\n\tFor this exercise we will do some planning for a hypothetical trip to the Great North Woods area of Errol and Pittsburg NH.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tRouting to Trailer Parking
\n<\/h3>\n
\n\tThe first order of business is to pick a starting point, which is usually a place to park the trailer and unload.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSelect a highway or topographic map in MapSource. In this example we use the free G&F NH topographic map available on our website. Use View>Zoom out Region<\/strong> to center the map.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tHighway maps and topos often have searchable city indexes which our trail maps do not. We know that Errol is in the northern part of the state, so zoom and scroll to the northern part of the state. The find nearest places limits the search distance, so to find Errol we want to get close.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNow we can search cities for Errol. (Errol is a City? I guess so. Who would have thunk it?) . Find-> Nearest Places…<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tFound it!\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNow lets switch maps to the snowmobile trails map. Use the map drop down in the upper left corner and select Backwoods Snowmobile<\/strong>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tOne thing we see is a parking place<\/i> in the heart of the metropolis of Errol. Since it is right on Corridor 18, and there is food and fuel nearby, it's a good place to start our expedition. We will want to use our GPS to drive to the trailer parking lot in Errol, but it is unlikely that particular waypoint (or POI) is on any highway map. The solution is to create a waypoint<\/i> (or favorite) that we can reference from any<\/i> map. Select the parking lot icon, and then right click to create a waypoint<\/i><\/b>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tThe waypoint show up in the left pane, If you have a routing automotive map installed in MapSource (which I do not) you can display a route from your current location to the parking lot in Errol. That's one way to plan the driving portion of your snowmobile trip. If you download the parking lot waypoint to your GPS, you have a destination to drive right to the parking lot, calculate your estimated time of arrival and the distance using your GPSs highway map. <\/span>But the biggest benefit is that it will take you to the right place. I know for a fact that there are no signs indicating this parking lot. It is behind a snowmobile service business, and you might assume that the trailers are either for sale, or for repair, If you pull into town late in the evening, you will probably not find any locals to ask, since the town rolls up it's streets at about 7:00 pm! This one little waypoint can be worth it's weight in gold.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOk, so we have a way to get to the trailhead eliminating many of the potential pitfalls of finding a place to park and unload. The next step is to plan the RIDE our sled!\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe next step is trail route planning. Since we are parking in Errol, the first route point of our trip is the parking lot. Select the routing point tool \n\t \n\tUsually you have some idea of where you want to ride, perhaps from discussion in one of the many snowmobile discussion groups on the internet. So you have heard of a few scenic spots along the tails that you would like to visit, but you have no idea of how to get to them. One of the interesting things in Errol is the Buffalo Farm. People talk about it all the time in the discussion groups. Since it is on our trail map, lets make that a destination. Use Find-> Nearest Places -> All Points of Interest<\/strong>…\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tClick on the icon and hit OK. The Buffalo Farm map point will show up, centered in the map, We could create a waypoint for it, but there is really no need to because we will only be visiting this by sled. That map point is already on<\/i> the trail map. What we want to do is route to it by snowmobile trail, and make some decisions about whether it is worth going to as our first via point<\/i> along our ride.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIf the routing tool is still selected and the mouse pointer on the screen you will see a line attached to the mouse pointer. This means that if you click someplace on the screen, that point will become the next routing point<\/i>. If you click on a POI icon such as the Buffalo Farm map point, that point becomes the next point along your planned route. If you click on a trail, that spot along the trail becomes the next routing point. POIs are more easily distinguishable from points along the trails because they have recognizable names such as "Buffalo Farm".\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tIf you on a POI a waypoint will be created as a next routing point. Lets click on the Buffalo Farm and see what happens…\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNotice a couple of changes. First, part of the snowmobile trails (C18) turns to a purple color. This indicates that the route has been calculated to run ALONG A SNOWMOBILE TRAIL<\/i><\/strong>.! Secondly, the Routes Tab<\/strong> indicates that the total route is now 4.1 miles long. A non-routing map would only show a straight line between the parking lo and the buffalo farm (as the crow flies) and you would not have a true indication of the distance along trails between the two points. The added value of a routing map begins to become clear.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWe can learn more about this simple route. The route listed in the routes tab is active. Double click on it and a detailed window opens.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tWe note that the route is automatically given a name "Errol to Buffalo Fa"<\/i><\/strong> and it consists of two points, the parking lot, and the Buffalo Farm. We can select different colors for the route.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIf we click on the Directions Tab<\/b>, we see more interesting detail.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tThe directions expands on the via points tab in that it shows each turn along the snowmobile trails. The length of each leg and the distance between each turn is displayed. The directions\/Name column displays text for directions for that leg, and reflects to some degree what the spoken turn by turn directions<\/i> on the GPS will be. Now, we were zoomed in to the Buffalo Farm icon. To get a wider perspective of the whole route, click on the Show on Map<\/i><\/strong> button<\/i>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tAdditionally, you can right click on any item in the list and show that particular point on the map. Next we right click on our first turn<\/em> and Show it on the map.