Map ID #255, West Central, Florida, USA
Alafia River State Park (Hillsborough County, Florida) - Requires 34K
Balm-Boyette Preserve (Hillsborough County) - Requires 19K
Bay Pines/Lake Seminole/Millennium Park/Long and Cross Bayous (Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 119K.
Bishop Harbor (Manatee County, Florida) - Requires 55K.
Boca Ciega Bay (Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 43K.
Curiosity Creek Preserve (Hillsborough County, Florida) - Requires 13K
EG Simmons Park (South Hillsborough County, Florida) - Requires 45K*
Ft. Desoto Park (South Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 115K
Homosassa/Chassahowitzka/Crystal Rivers (Citrus County, Florida) - Requires 438K
Honeymoon Island (Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 96K.**
Manatee River (Manatee County, Florida) - Requires 21K.***
Myakka River Park Trails (Manatee County, Florida) - Requires 33K*
St. Pete Pier (Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 52K.
Weeden Island Park (Pinellas County, Florida) - Requires 87K
Weeki Wachee Preserve (Hernando County, Florida) - Requires 35K
Withlacoochee River County Park - Requires 13K
*The Myakka River Map is missing the river and some of the trails under tree cover. Not all of he trails and camp sites have been confirmed. It is about 50% complete. The EG Simmons map covers the park and mangrove waterways NE of the park
** The Honeymoon Island map has not had the shelters, restrooms, Mangrove tunnels confirmed. I'll make any needed corrections as soon as get on the island instead of paddling around it.
*** The Manatee River map is new and does not yet actually have the river data. I'm slowly building the shoreline South from the Skyway Bridge.
NOTICE: Due to the hurricanes of 2004 Ft. DeSoto has changed considerably. I expect Egmont Key has shifted its shore also.
Below are some additional samples of the maps. Each has far more detail in the GPS than these screen shots display. Due to this, older GPS units will redraw the maps slowly, although my eTrex Vista keeps up keep up with hiking and kayaking fine.
EG Simmons Park with the Mangroves to the Northeast.
Egmont Key Preserve with trails and major historical features labeled (now part of the Ft. DeSoto map). It's made up of 15,793 points
Click on the images to see a larger version bitmap. Unfortunately, even the larger image doesn't do justice to the detail that is displayed on the GPS.
West Central, Florida, USA
Last Updated 7-9-2009, Requires 114K of memory in the GPS
This covers the waterways from Boca Ciega Millennium Park to Bay Pines War Veteran's Memorial Park and North through Cross Bayou and Long Bayou to and including Lake Seminole. It was intended for kayaking use. You cannot paddle from Long Bayou to Lake Seminole directly, the road and spillway prevents it.
The cross and Long Bayou area should only be attempted with a positive tide, ideally at least one foot above mean. The tides in that area appear to be at least an hour behind the John's Pass tide.
The Greater Bay Pines area
Click on the images to see a larger version bitmap. This only displays about 2/3 of the actual may and at a much lower resolution than what will be in the GPS. At last count this map was made of more than 17,000 nodes (points).
West Central, Florida, USA
Last Updated 10-31-2009, Requires 35K of memory in the GPS
I visited this preserve in 2003 and was impressed at all of the quarry lakes and trails. It was my first attempt at map making. It held up well when I went back with the map and followed some trails and walked the coastline of a few lakes.
Of course, the lake sizes change quite a bit after heavy rains and during drought periods.
NOTE: This does not include the Weeki Wachee River, yet anyway
Here's the Weeki Wachee Preserve map as of 4-20-2004. There are 2,150 points making it up.
Click on the image to see a larger version bitmap.
Tampa, Florida, USA
Last Updated 12-27-2004, Requires 16K of memory in the GPS
This map was was an act of desperation. I was on a quest to finish the Going For Distance Geocache and this preserve was huge. From the parking area it's 2 miles until you get to the real trails. I couldn't find any maps that covered the bike trails, so armed with my Weeki Wachee Preserve experience I mapped it..
This is the Balm-Boyette Preserve map as of 4-20-2004. There are 2,263 points making it up.
Click on image to see a larger version bitmap.
Weeden Island is one of the few nearly natural parts of Pinellas County that remains. It has a series of boardwalks, a nature center and a canoe/kayak launch. The latter is the start of a four hour kayak trail that tunnels through Mangroves from Papy's Bayou to Tampa Bay and continues around much of the island. Parking and restrooms and water fountains are available.
Weeden Island map as of 11-23-2007.
Click on the image to see a larger version bitmap. The complete map is larger than what is shown
Homosassa Springs, Florida USA
This map was born out of the need for a detailed river map for some eventual canoeing or kayaking. Additionally, I wanted to be able to add oyster an sand bars, etc. I also have five Geocaches hidden in the area covered by this map.
The The map now covers the Homosassa and Little Homosassa Rivers from the main spring to the Gulf. Some detail and the background will be added. I also hope to add some of the channel markers as soon as I get a clear day and some good numbers.
This is a complex map with about 10' resolution. It's a little sluggish on the older units like the eTrex especially if you're zoomed way out. It kicks butt on the newer units like the 60cs. Even at the slower redraw speeds, it worth it if you need the detail.
The Hurricanes of 2004 may have altered some of the islands. The Terra Server data used for these maps was taken before the storms.
This is my most ambitious mapping attempt to date, the Homosassa River, Chassahowitzka and Crystal River maps. It's not finished yet, although it's getting closer. There are 79,807 points making it up with more to come. The image above is a small part of the current map.
The version in the combined map set contains more data than this version.
Click on the image to see a larger version bitmap.
5 miles South of Homosassa Springs, Florida
Merged in with the Homosassa River map on 8-4-2009
This is a beautiful river with minimal development on it. After I got the kayak I decided that this would be one of my destinations and a better map than I had was needed. I'll be refining this as time goes on with the goal of connecting it to the Homosassa Map. For now, it takes you from the boat launce parking lot to the Gulf with plenty of side trips.
Chassahowitzka River map as of 12-3-2007.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
