canada Archives - Gaia GPS

New ATV and Snowmobile Trail Overlays from Backroad Mapbooks

by Julien Friedland November 21, 2019

written by Julien Friedland

Snowmobile trails (left) and ATV trails (right)

Known for its remote wilderness, deep winters, and endless backroads, Canada offers a trail for every type of adventurer. Now, thanks to Backroad Mapbooks (BRMB), snowmobilers and ATVers can access over 150k miles of trail maps using Gaia GPS. Color-coded trails make it easy to distinguish which trails allow your vehicle for quick planning and navigating.

This addition to Gaia GPS’s growing catalog of Canada maps allows ATVers and snowmobilers to plan the best routes using a powerful collection of over 25 overlays.

ATV and Snowmobile Trail Overlays

The BRMB ATV Trails overlay includes 69,000 miles of trails across Canada for ATVs, OHVs (Off-Highway Vehicles), motorcycles, and four-wheel-drive vehicles. The BRMB Snowmobile Trails overlay includes 90,000 miles of snowmobile trails across Canada, from BC to Newfoundland.

Color-coded trails make it easy to distinguish from multi-use, ATV and snowmobile trails. Like all Gaia GPS overlays, the ATV and Snowmobile overlays have an adjustable transparency, according to your preference.

Adjust overlay transparency

Whether you’re exploring the powder fields of British Colombia or ATVing the remote Rocky Mountain Foothills of Alberta, download these two overlays to discover new trails, pinpoint your location, and always be prepared.

Access Gaia GPS’s Full Canada Catalog

The two new layers are part of Gaia GPS’s growing catalog of Canada and BRMB Adventure overlays including; Canada Topo, BRMB Base Layer, BRMB Multi-Use trails, Wildfires and Timber Harvest overlays. Be sure to try them out and stay tuned for more updates coming from Gaia GPS and BRMB soon.

You can also read more on Snowmobile and ATV Trails overlays on the BRMB blog.

November 21, 2019

Gaia GPS New Maps

Always Be Prepared with New Canada Wildfires Overlays

by Corey Buhay September 12, 2019

written by Corey Buhay

Dodge road closures, avoid burn scars, and find views unobscured by smoke using two new Canada wildfire overlays in Gaia GPS. Using official government data, we’ve launched two big updates to bring you up-to-date information about both currently burning and historical wildfires across Canada.

About the Canada Historical Wildfires Overlay

Anytime you’re planning an adventure, it helps to have all possible insight into the terrain ahead. Many maps show vegetation cover, but they often neglect to mention burn zones. Now, you can view areas affected by fire in past years with the Canada Historical Wildfires layer. The layer color-codes burned areas with a red color gradient. Brighter-colored areas indicate more recent burns, while darker shading indicates burns that occurred in the more distant past.

All data for the Canada Historical Wildfires layer is sourced from the Canadian Forest Service.

one example of the canada historical wildfires overlay and corresponding map legend — The legend for the Canada Historical Wildfires overlay. Gradient shading indicates how recent the fire occurred.

About the Current Wildfires Overlay

We’ve also added full Canada coverage to the Current Wildfires layer. The overlay previously contained only active U.S. fires. Bright red shading indicates actively burning wildfires. Use it to predict park and road closures as well as smoke pollution, which can diminish air quality, damage lungs, and conceal both views and landmarks essential to route-finding.

The Current Wildfires overlay derives its data from a variety of official government sources. It’s updated daily as new information is made available by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Province of British Columbia, Alberta Wildfire, and the Government of Saskatchewan.

An ipad display, showing the Current Wildfires overlay in the Gaia GPS app — The Current Wildfires overlay is updated daily as government agencies make new data available.

How to Use the Canada Wildfire Overlays

Both wildfire overlays are available to all Gaia GPS users with a Premium Membership.

Look for the Canada Historical Wildfires overlay either in the Feature/Weather Overlays section or in the Canada section of the map manager. It’s listed as “Wildfires (Canada, Historical)”.

You’ll find the Current Wildfires layer listed as “Wildfires (Current)” in the Feature/Weather Overlays section, as well. Simply tap the green plus-sign next to the overlay to add it to your map.

On iOS devices, you can see the year and name of the fire—in addition to the number of hectares burned—by tapping on any shaded area.

September 12, 2019

Gaia GPS New Maps

Get Nationwide Canada Coverage With the Improved Canada Topo Map

by Corey Buhay June 27, 2019

written by Corey Buhay

We’ve just expanded our official topographic coverage of Canada to include the entire nation from coast to coast. Previously, the Canada Topo map layer only included the eastern part of the country. Now, it includes all available digitized quads produced by Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN). The level of detail has also improved, with map tiles hand-selected to include the versions that show the most roads, trails, and manmade structures.

As such, our previous map for Western Canada (Canada Topo West) has been merged into the new layer to give you one seamless base map for whole country.

Topographic map of Canada, viewed on an ipad — The updated Canada Topo map layer, as viewed in the Gaia GPS app.

How to Use the Canada Topo Map Layer

The Canada Topo base map is available to everyone with a Gaia GPS Membership. You can find it under the Canada category of the map manager.

Because Canada Topo includes roads, trails, topo lines, vegetation shading, and labeled terrain features, it works as a versatile, standalone base map. However, Premium Members can supplement the coverage with the Backroad Mapbooks Canada Trails overlay, which color-codes trails by usage and seasonality to help you choose adventure destinations easily at a glance. We also recommend using the Canada Historical Wildfires overlay to avoid being surprised by burn zones on your next trip.

June 27, 2019