Newbie Here, Back Road Maps, Lake Maps?

Joined
Nov 30, 2007
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Is there a way to get back road maps or lake and stream maps for a tomtom one third edition? If not, what gps would I need to buy to be useful for back roads and lakes in canada?
 
TomTom's are meant for driving. What you need is a hand-held GPS used by hikers, etc. which will show back country. Garmin and Magellan are the main brand names for these units.
 
Any of the Garmin GPS'es (like the Nuvi as well as handhelds like the GPSMap 60csx) can use Garmin's Topo maps. Unfortunately TomTom doesn't seem to have any kind of topo maps; that's one of the few things which I miss about changing from a Nuvi 650.

Now here's something interesting which I just confirmed today though. I was playing with a One XLS at Circuit City, and its maps are definitely not the same as the 720 and 920T. I live out in the country on a little back road and the map on my 920T accurately shows two little lakes on my road (in fact their size and shape are more accurate on the TomTom than on either the Topo or City maps from Garmin). But the pre-loaded maps on the XLS did NOT show either of these lakes.

All the roads seemed to be there, including the little sand roads which aren't really passable. I didn't compare any other areas, but it seems like the XLS maps have been stripped of some detail. Is this done to fit them in less memory perhaps?
 
Thanks for the replies guys, that is interesting about the differences in maps. I know that on the TomTom Home software I can download 2 different maps of North America nearly the same size (900 something Mb), and I can download a Canada only map that is I think 200 something Mb. I wonder if those would have those subtle differences?

I've noticed that every single road on my tomtom ends at the point that gravel roads start. It would be nice even to just have those regularly travelled gravel roads, since there are many in some areas that I travel through. Too pricey for me to buy the maps and try it out though.

I will keep the tomtom for road trips, but look into garmin's units for the offroad. Does anyone have the canada only map on their tomtom one? Message me.
 
I've noticed that every single road on my tomtom ends at the point that gravel roads start. It would be nice even to just have those regularly travelled gravel roads, since there are many in some areas that I travel through.

I guess map coverage varies a lot. In my area (Southern New Jersey) the TomTom maps show just about all of the roads, even the little sand roads that are in poor condition. But of course they don't show elevation contours, little streams, swamps and other things you'd find on a topo map.

If you're considering getting a Garmin unit for offroad/backroad use then you can browse their maps here. Use the Mapsournce map viewer link and choose the desired map. Are you in Canada? Then you would choose the Topo Canada maps. Otherwise choose Topo US 2008:

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/ontheTrail/

However these topo maps cannot be used for routing, they just show your position on the screen. And of course they only work on Garmin GPS'es.
 
where in canada are you from?im in bc and the tomtom so far has been pretty acurate,i hada magelan roadmate and it was awful,i also have a magelan sportrak pro for off roading on my quad,i bought it used and it came with streets and offroad maps installed,not sure what version,probaly old as i bought it 3 years ago and i dont know how old it was then.it has excellent offroad maps,not topo but theres lots of lakes and streams and logging roads in my area,its very acurate on my quad too,i also have a copy of offroad maps on a cd from the makers of those mapbooks you can buy at walmoart,i cant remember what its called but its really good for offroad mapping and its gps compatable,you can load waypoints on it and such from your gps.it was pretty cheap to,40 bucks i think.
 

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