Lonesome Miner Trail PDF maps

Faithful PDF maps of all 30 miles of the Lonesome Miner Trail (LMT), with access trails, alts, water sources marked. The PDFs with waypoints also marks several helpful GPS points and water sources, with a separate textual key. Versions:

8.5×11 set:

1. PDF 8x5x11 1:12000 maps (with and without waypoints)
2. PDF 8x5x11 1:24000 maps (with and without waypoints)
3. PDF map key marking water and key GPS points
4. PDF route profile (elevation, slope, etc.) overview

11×17 set:

1. PDF 11×17 1:12000 maps (with and without waypoints)
2. PDF 11×17 1:24000 maps (with and without waypoints)
3. PDF map key marking water and key GPS points
4. PDF route profile (elevation, slope, etc.) overview

Snowflake Trail

1. GPX + KML of Snowflake Trail (Inyo Range to Death Valley)

The main map track is in electric blue with side trails in bright orange, laid over a USGS topo. GPS coordinates and UTM are marked in the margins. If you have a special request, a specific scale or base map, let me know and I’ll try to help.

You can learn a lot more about the Lonesome Miner Trail in my LMT FAQ.

Why use paper maps?

People heading into very remote areas where rescue is so difficult as to likely be delayed should be familiar with how to use paper maps and compass. Electronic devices do fail and/or glitch, especially when exposed to water, extreme heat and tumbles. Their batteries drain and sometimes fail as well.

When I’m hiking anything involving route-finding and unmarked trail in the middle of nowhere, I use my device but I also carry detailed paper maps of difficult sections so that I can:

• Review my route for the next day at bedtime or over breakfast
• Use the passed/past map sheets for note-taking and journaling
• View maps when my device is turned off, when the sun is causing screen glare
• Show someone else the route
• Feel secure knowing that if my device dies, I won’t be totally lost

For hiking a well-marked and popular/populated trail like the JMT, hiking without paper maps seems fine these days. If you’re lost someone will be along in five minutes. But hiking in the Inyo Mountains on the Death Valley side without paper maps is just asking for trouble.

Besides, romance! Paper maps add to the old school romance of backpacking through historic areas. You’ll get a little more sense of just how rough things were for prospectors roaming the hills >100 years ago. They certainly did not have ramen and phones.

If you’re skeptical about paper maps or just don’t wanna, load the PDF maps on your phone. 📱 The cool thing about a digital PDF map is you can zoom in on it forever.

Why these maps?

These are the best maps of the Lonesome Miner Trail route by far. I’ve spent a lot of time on them, to the point I’ve memorized the route. The other maps online (as of 2023) are vague, off-route, and speculative, and should not have been shared (were meant to be someone’s private reference).

These PDF maps do have a GPS grid in the margins so in case you suck at UTM

The maps sold here were investigated point-by-point during a slow backpack, then re-affirmed on subsequent hikes, data from the BLM, and user feedback. They’ve been shared with SAR and the DEVA superintendant and passed muster.

If you are planning to hike the Snowflake Trail (out of Death Valley, near Saline Springs), I *HIGHLY* recommend adding the Snowflake GPS track to your device(s). Almost everyone who mentions the Snowflake Trail in the cabin registers mentions getting lost, and this track is meticulous.

Why Not Just Use the Free GPX File I Found?

Here’s a clear example why you shouldn’t just blindly strike out into a remote, desert wilderness with a free file you found online:

The red line in the screenshot above is the actual Lonesome Miner Trail (I pinky promise). The blue track is a free GPX available online. Please, please please DO NOT follow the blue track.

Why not Just Use the USGS Map?

There is no official map of the LMT. Well, there sort of is–and you’ve found it. USGS has only mapped the Hunter Trail and Pat Keyes sections of the LMT. Besides, trail USGS mapping is occasionally wrong. In the Hunter Trail example below, you will see in a few places my track leave the USGS track:

Your first instinct might be to think I’m wrong, but look closer. My track (in red) is correct. Hilariously, the USGS track climbs 80 feet on the Hunter Trail, then drops 80 feet, then climbs 160 feet, then drops 160 feet, before finally making the climb off 4200′. 🤣 Who would want to hike that?

Be warned in this way that USGS mapping of older routes is not 100% accurate all the time. We can’t just trace the black line on a map and follow that with our GPS device and expect success. Most the time USGS is pretty darn close, though!

