I’m a firm believer in using plain old maps for finding trips. For trip planning purposes you generally want to start with accurate overview maps. Want more seclusion? Head to the National Forests instead of National Parks.

Designing your own trip based off of traditional maps is often quicker and less painful that reading through online trip reports. You’ll also end up in places that fewer people go to.

Paper Maps Online has digitized many of the West’s National Forest maps. You can zoom in, pan around and view them full screen. It’s great.