Features

     The dilemma: you want to go camping for the weekend, but none of the guidebooks or maps show a route that tickles your backcountry adventure button. The solution: National Geographic Weekend Explorer 3D. Powered by the program TOPO!, this outdoor recre­ation mapping software allows you to create and personalize your own topographic maps that can be printed out at home, providing a quick and easy way to chart your own trip through the state's wild (or, if you choose, not so wild) areas.

     The Santa Fe—Albuquerque map program, released this summer and available online for $29.95, covers these metro areas as well as the Santa Fe, Taos, and Carson national forests. Whether you're headed into the Pecos Wilderness or the backcoun­try of Bandelier National Monument, the navigation devices allow you to explore the terrain at various elevations and tilts, rotate 360 degrees, and zoom in and out. A road-map function can be switched on so you know not only where to hike, but the cor­rect highways to get there. The software synchronizes with most GPS systems, and is compatible with both Mac and Windows.

     A word of caution: the program does require a bit of computer prowess, and does not provide extensive instructions on how to read a topographical map. So if you're not a topo-and-techno nerd, you may want to allow yourself some time to get used to the software and its functions before you use it to plan your trip.

(Especially if you refuse to ask for directions when you get lost.) For more information, or to purchase the software, go to nationalgeographic.com/topo.