*NOTE: This post has been updated to address the wholesale changes in CalTopo in 2021. You can read about these changes HERE and we have inserted links to key places in CalTopo’s training page throughout these instructions. If you notice an inconsistency, have your own tips, or find a better workaround, let us know in the comments!
For at least five years, CalTopo has been my preferred map-making platform, and I use it exclusively for personal trips, guided trips, and guidebooks. The service was launched in late-2011 by Matt Jacobs, and its functionality eventually matched and then greatly surpassed my prior go-to, National Geographic TOPO! desktop software, which has since been discontinued.
Assignment: Create a mapset using CalTopo
As part of our guided backpacking trips, clients are required to participate in an 8-part Planning Curriculum that prepares them for their trip and that can be retooled easily for their personal trips. We run the Curriculum in Google Classroom, but I’ve opted to share this map-making assignment here, since the formatting is more user-friendly and since it may have some public good.
This exercise will introduce you to the CalTopo functions that I use most often, and that other backpackers probably do, too. Like most software, mastery requires extensive use, so completing this assignment is more of a beginning than a mission accomplished.
If you can’t figure out some of the steps, refer to the CalTopo Training Webpage or leave a comment. Our clients can also pose questions to their group in Classroom.
Activate your account
If you don’t already have a CalTopo subscription, you’ll need one.
Our clients are given a free 2-month PRO subscription, and redemption details are shared in Classroom. Thanks, Matt!
To complete this assignment as written, a MOBILE account is required (currently, $20 per year). But a FREE account gets you most of the way there — in the final step, you’ll be limited to 8.5″ x 11″ sheets rather than my preferred 11″ x 17″.
1. Import a geographic file
In most cases you probably would start a map from scratch. But this assignment works better if I start you off with a partially constructed map.
Download this GeoJSON file, which has more CalTopo-specific code than a more standard and commonly used GPX file. If you are having download issues, you may have a Dropbox-blocking firewall.
Import the file into CalTopo, using the “Import” button in the top menu. Import all the data from this file.
Zoom in on Colorado. You will see part of two potential loop itineraries in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, which is in my backyard:
- Pawnee-Buchanan Loop (aka Double Bypass), a 28-mile classic among trail runners and backpackers; and,
- Triple Bypass, which is my more adventurous variant of it and which is one of my eight recommended loop runs and hikes in the Front Range.
2. Saving your work
From CalTopo: “Saved maps are maps where the data has been saved to CalTopo. On a saved map, the URL is m followed by a 4-digit code that is a unique combination of letters and/or numbers, e.g. caltopo.com/m/GSKP. The name of the map will appear in the upper left hand corner. Notice that the Details/Sharing button will also be visible again on the left side of the map viewer.”
CalTopo further states: “You may have noticed that once you save a map, there is no longer a Save button visible in the map viewer. In a style similar to other online editors such as Google Docs, changes made to a saved map are automatically synced. Anyone with access to the map will also see any changes made as long as they have a data connection.”
Choose a map name. Personally, I name my maps by trip date (e.g. 2020-07 Yosemite, 2020-08 San Juans) so that they can be sorted in this order.
You need not change the share settings, but it’s worth pointing out that by default your map is publicly available. If you’re planning something top-secret or using proprietary data, it should be made completely private.
All edits hereafter will be auto-saved.
3. Map layers
Select “Forest Service 2016” from the available mapping/imagery layers, using the drop-down menu in right frame, or in the upper-right corner if you have closed that window.
FS Topo 2016 is the best layer for the Indian Peaks Wilderness, and USFS lands in general. In many other areas, I use the “Scanned 7.5” layer, which has digital scans of the discontinued USGS 7.5-minute paper quads.
While you must select a single base layer for your printed maps, other layers can inform your route planning and map making. So utilize them.
4. Objects
Objects is the umbrella term for Lines, Markers, Polygons and other features that can be added to your name. They can be created and edited in several ways:
- Select the orange ‘Add’ button in the top menu seen in the image above.
- A left-click or right-click will generate a sub-menu, though that now has limited options. It’s best to click ‘Add’.
