National Geographic TrailSmart 15 Major National Parks of the USA

Great hiking adventures begin with the best maps. TrailSmart features up-to-date National Geographic Trails Illustrated national park maps. Each map is a guide with trail, trailhead, campsite, hiking, safety, and trip-planning information.

TOPO!GPS is the next generation of map engines. Its powerful and easy-to-use suite of features gives outdoor enthusiasts and visitors to the national parks the ultimate interactive map. TOPO!GPS includes all of the features of TOPO!. In addition, GPS users can upload and download position and route information directly to a hand-held GPS receiver.

That said, there are some pretty big problems with using the program for anything other than printing trail maps.

In the license agreement the maps you build, save, and print are referred to as "reproductions":

- Reproductions are only for in-house, in-business, or intra-organization purposes
- National Geographic Holdings is leasing the reproductions to you; you do not own them
- All reproductions must include copyright notices indicating that the maps are owned by NGH
- Distribution of printed reproductions (for in-house use as mentioned above) is ok, but for digital reproductions you must contact NGH and get a supplemental license in writing

So, you can lease and print very nice hiking maps for use within your house, business, or company. Using the maps on web sites (even internal ones) or other digital documents is forbidden without entering license negotiations with NGH.


Highly recommended for the average bacpacker   February 5, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

In my opinion, this software is great, especially for a backpacker who just wants to use a GPS as a "toy". There are 15 major national parks with 4 map views and more than adequate zoom capabilities. In addition, it is possible to create your own routes (by drawing them with your mouse), obtain elevation gains/losses, and automatically create and upload up to 30 waypoints per route to your GPS. There is a search engine to find various points of interest (mines, cemetaries, overlooks, etc) off the beaten path that will give you an exact waypoint to go exploring with a GPS unit. For the average person who likes the seclusion of the backcountry of national parks, who for the most part stays on the trails and assigned backcountry campsites, and who wants to use a GPS, this program is perfect.


Important Upgrade Available   August 22, 2002
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

According to the specifications this product is only available for Windows 95, 98, or NT and supports just a few GPS devices. But it is based on the same program (Topo) used in National Geographic State Series, which is compatible with windows 2000, XP and 60+ GPS receivers. You only need the free Topo upgrade available at Nevertheless, TrailSmart series was created by scanning Trails Illustrated maps, so don't expect the quality of USGS maps found in the State Series. In my opinion trails don't have enough accuracy in this product (I tried Yellowstone).


Excellent Inexpensive Jump into Maps on Computer   December 5, 2001
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Excellent Maps on CD for Zion National Park. Also includes Arches, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Denali, Yosemite, etc. If you have a color printer, with a little effort and computer saavy you can print out trip specific maps real slick. Easy to use.

If you are looking at an inexpensive way to jump into the marvelous world of maps on CD, this is one of the best ways to jump in. Buy that 11x17 color inkjet printer, and you'll never buy an actual topo again.


Excellent planning tool and a money saver   May 6, 2000
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I highly recommend the main series of Topo! CD sets. For the price of ten quad maps, you can have about half a state's worth of maps. I have "Seattle" and "Oregon," which together cover every bit of Cascades from the CA border north to Stevens Pass WA. I'll be adding the N Cascades CD to my collection soon. Note: From my HP Deskjet 855, the print quality is not good enough to read the elevation numbers and similar details at 100%. The interface leaves something to be desired, but it works. (May 2000)