" With the high-definition mapping on our 24K TOPO product, hikers and hunters can have more confidence navigating in America’s pristine national parks and forests," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's director of marketing. "When the data is loaded on select Garmin GPS devices, users will be able to look up the nearest ranger station, view the grade and contour of a particular ridge and navigate along a trail. The end result is less worry and more enjoyment of the outdoors."
The vector-based mapping on the 24K TOPO CD consumes less memory on the GPS device and provides the user with object-oriented data. So users can simply scroll over a location and get information about the elevation of a peak, the name of a trail or information about one of the points of interest on the electronic map. Users can search the points-of-interest database to find various park amenities such as visitor’s centers, picnic areas, wilderness campsites, scenic overlooks, ranger stations, restrooms, boat ramps and lodges.
The first version that Garmin will offer is the Western national parks, including those in Hawaii. More than 40 of America’s most popular national parks and recreational areas are included on the first CD.
The data will be compatible with a wide array of Garmin GPS devices with mapping capabilities, such as the GPS V®, Rino® 120, eTrex® Legend and Vista, GPSMAP® 76 and 76S, eMap® and GPS III® Plus. Even Garmin handhelds — like the GPS 12, eTrex, Rino 110, GPS 72, Geko™ 201 and several others — without mapping attributes can transfer waypoints, routes and tracks on a PC using the CD-ROM.
The MapSource 24K TOPO CD-ROM will be available in three volumes — the Western Region, Eastern Region and Central Region. Each region will carry a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $116.65. The Western Region is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2003, while the Eastern and Central regions will follow later this year and early in 2004.