Best Taiwan map with elevation info?

Hi,

Who knows of a good source for a handy map of the whole of Taiwan that has at least basic elevation info? I’m not really looking for a topo map as much as a good country-wide road map with elevations.

Slightly different issue: I’ve seen references here to some map that uses utility pole(?) ID numbers (or something) to give very accurate locations within Taiwan. Even though this won’t answer the question above, it might be useful for other purposes. Any idea where to get this map?

Thanks,

Seeker4

Come on … aren’t there any “map people” out there??? :sunglasses:

Have you checked the map threads? You might find something useful here:

[Topographic Maps of Taiwan
[Best Northen Taiwan Map?
[Online Taiwan Maps

Btw, the Search function is working!

HTH
Iris

I just bought some maps for doing some bush-walking in a couple of weeks, from the outdoor shops on Zhongshan North Road, beside the train station. You might find what you’re looking for there. There are very detailed topographic maps with all roads, paths, 4wd tracks on them, plus gps positioning. Only problem might be they are in Chinese. The maker is Sun River,

sunriver.com.tw

supernaut

So I take it that no one has come across any type of road map of Taiwan in English?

There are plenty of English road maps available at Eslite but they are fairly basic. they won’t show topography or elevation. However, for the purposes of simply driving around Taiwan they are more than sufficient. I have driven around the country using only basic maps. Unless you want to go on obscure mountain roads there aren’t that many routes through the country.

Get a basic English map with place-name characters on it so you can compare it to a more detailled taiwanese map. Remember that roads in Taiwan are all numbered so it is not hard to follow them. The only trouble is finding the entrance to some roads (signs are not always clear if they are pointign to the turnoff directly in front of you or to the next possible turn-off) and the fact that in the countryside you can drive for a lond time without seeing a road sign. It is invaluable to drive with a compass so you can check to make sure you are at least going in the right direction.

[quote=“supernaut”]I just bought some maps for doing some Bush-walking in a couple of weeks, from the outdoor shops on Zhongshan North Road, beside the train station. You might find what you’re looking for there. There are very detailed topographic maps with all roads, paths, 4wd tracks on them, plus gps positioning. Only problem might be they are in Chinese. The maker is Sun River,

sunriver.com.tw

supernaut[/quote]

Also be careful about trusting everything you see on the maps. I have used the big sunriver Complete Formosan Road Atlas and found it not always accurate when it came to obscure mountain roads. Some off this is inevitable given the damage from earthquakes and typhoon.

By the way, did the hiking maps cover the entire island or just selected areas? And when were they made? There has been an immense amount of work done around the island in the past two years to expand old trails, and forge new ones. In addition, many trails are being let to go to seed. If the maps are pre-921 I would not trust everything you see. Too much has changed in recent years.

Try looking here: jidanni.org/geo/taipower/howto_en.html
I’ve used the info there to convert the ID number to a GPS location - but I’ve never seen a map with those ID numbers (it claims Sunriver’s maps do this)

When were the maps made? umm. good question… Both the ones i got were published in 2004 - 11. They cover selected areas at a scale of 1:50,000. It’s the M-series, which cover the central mountain range fromjust south of Taipei to the bottom of the island in 25 over-lapping maps.

supernaut

Shit. I wish the whole series were available in jpg like this one. It’s very easy to import it into my 3D mapping / logging software like SeeYou or CompeGPS…

I’d like to jump into this conversation with a comment and some questions.
I have three very detailed maps from Sun River which have been useful for exploring areas in Laiyi and Chun Rih townships, but what I could really need is a more generalized map showing trailheads and as much topographic info as I can afford. My main interest is day hikes, and not just the ones in the Central Mountains. I’ve been stumbling around Southern Taiwan using printouts from Google Earth, and then scouting around for trailhead signs: there has to be a better way.

Question: Has anyone purchased the Sun River Taiwan Atlas? I’ve clicked through to the English language description of it, sunriver.com.tw/map_01.htm , but have come away more confused than elightened. To wit:

[i][color=#0040BF]Four functions, and explore the real Taiwan

To read the hieroglyphics Earth: Landform faithful ‧ detailed anatomy
Review the history of style: old names Bricks ancestors witness the reproduction of endemic ‧
Embrace the natural context: a taste of the original forest Heung best style guide ‧
Recreational think tank Action: Information rich ‧ moving lines clearly, avoiding plug Collection
[/color][/i]
:bow:

I’m going to Taipei in a couple of weeks, so if anyone could point me to some places where I might peruse, then buy some maps, I’d be much obliged.
-h

Buy a Garmin GPS (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Dakota-Waterproof-Hiking-GPS/dp/B002G1YPIO) then it comes with Taiwan Topo map and the MapSource software.

Everything that you could need.

Well, three years later and here we are again. I forgot about this thread but I did end up with a Garmin Dakota 20 for biking and hiking.
Does anyone have info about the Garmin Taiwan Topo series? How does it look on the screen? Screenshots?
Alternately, I’ve downloaded and installed some free maps from OSM (Open Street Map) which are surprisingly good considering the price of admission. They’re updated weekly, optimized for GPS, and routable for cycling.
The Dakota has a mini-SD slot which I keep extra maps on, and I can toggle them on or off. I’ve got the utterly crap World Base Map which came stock. I’ve got Velomap Taiwan and Openmtb.org which were a pain in the ass to install, and I’ve got the OSM generic routable map.
I’m almost where I want to be. If I had a map with shading and some contour lines, I’d be very pleased.

Update 12-04-13
I’ve become involved with the Open Street Map project, uploading GPX tracks from my devices and using them to add map data. I ride my bike, upload the GPX tracks to the OSM server, then use a javascript editor to make changes to the master map. A week later, the improved map can be downloaded and viewed on my GPS. Very cool.
I paid USD$20 for a membership to velomap.org, which has a series of bike-specific maps rendered from OSM data. They’re optimized for GPS use, updated weekly, and include the option to download a file containing contour lines.