24k maps for SF Bay Area (or any metro area...)

[berkeley bottle boy]

I'm looking at GPS units (specifically ifinder expedition, h2o c & garmin 60cs). They seem very similar with the difference being what maps you can download.

Garmin: MapSource Topo ~$90 100k scale
Lowrance: MapCreate ~$90 100k scale

100k maps are great for driving but not for backwoods streams and the like. So I want 24k maps for selected areas.

Who sells 24k maps for metro areas? Garmin's Parks maps are ok for what they cover -- but they don't include things like the Stanislaus National Forest! I can't find any citation of 24k maps for the Ifinder.

National Geo- Topo! has better coverage, but I understand those display only on the PC and can't be downloaded to the GPS itself.

Now it looks like these public domain maps are actually what I want:
http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/
but that site is pretty thin on the help -- can someone confirm if indeed those are maps that I can d/l, and then u/l to a garmin gps?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

iFinders are great receivers if there are Lowrance maps that satisfy your needs. I do mean, Lowrance maps - AFAIK there are no 3rd party maps for Lowrance.
Garmins are good and you may be able to find 3rd party maps that of the type you need.
You are correct, NG Topo are for computer display, not for loading into a typical GPS receiver.
AFAIK, most of the maps at the cgpsmapper are in IMG format - that is ready to be loaded into a Garmin receiver.
Keep in mind that the quality and usability with vary with the source data used by the author so, there is no guarantee that they will show exactly what you want.

 

[berkeley bottle boy]

That helps a bunch. Thank you Andrew.