Mapsources

This page gives details of additional map sources that you can use with the Geocaching Map Enhancements userscript. They have been selected to help either with finding geocaches or with deciding where to hide them.

Thumbnail of GME configuration screenYou add a mapsources to GME by pasting a string of JSON code into the script's configuration screen. Go to Geocaching Maps and click on the GME configuration icon (the gear), click onto the 'Custom Maps' tab, paste one of the codes below into the 'Mapsource' box, then click on 'Add'. Once you've finished adding maps, click 'Save' to re-load the web page with the new maps included as options in the map selector.

Most maps are basemaps. They are opaque, so you can only use one of these at a time, and the geocaches are overlaid on top of them. Some map sources can be used as overlays. They are mainly transparent, so you can see the basemap and geocaches through them. Overlays can be switched off and on with any basemap, and you can use more than one at a time.

Basemaps

OpenStreetMap and derivatives

OpenStreetMap is a project that creates and provides free geographic data and mapping to anyone who wants it. A community of volunteers builds their main map through thousands of individual contributions. Accuracy can be variable, but in areas where there is strong community involvement (e.g. UK, Germany, metropolitan areas), their map may be more accurate and up-to-date than other sources. Find out how to contribute.

Various other commercial and open-source services also use OpenStreetMap data as the basis for their maps, such as those provided by Cloudmade and Mapquest. For Cloudmade maps, you need to replace PRIVATE_KEY in the codes below with an API key obtained from Cloudmade.

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
OSM018Global streetmap{"alt":"OpenStreetMap", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Map and data © <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
OSM OpenCycleMap018Global streetmap{"alt":"OpenCycleMap", "tileUrl":"http://tile.opencyclemap.org/cycle/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"OpenCycleMap Map and data © <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
OSM Transport018Global streetmap{"alt":"OSM Transport", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile2.opencyclemap.org/transport/{z}/{x}/{y}.png","attribution":"Maps from <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
Cloudmade (geocaching style)018Global streetmap{"alt":"CloudMade GC", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile.cloudmade.com/PRIVATE_KEY/997/256/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Imagery © <a href='http://www.cloudmade.com/'>CloudMade</a>, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
Cloudmade (web style)018Global streetmap{"alt":"CloudMade Web", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile.cloudmade.com/PRIVATE_KEY/1/256/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Imagery © <a href='http://www.cloudmade.com/'>CloudMade</a>, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
Cloudmade (fine lines)018Global streetmap{"alt":"CloudMade Fine", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile.cloudmade.com/PRIVATE_KEY/2/256/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Imagery © <a href='http://www.cloudmade.com/'>CloudMade</a>, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
Cloudmade (no names)018Global (roads with missing names highlighted){"alt":"CloudMade Nonames", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tile.cloudmade.com/PRIVATE_KEY/3/256/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Imagery © <a href='http://www.cloudmade.com/'>CloudMade</a>, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}
MapQuest018Global streetmap{"alt":"MapQuest", "tileUrl":"http://otile{s}.mqcdn.com/tiles/1.0.0/osm/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg", "attribution":"Tiles from <a href='http://www.mapquest.com/'>MapQuest</a>, map and data © <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org'>OpenStreetMap</a> and contributors, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>", "subdomains":"1234"}
Hike&Bike018Global streetmap{"alt":"Hike&Bike", "tileUrl":"http://toolserver.org/tiles/hikebike/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"<a href='http://hikebikemap.de/'>Hike&Bike</a> render by Colin Marquardt from <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a> data, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/'>CC-BY-SA</a>"}

OpenCycleMap and Hike&Bike highlight features for hikers and cyclists, while OSM Transport includes public transit features like bus routes. OSM, OpenCycleMap, MapQuest, and one of the Cloudmade styles are all included in the Geocaching Maps by default. However, you might want to re-add them as custom maps so that you can set options like the map brightness (see configuration info).

CalTopo

The maps at CalTopo.com were originally developed by members of Bay Area Mountain Rescue in California to provide wilderness Search and Rescue teams with better maps, but have been extended across the United States (used by permission of the developer).

