GOOGLE EARTH - Snowmobile Trails Project

[christopher]

I am in the process of tracing out the established trails in the Island Park area of Idaho onto Google Earth.

And i am wondering if we have any other intrepid Google Earth users that might be interested in assisting me with this project. My skills level with Google Earth is pretty basic, and I am wondering if there might be better ways to accomplish my goals, and then be able to share them with other Snowmobilers coming to this area for a visit.

The exising maps of that area are on the poor side, and being able to call up Google Earth and look at it and zoom in on it is a real plus for trip planning.

 

[christopher]

No one else out there interested??

 

[ADRENALINE]

I think TerraServer does a better job at laying out what you want to see. More terrain specific in areas. I think there are a total of 4 satellites that have different spectrums of view. Some are run by Nasa, and get into some serious detail.

Here is Island Park....go from there.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=12&X=294&Y=3074&W=1&qs=%7cisland+park%7cidaho%7c

 

[christopher]

Thanks!
Will go check it out now.

 

[christopher]

Google Earth seems to be MUCH more feature rich to me. And I have to admit, I like to color images as well.

 

[SkiDoobyDoo]

Good luck & God speed you on your mission

open some eyes...

.

 

[ADRENALINE]

http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

Look around on the web. Like I said there is more than one, each one has distinct features. Here is another.

 

[christopher]

Wildly different from your previous suggestion.
Maybe its just because I am not at all familiar with this software, but it sure seems slow to move in and out as I am looking for landmarks.

Thanks for the suggestion, their maps a LOVELY to look at, but I think i will stick with Google Earth for the time being as I try to map out the known exisiting trails in the Island Park area as my test case.

 

[ADRENALINE]

Wildly different from your previous suggestion.
Maybe its just because I am not at all familiar with this software, but it sure seems slow to move in and out as I am looking for landmarks.

Thanks for the suggestion, their maps a LOVELY to look at, but I think i will stick with Google Earth for the time being as I try to map out the known exisiting trails in the Island Park area as my test case.

Agreed, that map was probably not a good choice. It has layers that you can add/remove dependant upon what terrain you choose to have. It is very slow even on a fast connection. Takes a while to get used to.....

Your enthusiasm for this must be extensive! I don't ride trails for the most part.....just boondock but I can understand the need for a good map in populated areas.

 

[Ex-Member]

Might be worth lookin for GPS tracklogs from the area....

 

[christopher]

Your enthusiasm for this must be extensive! I don't ride trails for the most part.....just boondock but I can understand the need for a good map in populated areas.

Please understand.
Its NOT that I am a big trail rider.
But I "THINK" this might have some REAL OPPORTUNITY to promote the sport and make it easier for all of us to find the sweet spots.

So far I have hand traced all of the major southern trails in the Island Park area. On the Google Map I can now Zoom in and Out to any level and follow the trails as they cris-cros through the landscape.

I like to use the trails to get to the point of embarkation
for where the REAL FUN begins. One way or the other, we all have to get from the trailer to the fun, and that often requires going down a trail or two.

Having said that.

I would LOVE to be able to look at an area that other people on SnoWest are talking about and get some sense of the Snowmobiling opportunities there from looking at any existing trails.

My problem is that I do not know the Google Earth system well enough to know how to make all of the trails I have created easily shared with everyone else. I can create the "paths" that overlay the Satellite Images, and I can save individual paths and e-mail them to someone, but I am guessing there must be a way to cluster a whole group of them together and put it up on the web for other users to download???

 

[christopher]

Might be worth lookin for GPS tracklogs from the area....

Is there a common location where people share these???

 

[donbrown]

Is there a common location where people share these???

I personally only share mine with riding buddies.

Cause I am concerned about any "accusations" made by non riders about any adverse event near our route. Like , trash, or a damaged tree.

 

[christopher]

Understood.
And that is also why this experiment is just with known established existing trails.

 

[ADRENALINE]

Please understand.
Its NOT that I am a big trail rider.
But I "THINK" this might have some REAL OPPORTUNITY to promote the sport and make it easier for all of us to find the sweet spots.

So far I have hand traced all of the major southern trails in the Island Park area. On the Google Map I can now Zoom in and Out to any level and follow the trails as they cris-cros through the landscape.

I like to use the trails to get to the point of embarkation
for where the REAL FUN begins. One way or the other, we all have to get from the trailer to the fun, and that often requires going down a trail or two.

Having said that.

I would LOVE to be able to look at an area that other people on SnoWest are talking about and get some sense of the Snowmobiling opportunities there from looking at any existing trails.

My problem is that I do not know the Google Earth system well enough to know how to make all of the trails I have created easily shared with everyone else. I can create the "paths" that overlay the Satellite Images, and I can save individual paths and e-mail them to someone, but I am guessing there must be a way to cluster a whole group of them together and put it up on the web for other users to download???

Got it now! What about starting a website where the maps could be posted seperately by region or riding area allowing the webmaster (you or whomever) to post a map that someone else has built then people could go to one spot and see maps of where they want to ride. Trailheads are usually the hardest to find (without a local sled map) which some areas just dont have. I agree, promotion of the sport and trail maps would go hand in hand.

 

[christopher]

Got it now! What about starting a website where the maps could be posted seperately by region or riding area allowing the webmaster (you or whomever) to post a map that someone else has built then people could go to one spot and see maps of where they want to ride. Trailheads are usually the hardest to find (without a local sled map) which some areas just dont have. I agree, promotion of the sport and trail maps would go hand in hand.

TERRIFIC IDEA.
Perhaps a little persuasion could be exerted on SnoWest to allow us to have a FILE UPLOADS area for just this sort of thing.

BUT.
Now I am back once again to learning HOW to make the software work better.

Now we are back to learning how to use the software better.

 

[christopher]

OK, lets give this a try.
I have my own server and uploaded the file there.

Try loading this into your GOOGLE EARTH and taking a look at it.

You should be able to ZOOM right in to MAX and see the exact details of trails.

NOTE:
This maps were done quickly using LINE SEGMENTS and not done with a tablet & pen for smooth constant radius curves!

http://www.abysmal.com/snowmobile/Snowmobiling.kmz

 

[donbrown]

OK, lets give this a try.
I have my own server and uploaded the file there.

Try loading this into your GOOGLE EARTH and taking a look at it.

You should be able to ZOOM right in to MAX and see the exact details of trails.

NOTE:
This maps were done quickly using LINE SEGMENTS and not done with a tablet & pen for smooth constant radius curves!

http://www.abysmal.com/snowmobile/Snowmobiling.kmz

worked easily for me.

Clicked on link , Google Earth opened up and put it on the terrain.

 

[christopher]

SWEET!
I had NO idea if it would even work.

So, here is the question.

Would something like that, on a LARGE SCALE BASIS be of value in planning out trips?

 

[christopher]

Anyone else give it a try?
Any comments?