Used to think old maps were useless for navigating, now I swear by them

I used to just pull up Google Maps for everything, even hiking trails (which honestly got me lost a few times). Last spring I found a 1920s topo map of the White Mountains at a flea market for $5, and it had old logging roads that aren't on any modern app. Now I overlay those old roads on my phone when I'm out exploring, and I've found three abandoned campsites that way. Anyone else find weird hidden spots from century-old maps?

2 comments

2 Comments

max47217d ago

Threw my phone away for a weekend last year and took nothing but a 1940s trail map into the Adirondacks. Got turned around twice but found an old fire tower nobody talks about anymore. Totally changed how I see navigation now. Modern apps are too clean, they strip away all the little details that actually make a landscape interesting. Old maps have character, they show you the messy reality of a place.

logan_dixon1817d ago

Ha, yeah that tracks. I did something sort of similar once with a 1950s geological survey map in the Catskills. Thought I was following a trail that turned out to be a creek bed on the map. Spent two hours bushwhacking through pricker bushes and ended up at some guy's backyard. He wasn't happy. But you know what, I found a weird little stone foundation back there that wasn't on any modern map. Old maps definitely have that chaos built into them. My phone would've just shown me a straight line to the parking lot and I'd've missed the whole thing.