USGS topo maps, offline on your iPhone
The United States Geological Survey publishes its US Topo quadrangles — and over a century of historical topo maps — as freely downloadable GeoPDFs. They are some of the best-documented maps on earth, and because they carry embedded georeferencing, NomadTracks opens them with your live position on them, fully offline, with zero setup.
Where to get the maps
USGS's topoView and the National Map downloader let you browse every quadrangle by location and era and download GeoPDFs for free. The current US Topo series is refreshed on a rolling basis; the Historical Topographic Map Collection goes back to the 1880s — wonderful for comparing a century of change on the same trail.
Into NomadTracks in one step
Download the GeoPDF on your iPhone (or AirDrop it from a computer), share it to NomadTracks, done — the embedded georeferencing aligns it automatically and the quad becomes a live offline map layer. There is no map-count limit, so grab every quad your route crosses.
Why quads beat generic basemaps in the backcountry
US Topo sheets carry the full topographic treatment: contour lines, bench marks, springs, mine shafts, trail names as surveyed. For navigation off the maintained-trail network, that detail is exactly what generic map tiles drop.
NomadTracks is not affiliated with or endorsed by any mapping agency. Always check the agency's current licence terms for your intended use; the notes here are a good-faith summary as of June 2026.
FAQ
Are USGS topo maps really free?
Yes — US Topo and historical quadrangles are public-domain US government works, freely downloadable as GeoPDFs from USGS topoView and the National Map.
Do USGS GeoPDFs work offline in NomadTracks?
Yes. The file is stored on your device, so the map works with zero signal — and your recorded track and POIs draw right on it.
How many quads can I import?
As many as your storage holds. NomadTracks has no map-count limit, free.