Mapping the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

I found this mapping exercise to be quite enjoyable. One of my favorite hobbies is looking at paper maps to plan my hikes, and playing around with Google My Maps to create a useful map of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest with different layers was a lot of fun.

I started by adding the things that I might be most interested in when looking at a map—trailheads and waterfalls being my priorities. I found that in doing so, I had a much better idea about the hikes that I'd like to do when I eventually visit the forest (which I plan to do some time in the near future).

I used Kevin Adams' book, North Carolina Waterfalls, for GPS locations of the waterfalls in the area, and the United States Forest Service website for the trailheads. I then found an overlay of the actual wilderness area on wilderness.net. I hope that after visiting the forest, I can then add more photos to specific spots to make the map even more engaging.

Though Google already provides a view of the topography and blueways, another layer I'd like to try adding after advancing my skills would be specific mountain peaks in the forest and outlines of some of the major rivers and/or watersheds.

I'm excited to have a small bit of mapping experience under my belt, and I look forward to learning more in the future.