I use Google maps a lot, but one issue I seem to have is rivers & streams are never labeled on the regular map page. Today I happened to use Bing’s map and the river names were there! I have found topo maps on the net, but sometimes I dont need that detail, I just want to quickly see the name of the stream on the map. Maybe I’m just missing something in Google, but FYI, if anyone else has this issue try Bing.
I almost always use Bing Maps. I like the aeriel views along rivers and creeks to look for dirt roads and trails. Jim
Most of the time, if you view the map in Terrain mode, you’ll see the river names.
My personal favorite is the store.usgs.gov website. You can download Topo Quad maps for free from there into PDF format. I grab those, and print off sub-sections then get them laminated at the local print shop as a backup to my GPS while hiking.
Anyone know how to find Terrain Mode on Google Earth or some way that the name of streams and rivers would show on the Google Earth maps ???
Thanks,
DickM.
I have the Delorme Street Atlas loaded in my laptop. It shows streams by name when zoomed in and you just have to place the cursor over the stream to get the name when zoomed out.
I think that the Terrain Mode is with Google maps. When I start Google maps, there are two small boxes in the upper right hand corner of the map. The top one toggles between “Map View” and “Sattelite View”. The lower one has a pop-up menu that contains a bunch of options, including traffic, photos, weather, and Terrain Mode. You may need to expand the list down to find Terrain.
Hope this helps,
Ted
That is cool, I have the paperback in my truck, this is good to know
Your state might have stream layers available for download for use in Google Earth. Go to the state’s GIS/mapping website and look for anything that says it is available for Google Earth or as a KML file.
another nice mapping site
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gazpublic/getgooglemap?p_lat=38.1948475&p_longi=-79.5708789&fid=1500323
Click “topo”
Jack I have the delorme topo maps in my pc as well as street maps. shows stream names better than street maps plus other things as well including 3d views.