my boss said his garmin gps for regular driving had service road detail. i have a garmin gps but it its more for hiking. im just curious if there were any service roads in my area. (grass valley). and if i will get in trouble for exploring them

 

More than likely, yes you can get cited if you don't have official business. I've had to deal with this many times since I work on towers, etc., many of which are only accessible via service and fire roads. Also, keep in mind that many roads in the mountains and forest areas are private roads which could potentially make you a tresspasser.
You can contact the Bureau of Land Management, US Forestry Service or California Department of Forestry office(s) responsible for the area and they should have maps of which trails are permissible for public use.

 

I am camping in the mountains this weekend and I've heard that the service road up to the towers at the summit is not only gated but now has a no trespassing sign on it. Didn't use to have any sign. Whats the point going to the mountain if you can't go to the top. I know there are towers there and the out buildings are all fenced and barbwired. The view is killer up there.
Nevermind. Just venting

 

i've explored all over northern cali on forest service roads.... unless its says no trespassing or there is a gate or other obvious blockers, i say go for it.

and my gramin gps has most FS roads and trails in it as well

 

I am an avid back roader here in the chico lassen area. my advice is go out on sundays, nobody works on those days. be respectfull of the trail like not tearing it up if its muddy and pick up trash when you see it, go slow for dirt bikers...and if someone does find you in the wrong place tell them exactly that, "im being aware of road maintenance, im driving slow and watching for bikes, look at all the trash i picked up in my bed", and yes sir the out of it.

those gates are there to keep people from seeing all the clearcuttting and people crashing into each other & insurance companies going to town on them. they dont like to have to repair their own roads and pick up empty pabst blue ribbons either.

im not saying trespass, im just saying show that your one of the good guys if you do find yourself accidentally behind one of those yellow gates...dont even look at the green gates.

 

...as in dont ever accidentally find yourself behind a green gate.

 

Sorry...not to highjack your thread...but sorta along the same subject.

What is the best GPS that has all the service and fire roads...and is upgradeable?

My rig will be ready in a few months and I have been wanting to do this for a while now.

Thank you....

 

many of those service roads are not on any maps. what i do is google earth the vicinity i want to explore and take as much mental note on terrain as possible. then i use a free program called cam studio (google it/download it) which records video of everything that goes on on your screen. i then make little thumbnails on google earth on places i want to go, then start the recording program and do little quick tours through my thumbnails and all the dirt roads. then just bring your laptop and break it out if you need to review the terrain to take the right road.

all this assuming you have a laptop. it seems kinda like a ghetto solution, but ive used it a bit on road trips through oregon and its helped me out many times. you cant see those roads on maps (which take years to be updated) but you can on google earth!

 

Ok...cool...thank you.

 

Garmin's TOPO US 2008 occasionally has pretty good forestry road mapping. It's road detail has suprised me on a few occasions.