First Custom Maps Created at MapSherpa.com

The first custom route maps for Hiking Trails of Ottawa have been created, and will soon be available for purchase online at http://www.mapsherpa.com/ . Five maps have been created so far: Cycloparc PPJ, Cataraqui Trail, Stonebridge Trail, Aviation Museum, and Herridge Shelter. Each map highlights the route of the same name described in the book.

Small, black and white maps of each route will be found in Hiking Trails of Ottawa. The MapSherpa maps can be printed in colour, and provide greater detail than could be fit into the space available in the book.

If everything goes according to plan - and I am not too lazy - all 50 routes found in the book will be available on MapSherpa by the end of June.

And if you do not want any of the routes from Hiking Trails of Ottawa, you can also create your own maps of your own favoutie hike.

Sample Page

The layout of Hiking Trails of Ottawa is in its final stages, and we are starting to get the first glimpses of how the finished text will appear.

An example is shown above, pg. 24-25, the map and the first page of the Mer Bleue trail, found in the "Ottawa-City and Greenbelt" section. If you click on the image, you will get a better view of a typical section of the book. In this image you will see a map of the route described, the capsule information found at the beginning of each route description, access information and the start of the introduction that describes the particular characteristics of each route.

In addition, there is also an example of a sidebar note, a small capsule description of a particular important natural, cultural, or historical feature. There are 50 of these sidebar notes distributed throughout Hiking Trails of Ottawa.

Everything is on track for printed copies of the book to be available for the launch on June 9. I hope to see you there!