Map Help

mf11

Hi, can anyone please let me know which OS maps are best to buy - Landranger or Explorer. I think the Explorer ones have off-road trails marked on but not sure if they show national / regional on-road routes (which I think the Landranger series does). Really don't want to have to buy two maps so hoping the Explorer series shows both types of route.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Michael.

adifiddler

What will they be used for. And will they be used for road or off road riding.

Landranger are 1:50000 maps that's 1 km to 2 cm. These are great for road riding and touring as the map covers a greater area. These show the National and regional cycle network.

Explorer are 1:25000 maps that's 1 km to 4 cm. Great for walking and off road cycling. They show the same information but a greater detail. They also show public access information like Right to roam, Long distance paths, National cycle routes and they also show visitor attractions. This information can be useful to some but can get in the way for others.

Harveys do some great cycling road, off road and touring maps which are great but they are 1:40000 scale which is a nice scale but can cause some confusion. Harvies do not cover the whole of the country but cover many of the traditional cycling areas.

http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/acatalog/HARVEY_Cycling_maps.html

If you are wanting to eat up the miles on road i would go for the Landranger as it means carrying less maps for your route but if you are planning to explore off road then the explorer is better.

If you want very detailed mapping for a specific area such as your local forest i can point you to a local supplier of 1:5000 and 1:10000 OS maps which cover 3x3 km , 5x5 km and a couple of other sizes but because OS charge for the amount of data on each map they can work out quite expensive and they are printed on large format inkjet printers so are not as robust as standard maps. They are great mounted on the wall showing your favouret off road ride though.

If you have any more questions on mapping please feel free to ask or drop me a PM.

Hotblack Desiato

Explorer is the one to go for. It's 1:25,000 and shows national trails and recreational paths as opposed to the Landranger which is only 1:50,000 and has less detail. The waterproof Explorer Active is the best option.

The only downside to the Explorer is that it covers a smaller area than the Landranger.

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mf11

Great, thanks for the help guys.

Michael.