I love looking at maps and wondering about getting myself to the places shown. A Topo50 coupled with On the Go Map is a great start to thinking up a bike trip.

On the Go is one of my favourite resources – it's super simple and easy to use. It's also a funny old thing that tries to get me into trouble. Plotting a point from A to B? No problem: you can walk (if it's set to walk) along this route. Just, jump the fence at Zealandia. Or take this track which is definitely on private property.

I always have to temper my route schemings with the Topo50 line of something like 'just because it's on this map, doesn't mean you're allowed to go there'.

On the other hand though, when I naively wondered if there was a route from Battle Hill to Upper Hutt, On the Go confidently gave me a whole bunch of options. And cross-referencing them with Trail Forks confirmed that yep, those forestry roads are mostly all good to bike on!

The Sum of its Parts: Layers of the New Zealand Topo50 Map Series - Map by Pete King

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