How I Store My Trail Maps Until I Need Them

I have been talking about the makeover I did here on Must Hike Must Eat and part of that meant going back and looking at some earlier posts to see if they could be spiffed up and brought forward. The third post on my blog way back in the beginning was a DIY for how I store my maps. I confessed my obsession with maps and even though I hike and backpack with GPS now, I always take a corresponding map with me. It might be from Green Trails Maps (that I refer to often in my trip reports), Custom Correct Maps (for the Olympics) or printed specifically for off trail route I anticipate via CalTopo.

Some maps are naturally folded, like the ones from National Geographic and Green Trails, but others are designed to lay flat as they are of a smaller detail and be used more frequently with a compass where folds could lead to inaccuracies. This is an easy way to store your maps flat and re-purpose something you may already have in your home. The durable fabric of a cat food bag makes the perfect case for storing your maps once you design it into a simple pouch that will fit quite a variety of small and large-sized maps.

I spent some time updating that post to make my demonstration of how I make this handy map case that allows me to store my maps in my car flat and easy to access just the map I need without pulling all of them in and out of a tube. During the summer, it is often better for me to have my maps with me in case plans change en route (as long as I can let a loved one know of the changes). Or sometimes, I head out to visit friends and we decide to go on a hike after I have already left the house. This way, I am always prepared with what I need for navigation. Check it out and make one for yourself!

Click the picture…