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
USGS layer, assembled from Cal-Atlas scans and USGS GeoPDFs.516Topo map, contiguous USA + Hawaii (not Alaska){"alt":"USGS 7.5' Topos", "attribution":"USGS map from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":16, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/caltopo/topo/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?v=1"}
Forest Service road/trail layer, assembled from USFS Primary Base Series 7.5' maps.516Topo map, partial coverage of contiguous USA{"alt":"US Forest Service", "attribution":"USFS map from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":16, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctusfs/pbs/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Shaded relief layer, based on the US National Elevation Dataset with added vertical exaggeration.516Terrain map, contiguous USA + Hawaii (not Alaska){"alt":"Shaded Relief", "attribution":"NASA data rendered by <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":16, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctrelief/relief/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Scanned and georeferenced visitor maps.514Select coverage in the western USA only.{"alt":"Visitor Maps", "attribution":"<a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":14, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctfun/visitor/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
USGS 1:250k, 1° by 2° topo maps.512Topo map, contiguous USA{"alt":"USGS 1:250k", "attribution":"USGS map from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":12, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/caltopo/1x2/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Aerial imagery from the USGS' US Topo multilayer PDFs.516Orthophoto, Contiguous USA, mostly complete but patchy coverage in several western states{"alt":"USTopo Imagery", "attribution":"USGS images from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":16, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ustopo/orthoimage/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Maps from 1885 to 1915, assembled from scanned historical maps.514Contiguous USA, patchy coverage{"alt":"1885-1915", "attribution":"<a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":14, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctfun/1900/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Maps from 1915 to 1945, assembled from scanned historical maps (may contain survey data from prior to 1915).614Contiguous USA, patchy coverage{"alt":"1915-1945", "attribution":"<a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":6, "maxZoom":14, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctfun/1930/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
CalTopo's 1m aerial layer, based on data from the USDA. Lower resolution than Google, but consistent between zoom levels and shot in 2009 with less snow on the ground.616Orthophoto, California{"alt":"NAIP Aerial (CA)", "attribution":"USDA images from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":6, "maxZoom":16, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/caltopo/aerial/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}

Land Information New Zealand

LINZ data is available free under a Creative Commons Attribution license, but requires use of a registration key. Go to the LINZ Data Service and register for a free user account. Logged-in to LINZ, go to the Dashboard, then 'API & Web Services', and create a key for 'OGC Web Services'. In the codes below, replace PRIVATE_KEY with your actual key (a 32-character string of numbers and letters).

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
LINZ Topo50018New Zealand topo map{"alt":"NZ Topo50", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x767", "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Mapping by <a href='http://data.linz.govt.nz/'>LINZ</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/'>CC-BY</a>"}
LINZ Topo250016New Zealand topo map{"alt":"NZ Topo250", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x798", "maxZoom":16, "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Mapping by <a href='http://data.linz.govt.nz/'>LINZ</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/'>CC-BY</a>"}
LINZ Aerial025New Zealand (partial) orthophotos{"alt":"NZ Aerial", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x1022,x1048,x1024,x1021,x1033,x1032,x1034,x1031,x1013", "maxZoom":25, "format":"image/jpeg", "attribution":"Orthophotos by <a href='http://data.linz.govt.nz/'>LINZ</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/'>CC-BY</a>"}

National Land Survey of Finland

These maps are provided free under an open data licence by the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS, or Maanmittauslaitos). The topo map is very detailed, while the background map gives an uncluttered streetmap view with low detail when zoomed out.

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
NLS Topo Map019Finland{"alt":"NLS Basemap", "tileUrl":"http://tiles.kartat.kapsi.fi/peruskartta/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"National Land Survey of Finland imagery used under <a href=\"http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/NLS_open_data_licence_version1_20120501\">NLS open data licence</a>", "maxZoom":19}
NLS Background Map019Finland{"alt":"NLS Background", "tileUrl":"http://tiles.kartat.kapsi.fi/taustakartta/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"National Land Survey of Finland imagery used under <a href=\"http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/NLS_open_data_licence_version1_20120501\">NLS open data licence</a>", "maxZoom":19}
NLS Orthophotos1319Finland{"alt":"NLS Aerial", "tileUrl":"http://tiles.kartat.kapsi.fi/ortokuva/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"National Land Survey of Finland imagery used under <a href=\"http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/NLS_open_data_licence_version1_20120501\">NLS open data licence</a>", "maxZoom":19, "minZoom":13}

Natural Resources Canada

These topographic maps are provided free for use by Natural Resources Canada. They are based on CanVec 1:50000 imagery, which gives a much clearer result than the scanned maps available from some other sources. The features shown on the maps can be adjusted by editing the layers parameter in the code below, and it would also be possible to produce a bilingual version. For more details see the NRC's GeoGratis website.

