to a handheld GPS unit. Trip planning and other GPS features are included.

To use National Geographic TrailSmart Complete maps, you need a PC with at least 16 MB of RAM running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, or higher, an 8-bit color monitor, and a 2X CD-ROM drive.

Customer Reviews

Limited use, but handy
The software itself isn't terrible, given that it feels like it was designed about six years ago. The next time I'm going to Yosemite, I'll be bringing a map printed by this app. The app has a very nice search feature, will import GPS waypoints, build excellent route elevation graphs, and has a system for adding wee icons to your maps.

That said, there are some pretty big problems with using the program for anything other than printing trail maps.

In the license agreement the maps you build, save, and print are referred to as "reproductions":

- Reproductions are only for in-house, in-business, or intra-organization purposes
- National Geographic Holdings is leasing the reproductions to you; you do not own them
- All reproductions must include copyright notices indicating that the maps are owned by NGH
- Distribution of printed reproductions (for in-house use as mentioned above) is ok, but for digital reproductions you must contact NGH and get a supplemental license in writing

So, you can lease and print very nice hiking maps for use within your house, business, or company. Using the maps on web sites (even internal ones) or other digital documents is forbidden without entering license negotiations with NGH.

Highly recommended for the average bacpacker
In my opinion, this software is great, especially for a backpacker who just wants to use a GPS as a "toy". There are 15 major national parks with 4 map views and more than adequate zoom capabilities. In addition, it is possible to create your own routes (by drawing them with your mouse), obtain elevation gains/losses, and automatically create and upload up to 30 waypoints per route to your GPS. There is a search engine to find various points of interest (mines, cemetaries, overlooks, etc) off the beaten path that will give you an exact waypoint to go exploring with a GPS unit. For the average person who likes the seclusion of the backcountry of national parks, who for the most part stays on the trails and assigned backcountry campsites, and who wants to use a GPS, this program is perfect.

Important Upgrade Available
According to the specifications this product is only available for Windows 95, 98, or NT and supports just a few GPS devices. But it is based on the same program (Topo) used in National Geographic State Series, which is compatible with windows 2000, XP and 60+ GPS receivers. You only need the free Topo upgrade available at Nevertheless, TrailSmart series was created by scanning Trails Illustrated maps, so don't expect the quality of USGS maps found in the State Series. In my opinion trails don't have enough accuracy in this product (I tried Yellowstone).