1. Posted: Aug 25 2008

   Before you buy, make sure it covers the area you are expecting. It's narrower than I was expecting, and therefore it's a little pricey. the parks it covers, it does quite well.

2. ( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 27 2008

   Unfortunately, the Garmin hiking GPS units do not have detailed maps, so I needed to buy this particular software for all the eastern National Parks (and the Adirondack State Park). The area covers most every park from Florida to Maine. You do need to purchase a small memory card that is inserted into the battery compartment of your Garmin handheld for data storage. I bought a 2 GB Sandisk card to make sure I had plenty of memory. The maps are at a scale of 1:24,000 (from USGS maps) and are not extremely detailed, but will get you to wherever to want to go (and return). There are plenty of accurate points of interest (POI) such as visitor's centers, camping and picnic areas, wilderness campsites, ranger stations, restaurants and lodges, trail names, summit elevations, peaks, roads and hiking trails, etc. You can even download specific quadrants of areas to your liking without having to download extra information you might never need. I have been able to share trails and waypoints from friends and download them into my handheld for easy use. It's not the most detailed mapping data, but it is enough to get you where you want to go (and back again). The Mapsource program has a ton of valuable tools for use on your PC (or MAC). Most all of your hiking and mapping needs can be accomplished on your computer before (and afterwards) so you can save all the valuable data you need or have acquired. In fact, there are almost too many tools to grasp, making this a worthwhile (if slightly over-priced) piece of software.

3. ( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 8 2008

   The small amount of area covered is just not worth it. Also, while it says it covers national forests, it does not cover the Angeles National Forest, just north of LA and one of my favorite hiking areas. The use of color is limited and makes the trails difficult to see and follow. I had high hopes for this product but unfortunately it is a flawed presentation of the data and I returned it.

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