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
NRC Canadian Topo - English118Canada{"alt":"Canadian Topo (EN)", "tileUrl":"http://wms.ess-ws.nrcan.gc.ca/wms/toporama_en", "layers":"limits,vegetation,builtup_areas,designated_areas,hydrography,hypsography,water_saturated_soils,landforms,constructions,road_network,railway,structures,power_network,feature_names", "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Topo map © <a href='http://www.geogratis.ca/'>Department of Natural Resources Canada</a>. All rights reserved.", "maxZoom":18, "minZoom":1}
NRC Canadian Topo - French118Canada{"alt":"Topo Canadien (FR)", "tileUrl":"http://wms.ess-ws.nrcan.gc.ca/wms/toporama_fr", "layers":"limites,vegetation,agglomeration,aires_designees,hydrographie,hypsographie,sols_satures_eau,relief_formes,constructions,reseau_routier,reseau_ferroviaire,structures,reseau_energetique,toponymie", "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Carte Topo © <a href='http://www.geogratis.ca/'>Le ministère des Ressources naturelles Canada</a>. Tous droits réservés.", "maxZoom":18, "minZoom":1}

Ordnance Survey

These UK topographic maps are created by the British Ordnance Survey and provided by Bing. They require a Bing Maps Key for access. In the code below, replace PRIVATE_KEY with your actual key (a 64-character string of numbers, letters and symbols).

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
Ordnance Survey (updated Feb 2016)1017United Kingdom{"alt":"Ordnance Survey","tileUrl":"https://t{s}.ssl.ak.tiles.virtualearth.net/tiles/r{q}.png?g=3440&productSet=mmOS&key=PRIVATE_KEY", "subdomains": "0123", "minZoom":10, "maxZoom": 17, "attribution":"Ordnance Survey imagery from <a href='https://www.bing.com/maps/'>Bing Maps</a>", "name":"osbing"}

Others

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
MapQuest Open Aerial (updated Feb 2016)011 (globally), 12+ (USA)Global orthophoto{"alt":"MapQuest Aerial", "tileUrl":"http://oatile{s}.mqcdn.com/tiles/1.0.0/sat/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg", "attribution":"Tiles from <a href='http://www.mapquest.com/'>MapQuest</a>, portions courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech and U.S. Depart. of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency", "subdomains":"1234"}
Migurski Terrain418USA terrain map{"alt":"Migurski Terrain", "tileUrl":"http://tile.stamen.com/terrain-background/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg", "minZoom":4, "attribution":"Map by <a href='mike.teczno.com'>Michal Migurski</a> from NASA SRTM data"}
Wikimapia021Global streetmap{"alt":"Wikimapia", "tileUrl":"http://i{s4}.wikimapia.org/?x={x}&y={y}&zoom={z}","maxZoom":21,"attribution":"Maps from <a href='http://wikimapia.org/'>Wikimapia.org</a> and contributors <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/'>CC-BY-NC-SA</a>"}

Wikimapia is a collaboratively built map, a bit like OpenStreetMap, but with a focus on providing more descriptions of places (on their website, map artefacts are clickable). It has good coverage in Russia and India.

Overlays

Lonvia

Lonvia provides overlays that show waymarked long-distance routes such as National Trails. Coverage is global, based on OpenStreetMap data, but the majority of the trails are in Europe and North America.

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
Hiking routes018Global{"alt":"Hiking Routes", "tileUrl":"http://tile.lonvia.de/hiking/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Cycle routes by <a href='http://hiking.lonvia.de/'>Lonvia</a> and <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en'>CC-BY-SA</a>", "overlay":true}
Cycling routes018Global{"alt":"Cycle Routes", "tileUrl":"http://tile.lonvia.de/cycling/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Cycle routes by <a href='http://cycling.lonvia.de/'>Lonvia</a> and <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en'>CC-BY-SA</a>", "overlay":true}
MTB routes018Global{"alt":"MTB Routes", "tileUrl":"http://tile.lonvia.de/mtb/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Cycle routes by <a href='http://mtb.lonvia.de/'>Lonvia</a> and <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en'>CC-BY-SA</a>", "overlay":true}
Inline skating routes018Global (but mainly Switzerland){"alt":"Skate Routes", "tileUrl":"http://tile.lonvia.de/skating/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Cycle routes by <a href='http://skating.lonvia.de/'>Lonvia</a> and <a href='http://www.openstreetmap.org/'>OpenStreetMap</a>, <a href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en'>CC-BY-SA</a>", "overlay":true}

UK environmentally sensitive areas

These map sources are useful to show some of the areas where special permission is needed before placing a geocache. See the Groundspeak Wiki for more details of the required permissions. You can also use the DEFRA MAGIC Map (a shortcut for this is available in the map info tool in GME).