As a general comment, it’s much easier to work with objects (especially lines) if you have a mouse.
4a. Lines
In this step you’ll learn to draw, extend, and join lines. These keyboard/click tips will help:
- Click ‘Add’, and select ‘line’ to draw a line
- Shift+Click to draw a freehand Line. Without a mouse, this operation is difficult.
- While drawing a Line, you can alternate between regular and freehand;
- Double-click to end a Line or click on the checkbox in the upper lefthand corner.
- ESC to undo.
- When drawing a Line, you often will see highlight-yellow tracks on your screen, which are based on open source geographic data. You lay your Line atop these tracks by clicking on the track and then clicking on another point somewhere along the track.
Next, select one of the two itineraries: Pawnee-Buchanan or Triple Bypass. In this step, you’ll close the loop between upper Buchanan Creek and Pawnee Lake.
- The Pawnee-Buchanan Loop goes downhill to the confluence of Buchanan and Cascade Creeks, and then uphill to the lake.
- Triple Bypass goes up Thunderbolt Creek and over Paiute Pass, and then drops precipitously to Pawnee Lake.
Extend the existing Line, “Brainard to Thunderbolt,” to Pawnee Lake. If you follow the trails, you can snap-to the underlying trail data; if you go off-trail, you’ll have to make your own route.
Join this extended Line with the other existing Line, “Pawnee to Brainard.” Note for the future: The join-to Line must have a name, or it will not show up as an option.
Rename the completed loop by its full name (i.e. Pawnee-Buchanan or Triple Bypass).
Add a Line to either Crater Lake or Point 12113, in the event you have time for a side trip. This Line could be integrated with your main loop using the split and join tools, but you can leave it as a standalone Line for the sake of this exercise.
4b. Vertical profile
Bring up the vertical profile of your completed loop, using the left-pane or the line-click menus.
Keep the Profile open for the next step.
4c. Markers
Add a new marker where you expect to camp each night. Specifically, use the “Tent” icon. You’ll need to click on the red dot in the marker edit box to change the red dot to a tent icon:
- On night 1, around Mile 11 identify a nice-looking area that is flat and semi-forested, and has water nearby;
- On night 2, stay at the obvious feature around Mile 19.5 (if you selected Pawnee-Buchanan) or Mile 15 (if you selected Triple Bypass).
- Name these Markers, “Night1” and “Night2” or similar.
Slide your mouse along the vertical Profile for mileage markers.
4d. Folders
Create a new Folder, and name it “Campsites.”
Move your campsite Markers into this Folder, out of the default Folder, named “Markers.” This can be done by:
- Categorizing Markers (and other Objects, like Lines) when they’re first created;
- Editing them afterwards; or,
- In the left pane use the “Bulk Ops” feature, which is a huge time-saver when moving or editing multiple objects.
Un-select the Folder, “Side trips,” which will make its objects disappear, both on your current screen and in the upcoming print-view. If you were really planning to do one of these itineraries, you may want to include these Lines on your maps, but I want to demonstrate that in CalTopo you can hide data to clean up the screen and your printed maps.
5. Print your mapset
“Print” by clicking the old-school printer icon on the left of the map screen and then “Print to PDF or JPG.”
A new print-view window will open with print-specific options. Select:
- 11 x 17 paper
- 1:24,000 scale
- Geospatial PDF
Make a mapset of your entire route with two Portrait pages. Move the print windows over your route using the center red dot.
When you’re ready, select the “Generate PDF” button. Your map set will load in another new window, with the loading speed depending on your internet connection, number of pages, and underlying geographic data.
Save the PDF to your local device, so that you can print it at home or upload it to FedEx Office Online (my pick). Clients should submit their PDF to Classroom for review.
Leave a comment
- Where are you getting hung up, or what’s not clear?
- What other CalTopo functions — both basic and advanced — should be added to this assignment?
