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Cartahaven

Motor Vehicle Use Maps

Motor Vehicle Use Maps, free and offline

The Forest Service’s Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUMs) are in the Cartahaven store for free. On your phone, the map app puts your GPS position on the MVUM itself, with no cell signal, so you can see which numbered road or trail you are on.

Find your forest’s MVUMOpen the map app
The Gothic, Colorado topo map with the public land layer on: Gunnison National Forest shaded green, private land left clear, and a tap that reads Forest Service, public land

Why an MVUM, and why on your phone

An MVUM is the Forest Service’s official record of which roads, trails and areas of a national forest or grassland are open to motor vehicles, which kinds, and when. Where a district has one, driving anywhere the map doesn’t show as open to your vehicle is prohibited. The map is plain on purpose; the hard part in the field is knowing which line you are standing on.

MVUMs are published as GeoPDFs, with coordinates built in. Open one in Cartahaven and the blue dot sits on the MVUM’s own lines and route numbers. GPS works from satellites, so it keeps working deep in the forest. How to read an MVUM explains the line styles, seasonal routes and the table of route numbers.

What is free

  • Every Forest Service map in the store: MVUMs, over-snow vehicle use maps (OSVUMs) where a forest has one, and forest visitor maps. They are public domain, and we don’t charge for them.
  • The map app, your GPS position offline, tracks and placemarks.
  • New editions: when a forest posts a new MVUM, the store copy is updated and owners get it free.
  • A US public land layer saved around each map, so you can see Forest Service land past the edge of the sheet.

Cartahaven Plus is optional and not needed for any of this.

Get your MVUM on your phone

  1. Find your forest in the Forest Service maps, search the store for MVUMs, or browse maps by forest and state.
  2. Tap “Get this map (free)” to add it to your free account.
  3. Open the map app on your phone (app.cartahaven.com; install it to the home screen), sign in with the same account and tap “Get my maps”.
  4. Get every sheet your route crosses, front and back, and open each once with airplane mode on before you go.

Already downloaded an MVUM from your forest’s website? Tap “Import” in the app and pick the PDF; it works the same way.

What the app doesn’t tell you

  • Whether a road is open today. The MVUM shows designations and seasonal dates; temporary closures for fire, flood or construction are separate orders. Check the forest’s alerts before you go: in the app, Map layers, Conditions, “Fire restrictions” links to the alerts page of each national forest on your map, and “Wildfires” shows current fires.
  • Whether a road is passable. Open to a vehicle class doesn’t mean maintained for a passenger car.
  • That your copy is current. If a newer edition may exist, the map’s page says so; check the forest’s website before relying on an older one.

Questions

Are the MVUMs really free?
Yes. Forest Service maps are public domain, and the store lists them at no charge. You need a free account to keep them in the app.
Does it work without cell service?
Yes, once the map is downloaded. Your phone’s GPS doesn’t need a signal.
Is my forest’s MVUM there?
The store’s Forest Service maps come from the forests’ own websites; look under your forest’s name. If yours is missing, request it, or download it from the forest and use Import.
Can I see snowmobile routes?
Not on an MVUM. Over-snow routes are on a separate Over-Snow Vehicle Use Map (OSVUM), where a forest has one; those are in the store too.