interactive map

Just ran across this but haven't used it. Looks promising . . .

al

I think I have tried just about every mapping program out there but still come back to streets & Trips from MS. Their POI search for just about anything out there is the best and easiest to use. Beyond that the Discovery Owners overlays (free) for COE campgrounds to state parks to Cracker barrel and resturants adds to the choices you can make for stops. Sadly it appears MS streets & Trips will have no more updates after December 2014.

Hank85713 wrote:
... I was just looking to click on a map, add it and go to next location and let the program fill in the in betweens!...

On Google Maps I can point to, say Tucson, right click, and select 'directions from here'. Then I can click on Denver, and select 'directions to here'. It then fills in all the points (i.e. selects a route) in between. The fastest, conditional on its speed estimates is east on I10 and N on I25.

If you don't want at route like that, what kind of 'in betweens' do you want?

I can also grab that route and drag it around, adding intermediate destinates, for example Shiprock. I can also go to the list on the right, and 'add a destination', e.g. Telluride. And since it doesn't make sense to go to Denver, and then back to Telluride, I can move point C up, so the order is now Tucson, Telluride, Denver.

I like to zoom in, look at what roads it takes. I turn on 'terrain mode' to see what the terrain is like - the hills and valleys. I can look at the road itself with 'streetview'.

As default it (and most mapping programs) picks the fastest route between points. You can usually tell it to choose the shortest, but it is more likely to send you on some minor 'short-cut'.

Or do you want the program to pick the 'best'route, using some undefined notion of 'best'? Like 'scenic', 'easiest', 'closest to your favorite chain restaurant'?

MS Streets & Trips does just what you are wanting to do. I just took one of our planned routes and arbitrarily added a couple of points to the map. Then by selecting "optimize stops" under Route options it marked out what It called the optimum route which was totally different than the original.

I am using version 2013 and understand that it will be the last upgrade as Microsoft is no longer going to be publishing this software.

2oldman not it does not, aslakson yes that is what I mean, have a start and end then you need to add the in betweens. I was just looking to click on a map, add it and go to next location and let the program fill in the in betweens!

guess that what I am really looking for does not exist.

Thanks for the replies

Would like to help. What is missing that you are looking for? https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kodachrome+State+Park+Rd,+Henrieville,+UT+84736/Goblin+Valley+State+Park,+Green+River,+UT+84525/@38.2144333,-112.5012681,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x87350ce6870bd20f:0xf44492305450223f!2m2!1d-111.9903427!2d37.518587!1m5!1m1!1s0x8749bd7d8ede2169:0x3895cdf0b7d38cf9!2m2!1d-110.706749!2d38.574256?hl=en

google should work. Add as many points as you want. zoom in any place you want. it can be as detailed or generic as you want. It is probably the best you can get for free.

However, I think MSS&T will work better for you and do exactly what you want. Adjust your speed, schedule departures and even add layovers. Once you adjust the speed in options, the timing is also pretty acurate. Plus, once the route is sorted out, you can run it on the laptop and let it provide the turn by turn direction. Either buy it with the GPS dongle, or attach any NEMA compatible GSP device to the laptop.

Last trip out west in 2005, I used it and had about 60 stops to get the route planned out right. Then I got out on the road and updated each night as my trip varied due to side trips, heh what's down that route, look over there, etc. Made it nice for reworking my route on the fly.

Another nice feature with the MSS&T is you can add push pins for places you want to visit, data from other programs, etc and then simply add or delete them from your route. I don't buy many programs, but it is one of the few I have bought and updated several times.

Every mapping website I know of - and I think I've tried them all - requires that you pick your prospective destinations one at a time and in the sequence you want to use. I don't know of any that let you specify several destinations and then grinds out the optimum route to connect them all. Sounds like the kind of thing that a trucking company or delivery service would use. I know UPS uses something like it, and it's proprietary and closely-guarded.

I use DeLorme Street Atlas USA, which lets you pick starting and ending points and then add in stops in between, and it kind of tries to do what you want, but doesn't succeed.

al

Hank85713 wrote:
google...on large scale does not show areas I have interest in. . unless you know someway to make it do what I am trying to do? This is large scale planning.

Zoom in, choose route, zoom out..? That not work?

I use Microsoft Streets & Trip on my laptop, but I'd be interested in a website that provides similar functionality.