Here’s my latest CalTopo rabbithole shytshow, haha
https://caltopo.com/m/AJ10
Good assignment. I’m sure there are others, but a while back I found this guy’s overview and tutorials to be a great intro to CalTopo:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPCYmO5NZE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbvB_oePau4
I’d love to learn more about methods to search for gpx tracks in a given area of interest (using Gaia and/or Caltopo public tracks), and how to integrate them into your own Caltopo project.
I’ve also had problems with exporting Caltopo maps into Gaia. I haven’t tried the CalTopo mobile app yet. This issue arises in scenarios where I want to download multiple gpx tracks for the same area. It is easy enough to give each track a different name and color in CalTopo, but when I download the tracks in Gaia, that information doesn’t seem to translate– colors are switched and names of the tracks are hard to identify. Not sure if there is a solution to this problem.
Thanks you for this practice set. Really helped to add to my basic CalTopo skills. Wondering whether the profiles that can be displayed can also be printed on our maps. Would be a nice navigation support feature for to highlight elevation and mileage together with the map set especially for cross country travel. Thanks again for how much you are willing to share with us.
You can print the vertical profile separately, but it cannot be overlaid atop a map.
When we did the JMT last year, I found it useful to export the elevation profiles to PDF, and store them on my phone or Kindle for reference in the field. Each tentative day’s travel represented a line on the map, so I could then export an individual PDF for each day’s profile. Even though we didn’t always camp exactly where we said we would, it was useful for day-to-day planning to make sure (1) we knew what each day’s elevation profile would look like, (2) make sure we’re roughly on schedule. Since it wasn’t mission-critical, and I referred to them less often than the maps, I didn’t feel the need to actually print them out.
I just noticed that it looks like you can also export a single profile page that has all the profiles for a given set of lines overlaid on each other. It’s accessible from the Bulk Ops link. I haven’t used that feature before; it might be useful for printing when you don’t want to print unreasonable amounts of paper for elevation profiles…
Do you find the 40 page export limit to be acceptable? Have you compared printing from CalTopo with printing from Gaia? It would be great if only 1 subscription (one service) were needed.
In recent years, most of my trips have been 75-150 miles (with a LOT of vert). I’ve never reached the 40-page limit, even though I’m printing at 24k scale (1 inch equals only 0.38 inches).
Oh is it 40 pages per export, instead of 40 pages per year? If I only wanted one subscription is printing from Gaia decent or is CalTopo the clear winner?
I can’t speak to Gaia’s print feature because I bought into CalTopo years ago and haven’t felt compelled to explore other options. When you’ve invested 30 hours in a single map (no exaggeration for some of my routes), you end up committed to that platform. But maybe another reader can chime in.
I’ve been playing with CalTopo, and I’m curious if you know of any way to get magnetic north grid lines on a map?
Why would you want to do that?
In theory, the lines change every day, because the location of magnetic north changes every day. (It would be imperceptible most days and even years.)
The better approach here is to simply learn how to adjust for declination. Watch this video and practice, https://andrewskurka.com/map-compass-adjust-for-declination-orient-the-map/
I am starting to get into orienteering racing and they use simple thumb compasses. I have been using maps created by others that have magnetic north lines for orientation. (Basically rotate body till needle is parallel to those lines.) I am looking to create my own maps and magnetic north lines would be great. Otherwise you would be kind of guessing on declination since the thumb compasses don’t have any type of adjustment possible.
Here is an example map:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5acf7804c3c16aca1ecdd8c3/t/5e9e78afe188753f74b526a8/1587443890813/2020+april+YFC+Long+%281%29.pdf
The only technique I’ve seen is to use a protractor (or use a baseplate compass as a protractor) to draw a reference line for magnetic north on the map and extend it with a ruler, simply using the width of the ruler to space additional parallel lines.
I did some digging and it looks like they have been using this:
https://www.ocad.com/en/
Probably too orienteering specific to be of much interest to readers of this blog, but thought I would throw it out there.
I just add a few bearing lines for 0 magnetic north, about 50% transparent.
