View Full Version : Google Earth now shows hiking trails
Just ran across this - very cool. If you have a copy of Google Earth, you can enable "Trimble Outdoor Trips" which identifies local hiking trails. It does not look like they have the entire AT mapped out, but they do have the PCT and oodles of trails around the AT. It has the route outlined in red and you can click a hiker symbol to get directions for how to get to the trailhead and a brief description of the hike & pictures. The trails seem to be pulled from Backpacker magazine.
Looks like a great resource if you're looking for a new hike in your area or traveling somewhere and want to see if there are any trails in the area.
If you don't have Google Earth, its a free download at earth.google.com. Its a great program if you like maps - just requires an internet connection to work. It also lets you add your own content so I imagine there's a way for the community to add trails that aren't already on there.
Here is a link (http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/GoogleEarthLayer.aspx)
Green Bean
04-21-2007, 16:28
thats sweet!! ~GB
It shows the AT, but you cannot search for it.
ShakeyLeggs
04-21-2007, 22:27
Heres another
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/googleat.php?lat=45.88165&lon=-68.99569&scale=11
fiddlehead
04-21-2007, 23:11
I just tried it and saw some stuff along the AT corridor, but nothing in Thailand, Nepal or even the CDT. I guess it's in it's infancy.
I would love to find some new hiking trails here in Phuket but i think it's bushwhacking only. with google earth, that's ok and that's what i've been doing but some hills are really steep. And a switchbacked trail would help.
Cool, ShakeyLegs! I like that line of bright red "backpacks" hiking north and east. This will help me get clearer as I follow hikers' Trail Journals.
Also thanks for the google earth help upthread.
mooseboy
04-22-2007, 16:18
Thanks for the info, Badger
mooseboy
04-22-2007, 16:19
Thanks for the info, Badger! I love Google Earth, and have often followed/located the AT with it, and am using it to help plan my next section hike. Now it's a little easier to find, though it's only the hikes that have already been given a treatment by Backpacker Magazine.
Still, really cool. Thanks.
generoll
05-15-2007, 18:12
maybe i missed something, but is there anyplace to get the AT for google earth? I don't mean the shelters (I have that) I mean the trail itself.
LostInSpace
05-15-2007, 19:38
Some of the PCT track is pretty crude. It makes you wonder if a GPS track was really used to create the Google Earth Track. I suspect for portions of it, somebody created a track from a bunch of waypoints. There are places where you can zoom in and see the trail tread making switchbacks and turns in the ariel photos. However, the Google Earth superimposed track is a straight line connecting various points.
I was disappointed in what I found for the PCT.