Maroon Bells, Redstone, Marble Map (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map, 128)

These National Geographic maps are some of the best hiking and exploring maps available for the backcountry of Colorado. They are made of a sturdy material that seems to be pretty waterproof, and the level of detail and information provided is excellent. Maybe a bit pricey, but well worth the cost, in my opinion.

Crisp, high-quality map with declination (and year measured, plus annual degree change), and tons of detail on geographic features. Being water- and tear-resistant are huge pluses.

Just received my Maroon Bells map. As usual, National Geographic maps never disappoint. Very easy to read. If I were to have a complaint about this map. The only thing is that this map doesn't have mileage markings. Nothing a piece of string and a marker can fix.

At first glance I thought this map was too large a scale to be useful as a backcountry map so I bought the same topo maps from the USGS. Much to my surprise, the topo's seemed faded and difficult to read compared to the Trails Illustrated map. One has to decide for themselves how much detail they require for the type of hiking they are planning. We stayed on marked trails most of the time and only used the Trails Illustrated map for our hike up to see the Maroon Bells and then over to Snowmass Lake on a 3 night backpacking trip, it was great! We had no problems finding our way, even over the high passes. The map even has a nice waterproof coating that kept it looking like new after our trip. These are great maps for everyday use hiking and camping but if you are looking for that 'needle in the haystack' on a mountain you may want to hold out for the old reliable topographic maps from the USGS.

I use this for hiking and it works great for what I want it to do!

Listen, you probably can explore this area without the map following the obvious trails and such, but whats the fun in that? This was really useful in understanding the area whilst hiking it. Plus, when your friends are over for beer you can bust this bad boy out and become Captian Braggart of the SS Snowmass.

National Geographic topographic maps are usually the gold standard for hiking and camping, but the Maroon Bells, Redstone, Marble map (2005 revision) is a disappointment. As others have mentioned, the map does not include mileage estimates between trail junctions or other waypoints. Given the frequency of switchbacks that are not depicted on the map, my colleagues and I found in a recent hike (July 2018) that we were consistently underestimating the distances. Even more frustrating, some trails differed dramatically in route from that depicted on the map. In particular, both the West Snowmass Trail (2187) and the Northfork Cutoff Trail (1976) were inconsistent with the map without any appearance of recent rerouting. This inaccuracy could be problematic when bushwacking towards a trail or junction. You could be off a half-mile or more if you are estimating from the map.

The map is printed on good quality paper, easy to read!