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
NBN RSPB Nature Reserves025Great Britain + Northern Ireland{"alt":"RSPB Reserves", "tileUrl":"https://gis.nbn.org.uk/SiteBoundaryDatasets", "transparent":true, "format":"image/png", "layers":"GA000413", "imageSR":3857, "bboxSR":3857, "size":"256,256", "overlay":true, "maxZoom":25, "attribution":"Boundary data from RSPB via the <a href='http://data.nbn.org.uk/imt/'>NBN</a>"}
NBN Sites of Special Scientific Interest025Great Britain + Northern Ireland{"alt":"SSSIs", "tileUrl":"https://gis.nbn.org.uk/SiteBoundaryDatasets", "transparent":true, "format":"image/png", "layers":"GA000324,GA000339,GA000338,GA000342", "imageSR":3857, "bboxSR":3857, "size":"256,256", "overlay":true, "maxZoom":25, "attribution":"SSSI boundaries from the <a href='http://data.nbn.org.uk/imt/'>NBN</a>"}
NBN National and Local Nature Reserves (updated Feb 2016)025Great Britain{"alt":"Nature Reserves", "tileUrl":"https://gis.nbn.org.uk/SiteBoundaryDatasets", "transparent":true, "layers":"GA000331,GA000337,GA000356,GA000336,GA000933", "imageSR":3857, "bboxSR":3857, "format":"image/png", "size":"256,256", "overlay":true, "maxZoom":25, "attribution":"Nature Reserve boundaries from the <a href='http://data.nbn.org.uk/imt/'>NBN</a>" }
NBN National Trust properties (updated Feb 2016)025Great Britain + Northern Ireland{"alt":"National Trust", "tileUrl":"https://gis.nbn.org.uk/SiteBoundaryDatasets", "transparent":true, "layers":"GA000505,SB000002", "imageSR":3857, "bboxSR":3857, "format":"image/png", "size":"256,256", "overlay":true, "maxZoom":25, "attribution":"Boundary data from the National Trust via the <a href='http://data.nbn.org.uk/imt/'>NBN</a>" }

NB when different map source layers come from the same WMS server (i.e. have the same tileUrl parameter), it is often possible to add them as a single combined layer. This is done by specifying the layers as a comma-separated list in the layers parameter, as has been done for the NBN layers shown above. The full list of available NBN layers is on the National Biodiversity Network website.

US Government Data

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
National Map labels and features615USA{"alt":"National Map Features", "attribution":"USGS <a href='http://nationalmap.gov/'>National Map</a> overlay", "minZoom":6, "maxZoom":15, "overlay":true, "tileUrl":"http://basemap.nationalmap.gov/ArcGIS/rest/services/TNM_Vector_Small/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}"}
Road, trails and other features from the USGS' US Topo multilayer PDFs. Edges will appear jagged if not overlaid on USTopo Imagery.516Contiguous USA{"alt":"USTopo Features", "attribution":"USGS overlay from <a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a>", "minZoom":5, "maxZoom":16, "overlay":true, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ustopo/feature/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}
Nexrad Weather Radar016USA{"alt":"Nexrad Weather","tileUrl":"http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/wms/nexrad/n0r.cgi", "layers":"nexrad-n0r-900913", "format":"image/png", "transparent": true, "attribution": "Weather data © 2012 IEM Nexrad", "maxZoom":16, "overlay":true}
TIGER road & rail (updated Feb 2016)918USA{"alt":"TIGER transport", "tileUrl":"https://services.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/services/transportation/MapServer/WMSServer","attribution":"US Govt <a href='http://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/tigerwebmain/TIGERweb_main.html'>TIGER</a> data", "overlay":true, "format":"image/png", "transparent":true, "layers":"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15", "minZoom":9}

Other

Map SourceMin zoomMax ZoomCoverageCode
Hill shading (updated Feb 2016)018Europe, North and Central America, North Africa, West Asia{"alt":"Hillshading", "tileUrl":"http://{s}.tiles.wmflabs.org/hillshading/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", "attribution":"Hillshading by <a href='http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Colin_Marquardt/Hike_%26_Bike_Map'>Colin Marquardt</a> from NASA SRTM data", "overlay":true}
CalTopo's 40 foot contour layer. Works well on top of aerial imagery or street maps.1016Contiguous USA + Hawaii{"alt":"40' Contours", "attribution":"<a href='http://caltopo.com/'>CalTopo</a> contours", "minZoom":10, "maxZoom":16, "overlay":true, "tileUrl":"http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/ctcontour/feet/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"}

KML Overlays

GME cannot display KML directly, however KML layers can be displayed via Google Maps, by working out the URL template for the overlay's map tiles. See this documentation for more information about tileUrl templates.

e.g. to display the KML coverage overlay from Geograph.org.uk:

NB KML overlays viewed in this way do not have any dynamic features: while you may see markers and icons on the map, they will not be clickable. GME will work best with KML that shows routes or semi-transparent areas.

Further information