Map Resources

Several types of maps are used in developing hiking, conservation, and open space plans. This page provides a brief overview of the most important resources that are available to the public. Included below are:

GPS Maps - A class of software that allows users to use maps to navigate trails and explore areas within town.

Mass Mapper - An interactive map maintained by many agencies of Massachusetts to show information such as land usage, infrastructure, political and cultural resources, and much more.

Mass Interactive Property Map - An interactive map that shows property lines and allows a query into the ownership details of each parcel

Each of these types of maps are described below, with some examples of how they work.

GPS Applications  

Link: You can find information about these tools by querying the internet. They are most frequently downloaded from an App Store on a mobile phone.

Description: GPS Apps are used to track hikes and to explore areas of town. 

A GPS App contains a set of maps, which generally show the roads, infrastructure, topography, and trails. 

The App can track your position as you move through an area, measure your distance, time, and elevation, and provide a track of where you went. At every point you can see where you are in relation to roads, buildings, water, and trails.

The App can also allow you to plan a walk through an area. You can visually see how close you are to the track as you explore.

There are a number of good Apps available for smartphones. Two popular apps are GAIA and AllTrails. 

GAIA: Popular with hikers and bikers. Some feel it is a little more complicated to start, and many frequent users like the interface better than AllTrails. 

AllTrails covers the same basic functionality but also has a large database of user-submitted hikes with ratings that some people like to use to select hikes.

For some hikes documented by the Princeton Open Space Committee, use of a GPS App is recommended in areas where there are numeroustrails and less-than-perfect signage.

For the sake of simplicity, an example of GAIA is shown to the below.

gaia.

Screenshot from GAIA

This hike was done in the White Mountains, starting near Waterville Valley. We took the trail up to the Greeley Ponds and returned the same way. 

On the map, the green line shows the track taken, and the triangle shows the location when the screenshot was taken. In this case we were nearly back from the hike, which was 6.28 miles and was done in 3 hours and 30 minutes.

You can see roads and other trails in the area, and also the topography of the trails.

GPS Apps typically come as a free download, with an option to add features for an annual fee. The two most popular features are additional base maps (for example satellite view) and downloadable maps so that maps are available when off-line. 

Clicking on the Trip icon at the bottom provides more information such as elevation gain and loss, time moving and not moving, average speed, etc.

With this App, the user may have stored all other hikes in the area, which can also be displayed on the screen for reference purposes..

Mass Mapper

Link: Mass Mapper

Description: An interactive map of Massachusetts that allows users to zoom to a specific part of town, and then analysis based on a large number of layers, such as land usage, conservation, infrastructure, political and cultural resources, and others. See Picture 1 below.

Mass MapperPicture 1: Mass Mapper provides a map and a number of layers to navigate

Examples:

To view the land designated as open space, click on Conservation, Open Space. Then click toggle on Open space Site Labels to see the name of the parcels. 

The slide below shows the map of Princeton with Open Space and labels (admittedly hard to read), and is color coded to differentiate, for example between DCR wetlands (blue), DCR parks (green), land protected by conservation organizations like Massachusetts Audubon Societyand Princeton Land Trust (pink) and others.

Mapper Open Space

Picture 2: Open Space Map on Mapper

 

To view a more general analysis of land use,select an area of town and click on Physical Resource and Land Use. Picture 3 shows a view of the center of Princeton and the legend indicates where there is Forest, Water, Open land,residential, wetlands, etc.

Land Use

Picture 3: Land Use View on Mapper

To view an analysis of forest land in more detail, click on Physical Resources and Prime Forest Land

Forest

Picture 4 shows the results  

Picture 4 showing Prime Forest Land for the whole town of Princeton

While the maps cannot show property lines over some of the layers, by arranging the scope of the map first, and then selecting layers, it is possible to analyze a specific part of town or even a specific parcel to see how it has been coded.

The data behind the maps comes from many different sources. For example the town assessors code land use and provide information on tax parcels.

Mass Interactive Property Map

Link: Mass Interactive Property Map

Description: The Mass Interactive Property Map provides the easiest way to look up ownership information for a tax parcel. See picture 5 below.

From the initial view of the map, navigate to the area of town of interest, and click on a parcel to see the ownership information, including the address, acreage and valuation.

Interactive property map

Picture 5: Interactive Tax Map (after clicking on a specific parcel)