Personal Information:
Name: Christine Korhonen
Age: 30
Gender: female
Height: 5'4" (1.6 m)
Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)
E-mail: chris@wormguy.com
Location: Western Montana
Date: August 12, 2004

Backpacking Background:
I'm in Montana where I'm enjoying the summers and becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. I've my summer pack weight is around 19 lb (9 kg), but winter backpacking is still new to me, and my winter pack weight hovers around 25 lb (11 kg).

Product Information:
Manufacturer: National Geographic
URL: www.nationalgeographic.com
Item: Back Roads Explorer
MSRP: US $59.95
Year of Maps: 2003
System requirements: 486 DX/66 MHz or higher PC
                                  Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, or XP
                                  16 MB RAM
                                  2x CD-ROM
                                  256 color monitor

Back Roads Explorer Description:
Back Roads Explorer is an electronic set of topographic maps with road data covering the entire United States down to 1:100,000 scale.

Contents:
The Back Roads Explorer consists of 17 CDs in an accordion-style cardboard CD holder. A half sheet of paper is included explaining installation of the Explorer and directing purchasers to the electronic User Guide. A technical support e-mail address is also listed.

Installation:
The Back Roads Explorer was easy to install. I just followed the prompts. The standard installation did not include loading the disks onto my hard drive and took about fifteen minutes.   Directions for loading all 17 disks to a hard drive are included in the electronic User Guide.

Start-up:
When I started the Explorer, a welcome screen prompted me to start a new map, look for existing maps, buy maps, open the User Guide, look at a sample map, or set GPS coordinates. The welcome screen can be set to appear or not when the program is started.

First Use:
Level 1 First I opened the sample map, called US National Parks. Along the top of the screen was a title bar displaying the name of the map, magnification level, and the dimensions in miles of the area shown. The sample map opened on magnification level 1 and showed 525 x 548 miles (845 x 882 km) of the United States at the junction of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. At this magnification, all of these states fit on my 1024 x 784 screen. Level 1 uses a National Geographic reference map which looks like a wall map of the US. It has the states outlined in different colors with major cities, roads, and airports labeled. Along the left side of the screen was a narrow window for notes. Notes on the sample map included pictures and text about the National Parks. The notes were linked to clickable icons on the map. On the right side of the screen were two overview maps. The top one showed the United States, while the bottom map showed a projection of the world. Each box had an outline showing the area displayed on the screen. These outlines can be moved to quickly change the area shown in detail. Along the bottom of the screen was a status bar displacing the latitude, longitude and elevation of the location under the pointer. These windows and tool bars can be turned on and off through the View menu.

Level 2 Clicking on the map magnified it to Level 2.   Level 2 is a more detailed reference map. This map looks like a road map from an atlas and shows more cities and roads, geographic features such as lakes and streams, and the elevation of high points. Levels 1 and 2 were installed on my hard drive in the basic instillation. At level 2, Massachusetts just fits on my screen.

Level 3 Level 3 is stored on the state-specific CDs, so when I clicked a second time on the map, I was instructed to put in the appropriate CD. This CD swapping became tedious, so I will be loading the disks to my hard drive. Level 3 shows a United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:500,000 map. One inch on the screen represents 500,000 inches or nearly 8 miles on the ground (1 cm on the screen = 500,000 cm or 5 km on the ground). I found one quirk right away. To look at the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in detail, I had to put in the Minnesota/Wisconsin CD. At least the UP wasn't left out. On Level 1 and 2, some of Canada and Mexico is included, like in a road map, showing roads and cities. Level 3 only includes the United States, and Canada is a white blur. Level 3 shows county boundaries, railroads, and small islands.

Level 4 This is the most detailed level of the Explorer, showing USGS topo maps at 1:100,000. This level shows clear topo lines and vegetation. The program can zoom in more, but it just showed a tighter picture of the same map, which came out a little fuzzy.   Trying to magnify any further brought up an ad for the National Geographic States Series which includes 1:24,000 scale maps.

First Impressions:
The Back Roads Explorer seems easy enough to use so far. The maps do show back roads, so the software is aptly named. The Explorer's maps do not have enough detail to show backpacking trails, this detail is sold separately in the States Series software.

Test Plan:
During the coming months, I will test the Back Roads Explorer for usefulness. I will see if the scale of maps included is useful in planning backpacking trips. Once the CDs are loaded to my hard drive, I will test the seamless scrolling at magnification levels 3 and 4. I will check to see if the back roads I'm familiar with are included in the maps and find out if the software can estimate mileage based on distance and elevation change. I will also load maps into my Pocket PC to determine the usefulness of that feature. I will primarily be comparing the Explorer's maps to locations in Montana and Wyoming.

Read more reviews of National Geographic gear
Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen

Initial Report

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