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When I was still in high school I started buying USGS maps at The Indian Store in Greenville, Maine. The Indian Store is still there with new owners as the original owners were Abnakis, Native Americans from northern Maine. The maps were for the area around the Moosehead Lake in Maine and I collected as many as I could to have the complete area canvassed. Some people will cut the white margins off the maps and tape several maps together to have a larger map for the area they want. The USGS maps show topographical contours, roads, streams, ponds, rivers and lakes, and towns -- even separate buildings. However, the USGS maps I have do not show land ownership. http://www.mooseheadlakeindianstore.com/
USGS Map
I also have a couple USFS maps of Montana which I keep in my survival pack and these maps are color coded to show where Bureau of Land Management and State of Montana land sections are located. The USFS maps are larger than the USGS maps and cover a wider area but do not show as much detail of roads, buildings, etc. that the USGS provide.
USFS Map
When DeLormes came out with their first Atlas of Maine a lot of people thought they were great because they showed the detail of the USGS maps but the entire State of Maine was included in the one Atlas. There were some who criticized the first DeLormes as not being entirely up to date in regards to all the details like buildings and roads but I think that the DeLormes maps are great. Now DeLormes has Atlases for all 50 states. I have my well worn copy of the DeLorme's Montana Atlas and Gazetteer which I bought for quite a bit less than the $19.95 cover price at the Williston, North Dakota Wal-Mart. http://www.willistonnd.com/default.aspx
The DeLorme's Montana Atlas and Gazetteer divides the State of Montana up into 95 maps and there is also (on pages 48 and 49) a map of the entire State of Montana color coded to show the land ownership whether it be National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, State Land, Indian Reservation, or U.S. Department of Defense. This newer addition to the DeLorme's Atlas is invaluable to people like campers, boaters, hikers and rockhunters to show where they can expect to find public lands for their use. I have noticed that the authors of the Falcon Press Publication Rockhounding Montana are using the DeLorme's maps in their references to the various places they recommend in their book to rockhunters. http://www.ghosttowns.com/topotmaps.html http://www.wilderness-backpacking.com/how-to-read-a-map.html
I don't recommend spending a lot of money for your map collection so whichever maps you can acquire use them until you find others that might be better. One hint: when I applied to the U.S. Forest Service to be a member of one of their forest fire fighting crews in the application package they sent me were the two free USFS maps which I kept. http://nationalmap.gov/gio/viewonline.html http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/res/public_room/map_ordering.html http://www.delorme.com/
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d22-Public-Lands http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m9d21-Camping-Hints--Tics-Germs-Snakes-and-other-citters http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Camping-Hints http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m6d11-Huntin-The-Dump http://www.examiner.com/x-10832-Billings-Sightseeing-Examiner~y2009m10d31-Camping-Hints--Compass
Gregan Wortmann
USGS: United States Geological Survey
USFS: United States Forest Service
Rockhounding Montana by Robert Feldman; Falcon Publishing, Inc., Helena (1985). ISBN: 1-56044-466-5
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