Can I just use a satellite photo as my park map?
You can, and plenty of parks do. It fails for four specific reasons that all show up at the same moment, when a guest is trying to find their site.
Short answer
You can, but it works poorly. Satellite images are often years out of date, so new sites and buildings are missing. Numbers added on top are small and hard to read against a busy photo. Trees hide roads and sites. And the image gives no way to show one-way travel, site types, or what is under the canopy. A drawn map shows what a guest needs and leaves out what they do not. Use the aerial photo as the reference to draw from, not as the map itself.
The four problems
- It is out of date. Satellite imagery updates every few years. New site blocks, the new bathhouse, and the road you regraded are all missing.
- Numbers do not read. Text on a busy photo, at handout size, in a truck cab at dusk, is unreadable.
- Trees hide everything. The canopy that makes your park pleasant is exactly what obscures the roads and sites from above.
- No way to show information. One-way arrows, site types by colour, and amenity icons all disappear into the photo.
What a drawn map does instead
Shows the roads clearly because they are drawn, not photographed. Puts the numbers on a clean background at a readable size. Colour codes site types. Marks amenities with icons a guest recognises. And shows the park as it is today rather than as it was when a satellite last passed over.
When the photo is useful
As our reference. Send the aerial and we draw from it, which is exactly how most of our maps start. An aerial is also good on your website to show the setting, and good on an entrance board alongside the drawn map. It is just not the thing to hand a guest at check-in.
The test
Print your satellite version at actual size and find site 47 from the driver's seat. Most parks that try this stop arguing for the photo about thirty seconds in.
Related questions.
Why not use Google satellite view as a park map?
It is out of date, trees hide the roads, and numbers added on top are unreadable at handout size.
Can I send you a satellite photo to work from?
Yes, please do. That is how most of our maps start. We draw from it rather than printing it.
Is an aerial photo useful anywhere?
Yes, on your website to show the setting and on an entrance board alongside the drawn map.
My park has heavy tree cover. Does that matter?
For a satellite image, enormously; the canopy hides everything. For a drawn map it makes no difference.
More on doing it another way: Should I make my own park map or hire someone? · Do guests still use printed maps? · all questions
Want a map for your park?
Send a site list and an aerial photo and we will draw it. Free when local businesses sponsor it, or bought outright with no ads.