I love hand drawn maps.

I’ve been digging through old guidebooks looking for trout fishing spots, and two of them have hand drawn stream maps, complete with names of specific pools, runs, eddies, and points of interest. Newer digital maps, often based on state GIS data or Google Maps, are great for easy mobile access, but I haven’t come across any with the local knowledge marked on them. I’m thinking about photocopying and laminating some of these to keep in my bag.

A good legend is always a plus.

Another good one from a used bookstore here in Peekskill:

While on the topic of books, I remembered that early editions of The Hobbit included Tolkien’s map of Wilderland inside the cover:

Simple line drawings are my favorite style, but colorful ones are nice, too. Here is one my friend Erin made of her garden.

These have inspired me to sketch a map of our local woods with our specific points of interest: Charlie’s bridge, the big bridge, the tree where the raccoon family lives, where we usually find crawfish and frogs, the top of Blue Mountain, the sledding hill, One Dead Tree (where we think at least one Pileated woodpecker lives), the old rock walls, etc.