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\t \n\tNow, by repeating this process we will plan out the rest of our trip. We pick the next point on our route, take a look at the route details to see how far it is to the next point, the trails that will be taken and other interesting facts that we can use to decide if this is a good way to go. In this example, we will pay a visit to the scenic overlook at Dixville Peak. We have a POI for that location on the map so we will find it and select it with our routing tool. That makes our trip total 16.6 miles. There was no backtracking, so lets continue to the next stop. We know that the SDR warming hut is a nice place to make a quick stop for a hot cup of coffee and some lively discussion with other sledders. That stop makes our trip total 27.7 miles, and still we have not ridden the same trail twice.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tSo far so good. It is interesting to note that you can switch maps, and the route is still displayed <\/span>over any map you select. This can be very useful to see where your route takes you in the context of a topographic or highway map. That can tell us things like whether we are traversing over any high elevation trails that might have good deep snow. Lets switch to the NH topo map.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tOf course you can zoom in very close and view topography, highways, lakes and streams that are not present on the snowmobile map. Now the topo map we selected is not routing. We can right click on the route in the Routes tab and select Recalculate. This will recalculate the route in the non-routing context of the topo map. The result will be a point to point straight line route as you would see with any non-routing map. The directions are much less detailed, and the total distance is wrongly reduced from 27 miles to 16.5 miles.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNot to worry. Just switch back to the routing trail map and recalculate<\/i><\/strong>. If you had a routing highway map, then you could see how to drive by roads to near <\/em>the same route points.\n<\/p>\n \n\tNext we will route to the Buck Rub Pub for lunch, and then a quick stop at Young's to top off the gas tanks. Total trip so far about 50 miles. Not bad for a half a days ride. But we should start thinking about returning to Errol. The fastest route home might be a return on the same trails, and in fact that is the case on this trip. It is preferable to make the days ride a loop<\/strong>, and avoid riding the same trails twice, So lets head over to trail 20 and return by a more easterly route<\/i>. This time, instead of a particular POI, we will just click at a spot on Corridor Trail 20<\/i><\/b> as the next leg of our return trip. Note that if a route point is not on a snowmobile trail, it will route you some portion of the way to that point off-road (or in the case of a trail map off-trail) as the crow flies.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\t \n\tThen we will click on C 18, and then finally to the Errol Parking lot. Total miles 93.3. That's not a bad days ride. Lets take a look at the entire trip.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tWe see a nice loop where we do not do any backtracking except for the ride between the Buck Rub and Young's. I think that still qualifies as a loop. We got to see a couple of scenic points of interest along the way including the Buffalo Farm and the Wind Towers up on Dixville Peak. Lunch at the Buck Rub, and then a return to the truck. Nice. This is the essence of what trail route planning is all about. A bit of planning can really help you maximize the experience and get the most out of any trip.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWe can view the turn by turn directions, print them out and pass them along to our non-GPS equipped friends. And we can evaluate every leg of our route with distance between turns and rough estimates of arrival times and such, Similar lists of turn by turn directions are available in your GPS. While we are reviewing these sample directions we notice something. Our route includes travel over lakes and other water bodies<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNow travel over ice on lakes and streams is always a tricky proposition. You really have to be aware of current conditions, the recent weather and other variables to know whether it is safe to traverse the ice. If you are the least bit unsure, avoid it.<\/strong> The consequences can be life threatening. But what do you do if your GPS tells you to cross a lake? Simple, use "navigational avoidances<\/i><\/strong>". Avoidances are available in both MapSource and on your GPS.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOur trail map marks all ice crossings as Toll Roads<\/strong>, since there is no specific "Ice Crossing"<\/em> avoidance. Since all GPS models have a setting where you can choose to avoid toll roads, simply set that as a navigational preference and recalculate the route. You can do it in MapSource, and you can do it in your GPS.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn MapSource, select Edit -> Preferences -> Routing – avoid Toll Roads<\/strong>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tThen recalculate the route applying Toll Roads (Ice crossings) avoidances by right clicking on the route and selecting Recalculate Route as below…\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\tNow when we look at the map and the Route details, you will notice that there ARE NO ICE CROSSINGS. The route has changed slightly, and the resulting total mileage is not that much different.\n<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/backwoodsgpstrails.com\/wp3\/wp-content\/uploads\/route_01.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tCreate a universal waypoint (Favorite) to Trailer Parking
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tPlan a Route along Snowmobile Trails
\n<\/h3>\n <\/span>and click on the maps parking lot icon<\/i>. This creates the first routing point on our trip. The Routes Tab<\/b> will show 1 route and indicate the first point on that route.\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tUsing POIs as points along a Route
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tDetailed Route Directions and Turn by Turn instructions
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tDisplaying particular points along a Route
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tLather, Rinse, Repeat
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tDisplay Route on other Maps
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tA routing map knows the way, a non routing map is just a rough approximation.
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tRoute calculation occurs in the context of the current map
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\tAvoiding Lake Crossings
\n<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/span><\/a>\n<\/p>\n