US GPS topo and road maps

[Area54]

I have a trip coming up in AK and Oregon, I will be taking my aging 605 Garmin for base mapping, as well as paper maps. I need to get a basemap for the garmin with topo and major/minor/backroads on it (my 605 only has aussie topo/basemaps) for these areas, the more detail the better as I plan to travel off the blacktop as much as possible between Portland and Klamath Falls on a fat. The 605 is the same as the 705, just without HR bundle, so it accepts micro SD for alternative maps.

Please help me with a reliable and secure source for these requirements - the genuine garmin options here are pricey and I'm running out of coin for this trip.

[bmike-vt]

Try GPS file depot. But check them out after you load em up. My state was missing a few counties on 1 map I downloaded.

FWIW, worst case is that a couple hundred $$ seems a small price for a trip you are traveling halfway round the world for...

[Area54]

Hehe, it all mounts up though. A week ago one of our suppliers told me he will be receiving his new batch of ti fat frames (new aussie brand) so now that coupla hunge $$ has to go towards a complete ti fat build. I'd already spent a bit of coin dialling in the ti fargo for this trip. Yeah, I hate the problems I have

Thanks for the tip on file depot.

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

I love my Garmin TOPO Maps CD's haven't tried the others.

40bucks US on EBay for the USA 3 CD pack
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-MapSource-Vesion-3-with-V5-Update-on-3-CDs-United-States-Topo-Maps-/181051668334?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a2785376e

[Area54]

I have to say the GPS file depot maps are impressive and display well enough on the 605. I'm not planning the route too much beforehand, I just have a start and end point in mind and a timeframe to stick too - will let LK, serendipity and the fun-o-meter dictate my daily route.

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

Is the 605 memory large enough to hold all the area topos you'll be in even if you get a little lost?
When a little lost having the topo is kind of nice since they will help you find water, a paved road, etc.

[Area54]

Yep, the 605 takes micro SD, 8Gb card replaced the stocko 2Gb, plenty room. I agree, for this trip it will be secondary reference. Getting lost is part of the fun...