by AlmostThere » Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:51 pm
You can order them from some companies like MyTopo.
I've used Map GPS Pro to print them. The USGS quads can be downloaded some places and then printed on many smaller pieces of paper -- but if you want to actually use them with a compass, you will want things printed around the edges, like the lat/long or UTM notations, and you'll want perhaps some of the legend, for example what the current declination is for the region you are in (magnetic currents change slightly from year to year). So using software to create your own maps is best, for folks who know how to navigate with them.
If all you want is a good topo map with the trails printed on, the most up to date are Tom Harrison's -- the ancient USGS quads are updated on a glacial scale, and trails get rerouted or decommissioned over time. ALL the maps around are based on USGS quads. National Geographic's maps have some really idiotic mileage mistakes and tend to be printed at ridiculous scales that make it impossible to use them for actual navigation purposes, but make good route planning tools. Harrison and his crew actually walk the trails with a wheel and then annotate the map -- theirs are the only retail maps that have all the trails in Dinkey Wilderness, for example, because they were the only ones who put boots on the ground to see them.
Harrison also makes apps of his maps, but you SHOULD NEVER EVER rely on electronics for something so essential as navigation, because THEY ALL FAIL. Batteries die, things break, cold zaps battery life and connectivity is dicey. I speak on behalf of all SAR teams everywhere - do not replace paper maps with electronics!!!!!