Creating maps is a very responsible and important process, because by creating maps you help people while traveling, because they choose routes that are comfortable for them. If you want to contribute to the creation of maps, you may need to use the archive or statistical data, and to facilitate the work, read elite writing where materials have already been collected.

A local resident residing in Orangeville, Utah decided to make his own map for Orangeville City in an effort to guide fellow climbers towards the notorious undocumented bouldering area, Joe’s Valley, Utah.

This map now resides at the Orangeville Library in Emery County. Free copies are available for tourists travelling through. This map has proven useful to mountain climbing enthusiasts looking for guides to bouldering areas nearby.

The point of this story is that there are many climbing areas that are difficult to find. One area that comes to mind is Blue John’s Canyon, where Aron Ralston was stuck “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” for days alone without much food and water.

There are maps and directions to Blue John’s canyon, however, they are not as user-friendly as the aforementioned Orangeville map. Also, Google Maps is not able to generate directions to Blue John’s canyon from many major highways that house the area from the North and East. Prove me wrong if you can.

Therefore, I would encourage libraries to work together with local patrons on building collections of maps that are more user-friendly. There are plenty of reference books, digital maps, and great minds that can customize maps to fit the needs of local patrons on the hunt for one or many of the myriad trails in the great state of Utah.

Imagine the opportunity to build customized collections of local hotspots. Rather than digging through a pile of books for directions to one place, why not have maps on hand to expedite the process.

Just something to think about.

Download pdf map : Orangeville:Castle Dale Map

By Kristen Stehel, Utah State Library

Let’s make personalized local maps! by Creative Libraries Utah, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal License.