GPS Trailhead Coordinates for the Whites

[Casual Hiker]

Does anyone know if there is a single collection of GPS coordinates for trailheads in the Whites? I know I can get them from the AMC online WMG, but when I download them they are each in a separate file. I've found some online sites that list the coordinates, and I've manually entered these in my Garmin, but there has to be a better way. I'd love to find a POI file I can just download if such a thing exists.

I'm an accountant, and I basically just like data; I'd like to have as complete a collection as possible for purely geeky reasons. I've tried searching this site, and I've also used the advanced google search without complete success. I'd appreciate any help that can be provided! I physically know where the trailheads are, and I just think it'd be cool to have them show up on my GPS when I'm driving by.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Does anyone know if there is a single collection of GPS coordinates for trailheads in the Whites? I know I can get them from the AMC online WMG, but when I download them they are each in a separate file. I've found some online sites that list the coordinates, and I've manually entered these in my Garmin, but there has to be a better way. I'd love to find a POI file I can just download if such a thing exists.

I'm an accountant, and I basically just like data; I'd like to have as complete a collection as possible for purely geeky reasons. I've tried searching this site, and I've also used the advanced google search without complete success. I'd appreciate any help that can be provided! I physically know where the trailheads are, and I just think it'd be cool to have them show up on my GPS when I'm driving by.

This isn't quite what you want, but I created this list a while ago.

http://viewsandbrews.com/nh/white.html

All the coordinates are in 1 file if that helps.

Feel free to download the source html and play around with it.

 

[TenPeaks]

I can't help you with a list of coordinates, however there's an easier way to get the trailhead details into your GPS than entering them one at a time. I've used the program EasyGPS in the past to organize coordinates into one convenient file. There are other programs out there like this one, but I liked the simplicity of EasyGPS and the fact that it was free

 

[Will]

Does anyone know if there is a single collection of GPS coordinates for trailheads in the Whites?

Pointing and clicking on the AMC maps in any mapping software would get you a complete set of trailhead points in about 10 minutes, after calibration. The AMC is to be commended for publishing the projection data. Who says Joy Street can't do anything right?

Obviously the USGS quads, already digitized, make this even easier if you (as I would expect all Whites' lovers do) have a compiled borderless set of the entire Whites on their computers in a single calibrated file. But trails were never the priority of the USGS quads (and thus lost in the clutter), and even with that disclaimer the trails are frequently missing or grossly mis-plotted and/or out-dated. The AMC maps are the gold standard in this respect (though if I were dying of thirst I think I'd rather, marginally, have a USGS topo to lead me to water).

 

[sardog1]

GIS vector layer with WMNF hiking trails

The WMNF has actually published a GIS vector layer of all the hiking trails IN (not "on"!) the Forest. This is not merely the often-outdated trails you find on the USGS topo sheets. This is the real deal, with trail names and other stuff in the metadata.

The layer and other WMNF GIS data are discussed in this thread from last fall: Updated WMNF GIS Data Layer

 

[Casual Hiker]

Thanks

You've all given me something to play with. I appreciate it.

 

[Will]

Pointing and clicking on the AMC maps in any mapping software would get you a complete set of trailhead points in about 10 minutes, after calibration ... The AMC maps are the gold standard in this respect [trail plotting]

Well I tried my own advice, but the maps themselves are simply not capable of being finely calibrated. Best I could get was a 30-40 foot random variance, not useful, and even that took a lot of pragmatic fudging.

Wondering why this was so, I started looking at the AMC maps intrinsically. Simply checking a bunch of their lat/long points against known references, I found occasional discrepancies of 200-400 feet. This is way beyond projection or datum variance. Makes using the maps as a source of precise data like writing on flowing water.

I still believe the trails, themselves, are well recorded. Based on the people involved, the care taken, and the technology used. But they are plotted on a questionable background, and thus it's hard to see how they could be used as a source for data points as I had suggested.

As AMC members we paid for the GPS trail tracks, but obviously we can't be given them, or even have the opportunity to buy them, I suppose.