There’s nothing more serendipitous than stumbling across an old road bed while bushwhacking. But you don’t just have to rely on blind luck. With a combination of modern satellite imagery and historical USGA topo maps, you can incorporate such features into your route planning.
In the following video, Ryan Jordan demonstrates:
- how to find and use historical USGS topo maps in Gaia GPS
- how to identify person-made features in satellite imagery
- how to use Gaia GPS layers to confirm your suspicions about possible routes of least resistance
Editor’s Note: This video was shot before we released our First Look review of the Tarptent Dipole Li 1 and 2, so that’s why you’ll notice it blurred out in the video. If you missed that review, check it out here!
And don’t miss our How to Use Gaia GPS Masterclass for more tips like this!
![YouTube video](jpg/hqdefault-13.jpg)
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Related Content
- enroll in our How to Use Gaia GPS Masterclass (free for unlimited members)
- watch the related video: How to Use Gaia GPS Slope Angle Overlays & Satellite Imagery to Plan Off-trail Routes
- listen to our Digital Route Planning podcast episode
- read our How to Plan a Backpacking Trip Trailhead
DISCLOSURE (Updated April 9, 2024)
- Product mentions in this article are made by the author with no compensation in return. In addition, Backpacking Light does not accept compensation or donated/discounted products in exchange for product mentions or placements in editorial coverage. Some (but not all) of the links in this review may be affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and visit one of our affiliate partners (usually a retailer site), and subsequently place an order with that retailer, we receive a commission on your entire order, which varies between 3% and 15% of the purchase price. Affiliate commissions represent less than 15% of Backpacking Light's gross revenue. More than 70% of our revenue comes from Membership Fees. So if you'd really like to support our work, don't buy gear you don't need - support our consumer advocacy work and become a Member instead. Learn more about affiliate commissions, influencer marketing, and our consumer advocacy work by reading our article Stop wasting money on gear.
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