How To Use Paper Maps

Well, first of all, you’ve got to print them on paper. These PDF files will come bundled in a ZIP archive. Unzip the file and inside you’ll see a variety of maps. You can pick and choose the ones you’d like to print and carry. Maybe print them all and review them before your hike, so you can decide which you feel most comfortable carrying.

Should I carry 11×17″ or 8.5×11″ Paper copies?

That’s mostly up to you. If you are only carrying paper maps and no GPS screened device, I recommend the larger format. If you like to journal and doodle, I recommend the larger format. If you just need paper maps for backup, carry the smaller format. Carry the larger format if hiking a remote backcountry route like the LMT. 😉 See what I did there?

What sort of paper should I use?

I’ve always just had Office Depot print my maps on 20/24# paper. I store them in Ziploc bags to keep them dry. Tabloid size (11×17) folds in half to letter size (8.5×11), and in quarters to a size that fits in a quart-size freezer Ziploc.

Map and Compass 🧭

When you use paper maps, you also need a compass. They work together.

I like my Suunto Clipper (on my pack for all trips) compass and my Suunto A-10 NH compass (for when I’m paper maps only). Tip: NH stands for Northern Hemisphere. Don’t buy SH for the LMT. 🤓

If you’re not familiar with map and compass, please familiarize yourself before heading out on your paper-map backed hike. Columbia River Orienteering Club has hosted excellent navigating video tutorials for about ten years now; I recommend those.

You do not need to know every single detail about orienteering for these maps to be helpful. However, I do recommend battling your way through this entire set of videos. The folks at CROC have made learning map and compass fun and easy. 🤩

Why no GPX?

I don’t share GPX tracks of remote routes any longer because their use is proven to cause threaded trail in delicate areas.

What is threaded trail?

Threaded trail is where several, sometimes many, trails parallel one another through the same small area, often re-joining one another. GPX causes this because often people simply use their GPS devices to walk a straight line from point-to-point, rather than making an effort to use existing trail. Some animals such as ungulates create threaded trail in the wild, but no animal causes as much destruction and erosion as humans, since they aren’t nearly as sure-footed. I have been hiking through fields of endangered cryptobiotic soil in Utah and Arizona, and through some of the most remote portions of the High Sierra, and discovered I was on one of many parallel human trails tramping the wild. I don’t want to contribute to this problem.

Use your eyes not GPS, use your wits, and stay on the main trail. For the most part, the LMT has a very distinct main trail.

Why include GPS for the Snowflake, though?

Because almost every log entry from Snowflake hikers at Frenchie’s cabin mentions how lost they got. Many of them are probably less experienced out-and-back type hikers who aren’t intending on overnights like you are. If people wanting to hike the Snowflake Trail in Death Canyon are smart, they’ll drop cash for this GPS track, install it on their phone using an app like Gaia or whatnot, or their GPS watch etc., and make their Snowflake hike more predictable and enjoyable.

FWIW, Snowflake is hands-down one of my top ten favorite trails in the West. It’s absolutely stunning, and very fun to hike (downhill).

Caveat to no GPX track

I have tried to keep the maps as uncluttered as possible. Marked water sources are added to the base USGS topo, and the track–that’s it. You will also get a version of the map cluttered with area info, separately.

All maps have a GPS grid so that you can triangulate your coordinates if needed. My hope is that they could be used to re-join the trail if lost, to triangulate rescue, or to create a very loose GPS track for backup.

My ultimate goal in sharing detailed maps at all is that since the LMT is going to be a “thing” anyway, it gets bedded down so well that threaded trail does not happen, and folks get lost infrequently.

I want a GPS file! Why won’t you share that?

I want a pony, but nobody is giving me a pony. Argh! I want a pony–or a mule!

Why I won’t share my GPS file.

Refunds?

There are no refunds for digital mapsets. If you have *ANY* questions whatsoever about this map set, ask the BEFORE purchasing. I’m here to answer questions.

I ask something further of my map customers beyond spending money on my mapping work, delivery and support.

I ask that you send trip reports and a photograph to me. 📸 Also, please report any issues with the maps or with the Trail.

Thank you!

— Caroline, Resident of Owens Valley 2014-2024 and busy local hiker/hitchhiker.

Check out a fairly exhaustive FAQ about hiking the Lonesome Miner.

Check out some details and photos from my 2017 Lonesome Miner Trail hike.