You get what you pay for and if you don't pay anything, you don't get much.
I have been using my Garmin Map60 with my topographic program for years and I couldn't be happier. I can fire up my topo program and zoom in real close and see all kinds of features. When I see something I want to check out then I mark it as a waypoint on my map program. when I have all the waypoints mapped I then hook my Garmin up to my computer and download all the waypoints into my Garmin and I am off.
The program and the Garmin also work in the reverse. When I am in the field looking for relics I keep my Garmin turned on and it traces my route and when I find something I mark it as a waypoint on my Garmin. When I get home I then upload all the waypoints and tracks onto my topographic program and I can see exactly where I have driven or walked and I can also see all of my waypoints. Once in the Garmin I can always go back to where I found something with no problem.
Now for the program. I use the National Geographic Missouri program. It has all the topographic maps for the State and they are all connected so there are no seams. I am able to download and upload into the program. It also has a place finder and many other features, I can also save the maps and print the maps from the program. It has a route tool that you can use to trace a route and then it tells the distance covered. There are just a lot of features. The State series can be found at the following website
http://www.natgeomaps.com/topo_state.html you can also buy these programs from Ebay and save some money.
A good site to use with the map program is the following
http://mapper.acme.com/ this map program is much better than Google Earth, the maps are easier to read and you can toggle between topo. maps, aerial photo's, and other views. You can use the Acme mapper to find a spot in your State, then get the coordinates and transfer them to your Nat. Geo. map program, or visa versa, find a spot on your map program then go to Acme to get a view, or zoom in and see it close and toggle between views. This is the best free map program with satellite imagery that I have found.
A third website that has super valuable information can be found at
http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/index.html you will have to copy and paste all the above sites. When you get to this site you can scroll through the States until you find your State. When you find your State download that State's file. You will get a listing of tens of thousands of features in your State including towns; churches; cemeteries; old towns; ghost towns; rivers; streams; mills; everything you can think of that has some kind of historic interest. It also supplies you with the coordinates so you know exactly where to go, you can then enter these coordinates into your map program and then download those coordinates to your gps.
Believe me, don't go with the freebies, this is the best way and only way to use a gps with a map program.
