How to Plan a Backpacking Trip
By Matt Pritchard
Selecting Guidebooks and Maps
A quality guidebook or map can be an indispensable resource. Not only are they useful for trip planning, but a map also serves double duty once you hit the trail and begin using it for navigation. As you do more trips and become familiar with an area, you will begin to build a library of guidebooks and maps you can come back to time and again for trip planning and rainy day dreaming. Below are some suggestions to help you find the right guidebook or map.
Guidebooks
The majority of backpacking guidebooks are sold as "hiking" guides. Since most guidebooks provide coverage for a specific area, they contain trips of different lengths, from 1 hour day hikes to multi-night backpacking trips. A good guidebook will offer advice on a variety of trips.
Guidebooks should contain a simple map of the area covered. In the actual trip descriptions, look for distance indicated in miles or kilometers (not hours!). Even better is a breakdown of distances between landmarks along the route. Each trip should also include the elevation gain and loss and possibly an elevation profile. The small maps included in guidebooks are usually of low quality and not very helpful once you are on the trail. A separate, high-quality trail map is your best bet.
A good guidebook will also offer detailed driving directions to the trailhead, information about water availability, information regarding regulations and permits, and contact information for the proper land management agency. A very nice touch with some guidebooks is a list of the USGS quads covered for each route. This makes your map buying much easier.
There are several regional publishers that offer guidebooks for specific areas. Ask around at your local outdoor retailer for some suggestions. Globe Pequot Press publishes a series called the Falcon Guides that covers many popular areas around the country. There is a full list of titles on their website. When in doubt, a search on Amazon usually yields something and the prices are usually much better than in a store. Be sure to check the date last published or revised to make sure the information is current.
Maps
A good map is a wonderful thing. The more popular your destination, the more options you're likely to have for maps. Topographical maps are the most useful for backpacking trips. They use a system to represent the elevation relief of an area. To the trained eye, this provides a three-dimensional model of the mapped area. If you are unfamiliar with how to read topographical maps, it would be wise to consult a book or website on the subject (review our Recommended Reading section).
Recently, several map makers have started to offer shaded relief maps. These are standard topographical maps that have shading added to represent shadows cast by mountains and other land contours during a specific time of day. The shading helps "pop" the contours and details of the land and make the dimensionality more obvious to the user.
The scale of your map is an important consideration. If the scale of a map is too small, the details of the trail will be lost. Try finding your street on a map of the United States - not gonna happen. As the scale of a map grows larger, the size of the map surface must increase to provide coverage for the same portion of land. The ideal compromise between map detail and map size is usually reached around 1:24,000. This is the scale of USGS 7.5 minute maps - the foundation of most trail mapping systems. Many maps reduce their scale to 1:50,000 in order to cover a larger area on a reasonably sized map. This is good, but not great. Maps in the range of 1:80,000 to 1:100,000 and up usually provide very little trail detail due to the very small scale, and are less suitable for a backpacking trip.
Another consideration in map scale is the contour interval of your topographical map. The contour interval is the elevation difference represented by each contour line. The contour interval of a map is roughly proportional to its scale. Maps with a scale of 1:24,000 usually have a contour interval of 40 feet. Maps with a scale of 1:50,000 might have a contour interval of 80 feet. Beyond 80 feet, the efficacy of a topographical map is greatly reduced. For instance, with a contour interval of 200 feet, a 180 cliff could show up missing because it didn't cross a contour interval on your map (not likely, but possible). In general, try to find maps with a scale of 1:50,000 or larger (i.e. smaller second number) and with a contour interval of 40 feet.
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Our beloved federal government has mapped every inch of this country. And it is all available to you. The 7.5 minute map series is the most appropriate for backpacking trips. Each map represents a quadrangle (quad) which is a chunk of land 7.5 minutes square (a minute is 1/60 of a degree of latitude or longitude). Any USGS 7.5 minute map can be purchased online for $6 at the USGS store.
Your route is likely to cross more than one quad, therefore more than one map. The boundaries of these maps are pre-determined and it is likely that you may have to buy 2 or more maps to provide coverage of your route and the surrounding areas. When purchasing your map, check for when it was last updated. Some of the USGS maps haven't been updated in quite some time and recent geological or development events may have changed the landscape. Map orders from the USGS can sometimes take weeks to arrive, so plan early.
Custom Topographical Maps
Several companies offer web-based programs for creating and printing your own custom topographical map. The upside to these services is that you can adjust the boundaries and scale of the map to provide the desired coverage of your route. If your planned route takes you across 4 USGS quads, you may be able to order a custom map that puts the entire area on one, reasonably sized map.
These maps are typically more expensive at $12 - $15 each, but the numbers still work out in your favor if the alternative is ordering 4 standards quads from the USGS. The maps are usually printed on a water-proof plastic film that stands up well to abuse and the turn-around time is much faster than ordering from the USGS. Two good custom map websites are My Topo and Topo Zone Another version of the custom topo is available at National Geographic Map Machine kiosks, located in some outdoor retailers and bookstores. These maps are very similar to those than can be ordered online.
Third Party Maps
There are a number of private companies that publish maps of specific areas. These maps usually cover popular destinations and can vary in quality significantly. Be careful that the scale and contour of these maps are reasonable. Sometimes a publisher tries too cram to much area onto one map and you sacrifice detail for coverage.
The benefit to these maps is that they are usually more up to date than USGS maps or the custom maps that are based on USGS maps. Trail distances are often indicated on these maps and useful information about campsites and available services may be included as well. There are too many map companies to list here, but a visit to your local outdoor retailer may turn up some good results. For maps of the Sierra Nevada, it doesn't get much better than Tom Harrison Maps.
If you are having trouble finding a good guidebook or map for your area, give the nearest ranger station a call and see if they have any suggestions. Some district ranger stations even have small book stores that may be able to sell you a good guide for the area.
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