New, free maps show the Smokies in greater detail
New U.S. Topo maps are out, and the quadrangles covering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park now display trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, boundaries and other visitor information for the first time.
“Across the country, visitors to national parks will benefit from these new features on maps, but it’s especially fitting that the nation’s most visited national park — the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — is the inaugural park for the joint pilot project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service," said Kari Craun, Director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center.
The 2016 maps covering the park show six trailhead symbols, two picnic areas, several trail systems and a road that were absent from the 2013 maps. The new maps also include expanded road data, wetlands layers and incorporation of high-resolution streams and rivers.
The USGS is also working to add Appalachian Trail segments to its maps, with the goal of eventually including all National Scenic Trails.
The nationwide U.S. Topo map improvement program is nearing the end of its third three-year cycle. The new maps are available for free download from http://on.doi.gov/1bbgE1J.
