I am not a GIS Expert. I'm just a guy who likes to paddle and who has spent far too much time looking at screens while trying to find and download maps. Hopefully, someone here can benefit from all those hours of eye-straining activity. I'm going to detail how I find and download Canadian topographic maps using Google Earth. I then mark up the maps with routes, waypoints, grids etc... and print maps directly from Google Earth. But, that part will have to be a post for another time.
1. Get Google Earth ProDownload Google Earth Pro:
https://www.google.ca/earth/download/gep/agree.html It is free with the license key: GEPFREE
Learn how to navigate and use it!
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Get GE Pro.JPG [ 143.38 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
2. Get the Canadian Map indexes for Google EarthThe Government of Canada has made KML/KMZ index files for use in Google Earth (a KML/KMZ file is a file that Google Earth can open). These index files include Toporama collarless map index, CanTopo Collarless index, CanMatrix 50k index and CanMatrix 250k index. There may be others but these are the ones I find most useful.
What is an index? It is essentially a grid of Canada. Each square in the grid is a map. Canada offers Toporama Maps, CanTopo Maps, CanMatrix Maps (probably others too). Cantopo is the newest, but has the least amount content for paddlers. CanMatrix is the oldest. Canmatrix maps are my favourite because they have the most detail that paddlers might find useful. But they are also dated. The other problem with CanMatrix Maps is you can not get them Collarless. The Collar is the border around a map with the legend, title, declination etc.... It is also what makes it difficult to stitch multiple maps together
CanMatrix 50k Index:
http://ftp.geogratis.gc.ca/pub/nrcan_rn ... ex_50k.kmlCanMatrix 250k Index:
http://ftp.geogratis.gc.ca/pub/nrcan_rn ... x_250k.kmlToporama Index:
http://ftp.geogratis.gc.ca/pub/nrcan_rn ... _index.kml3. Open the index files with Google Earth.In Google Earth choose File - Open - Navigate to the downloaded file.
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Open index.JPG [ 142.43 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
When you open one of these files for the first time. Google Earth will zoom out and show a view of Canada with the index overlaid. This may slow down your computer.
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350k CM index.JPG [ 272.92 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Once you have an index file permanently installed in Google Earth I recommend zooming in on the area you are interested in before opening the index layer
4. Download the Topographic Maps directly from Google EarthOnce you have zoomed in on an area and checked the index file you will see a satellite photo of the area with a grid overlaid and a number inside the grid. For example 106H10.
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grid.JPG [ 202.27 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Click on this number and you will see a preview of the topographic map. At the bottom left corner of this map preview is a link to the full download. In this example canmatrix_106H_tiff.zip.
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grid 2.JPG [ 199.8 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Clicking on this link will download a zip file of the map. During this process, Google Earth will show an error. Ignore it. The error is because Google Earth does not like zip files. Your default internet or FTP browser will also open up and start downloading the ZIP file. The Zip File contains a tiff file (image) of the map you are interested in. For those with limited bandwidth beware these files are huge. You now have your topo map!
5. OPTIONAL (and magical) Create Super Overlays in Google Earth Extract the contents of a Zip file to a folder on your computer. You should see large .tiff files in this folder. Drag one of these tiff files into Google Earth. Literally left click on the tiff file. Keeping the left mouse button pressed drag your file and drop it onto the Globe in Google Earth. Google Earth will zoom to the area covered by your map and open up a dialog window asking what you want to do with the file.
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flying ot overlay.JPG [ 196.15 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
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Create super ovelay.JPG [ 205.62 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Select 'Create Super Overlay' and follow the instructions. You now have zoomable high resolution topos in Google Earth.
Zoomed Out Canmatrix 50k Topo
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topo 1.JPG [ 195.1 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Zoomed In Canmatrix 50k topo
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topo 2.JPG [ 232.1 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
From this point, you can start creating, marking up and printing your maps directly from Google Earth. I'm not going to go into that. But, here are some screen captures of a route with Collarless Toporama Superoverlays created in Google Earth.
Route
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route 1.JPG [ 273.34 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Close up of route with route, markers and UTM Grid
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Route 2.JPG [ 222.33 KiB | Viewed 6182 times ]
Sample of a 11x17 PDF map created using Google Earth:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vOXrd ... ezAcneAwka