I printed offline maps for my area and found 3 abandoned roads

Last month I downloaded maps from OpenStreetMap onto paper just in case cell towers go down, and I discovered three old logging roads near my cabin that aren't on Google Maps at all. Has anyone else found useful routes by going old school with paper maps?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.uma21h ago

Those three roads near your cabin might be old logging spurs from the 1950s. I read a blog post from a guy in Oregon who found a whole network of abandoned forest service roads on USGS topos that let him skip two hours of highway traffic. He said paper maps sometimes show trails that were never digitized because they got closed before GPS was common. I always check the USGS historical map viewer online before I head out now, really interesting stuff hiding in those old scans.

hannah32021h ago

Oh yeah, I actually did the same thing last summer up near Mount Baker. I found a trail on a 1962 USGS map that cut straight through a ridge and saved me about an hour of driving around the long way. It was totally overgrown but still passable with my truck, felt like I discovered a secret shortcut.

christopherh7917h ago

@hannah320 nailing it with that Mount Baker find, those old USGS maps got secret routes we all missed.