I also found the slope angle shading feature to be useful for drawing the lines on the off-trail route. It helped give me a clue to go around the east side of the lake instead of the west side just north of the pass. (and, in general, try not to go on anything too steep.) It turns out when I looked at your Strava link later, that’s what you did, too. I noticed the west shore had a short section of blue and grey (> 50 degrees), so I wondered if it might be more impassable. (Plus, staying on the east side avoided a water crossing on the lake’s outlet.)
I️ use the slope shading for winter time and identifying avalanche areas. It is very helpful, since we rarely are on a “trail”.
I do not see an import button to get the JSON files into Caltopo. Is using Firefox a problem, or just my inadequate computer skills?
Caltopo has been my go to program, a since 2014. Our SAR teaM, also uses it a lot.
I use the daylight feature a bit, on shorter backpacking trips. It helps me identify how late we can sleep in, in a specific location. The sun is usually in different locations in the sky throughout the year, so this saves a lot of thinking on where it will be. It’s also good, because we can identify approximate time, when the sun hits the tent.
I️ use the satélite map to identify the locations to select for camping. Finding open areas and such is very useful. Overlaying contours on a satélite map is useful, assuming you are good with topo maps.
Don’t know if it was a glitch or something I did, but at one point one of my lines lost its ability to be edited (little pencil tool disappeared). I reloaded the page and it resolved…
That occasionally happens. A refresh will bring everything back.
Lets just hope I am on the right path (no pun intended).
https://caltopo.com/m/GLQF
I think adding Lat/Long hashes to printed maps could be recommended. All of the smaller scale maps have them or UTM grid. For example you are hiking off-trail in a more forested area (bushwhacking), for example the White Mountains in New Hampshire or the Adirondacks in upstate NY. You could print out Lat/Long lines or UTM grid to help navigate with a GPS device like a GPS watch or inReach Mini. I know you can use your phone in these situations but what if the battery is dead or it broke or you lost it. It seems like such a small thing, that takes relatively little real estate off the map sheets, to add for an extra tool to help you navigate in certain situations.
As a battery-powered device that’s not (yet) physically tethered to our body, the phone is most definitely vulnerable to dying or being left behind. But I think the combined risk of that happening AND you absolutely needing GPS (as opposed to being able to make it happen with your other tools like the paper paper, compass, watch, and altimeter) is pretty low.
There is no wrench on the home screen in the CalTopo app on my phone. I have the pro subscription. I have an iPhone SE (the newer version). I don’t know what the problem is.
https://caltopo.com/m/RV9NB
Here is my map – certainly not my best work. This was my first time using CalTopo – certainly not the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I’m not pleased with the final result and MIGHT go back in the next 30 days to re-do it, but for now, as late as it is already, this is what I’m submitting. I did struggle (and never found it) how to join lines – hence 3 different “lines”.
maybe you couldnt join them because you didnot NAME the LINES. With no name, there is no join feature. It helps to change colors to visualize each line too…
Maybe include how to upload mapsheets from tiff images and from jpeg images. This practice was good, I wish I had done this before to learn as quick
Some minor feedback…
I was confused for a while by this instruction: “Next, select one of the two itineraries: Pawnee-Buchanan or Triple Bypass.” Given the user interface instructions throughout, a reasonable interpretation of the word “select” here would be “click”. (Other places in the document do use “select” exactly that way.) So I kept looking for those itinerary names on the map so I could click one to select it. I eventually realized that here “select” means “decide”. Suggest rewording: “In this step, you’ll close the loop between upper Buchanan Creek and Pawnee Lake. You can decide to do this in one of two ways:”
It was not obvious how to extend a line as CalTopo has buried that feature, and Caltopo’s own video on extending a line (https://training.caltopo.com/all_users/objects/existing-lines#extend) is out of date: the “Extend” command is no longer visible when you first click on a line. In the latest design, you need to click on a line, then click Modify in order to expose the Extend command.
I assume CalTopo at some point in the distant past showed folder icons or something next to folders? At the moment, there’s no indication at all that the headings in CalTop’s left pane are folders. When asked to “unselect the folder, ‘side trips’”, it took a while to notice that one of the headings was called “Side Trips”, and realize that that was a folder. Maybe clarify that “folders” are headings?