Topo USA v. 5 by Delorme
Reviewed by: Bill Ames
Where to buy: Online
Cost: $49 or $99, depending on regional or USA edition

I've tried all the electronic topographic maps out there, including MyTopo online, Topo! and a bunch of others. This is by far the best for backpackers and hikers. I like it so much, that it's the program I use to make the GPS maps on the rest of HikePA!

The program comes in two versions, a national edition, and regional editions. I bought the regional edition, since it has all the hikes I take in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia. You may want the national version if you do more traveling than I do.

If you own a GPS, this is an invaluable tool. If you don't own a GPS, it's still an excellent resource. The ability to create elevation profiles alone is worth the price, and the fact that you can quickly make, view and save custom maps, view them on your machine or print them out as big as you want makes this a complete package.

Save your money on the other products—I've tried them all.

Addendum: There's a new edition, version 6, which I haven't yet tried, but just from the new feature set, it looks like a winner. I've also played around with the aerial packets, satellite imagery and some of the other advanced features...I like them all. Practically any version of this software from 4.0 on up is good for a hiker who just wants to map out the trails, though.

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Here's my review, posted at Amazon.com. I wrote this after seeing a bunch of people panning this excellent product:

Most of the people that have reviewed this software on Amazon simply bought the program for the wrong purpose or they simply don't know what they're talking about.

Topo USA is designed for hikers, plain and simple. Sure, there are other uses, and I'm not suggesting that fisherman, for example, or hunters wouldn't likewise find it useful. After all, those activities involve hiking, too.

Topo USA is certainly not designed to replace car navigation systems--don't even think that you can hook up your laptop and use this thing in busy traffic, it's not the right product. Get an in-dash system for that.

Topo USA is not for professional engineers designing new roads and bridges.

Topo USA is designed to show you trails that are out there, or to make your own, and it does that very well.

If you want something to map your trip to Washington, you would be better off with something else. If, on the other hand, you want to make maps from your hikes, or even to make maps *before* your hikes, this is a great product.

What Topo USA does better than anything else is to map data from your handheld GPS. The EarthMate isn't the best option for this. I use a Garmin eTrex Summit, myself, and the data I get is good enough to make online maps for my hiking web site, HikePA.com.

If you want something to help you map out your recreational hiking, this is it.

Read the other reviews here, and you'll find that the ones who give this negative remarks all want it to do something it's not designed to do. These are the same people who want to go off-roading with their yuppie SUV when what they really need is a Jeep :-)