Well, the two maps I ordered from the National Forest Service came in.
Very expensive for basically highway maps. 1:36,000 scale. Huge fold out map. It does show cut lines. $10 for the Talladega National Forest Pinhoti Trail map.
The 1:2400 scale maps, 6 for the entire forest, are $4 each.
I see on the USGS, Geodetic Survey, site I can order maps made before 2006. Those will be printed maps. They are $8-12 each.
I guess printing costs have gone up… I used to buy the 1:2400 maps for under $3. Okay, in the 20th century not the 21st century.
I see I can buy the printed versions of the pdfs. I just have to figure out which ones to get.
I remember buying large maps, and they were marked in 7.5 and 15 scale map areas with the map number printed there as well. I could just look at the large map, and select which 1:2400 scale maps I wanted, order them. This was decades before web sites and the Internet. I suppose such large scale marked maps are available, I just haven’t found them yet.
Ah, a spread sheet. But that doesn’t tell me which ones to get, its just a listing. One is for Cheaha Mountain, AL; however, I did download the pdf of that map. Doesn’t show the trails nor the roads in the state park.
The old topo maps I bought in years past were indeed folded, but they didn’t look like highway maps. I remember them being folded as little as possible.
I prefer printed maps… I have no desire to take a pdf in a tablet or phone on a hike. Pdfs problem is when you close it, and then to open it back to where you were, takes time. On a paper map, you just unfold it.
I finally found a pdf that contains Mt. Cheaha, but it doesn’t show the trails. It does show park roads. Ironaton 7.5 × 7.5 quadrangle map. Cheaha is towards the top of the map. Near bottom of map it says Grid Zone 16S.
update: I have found out that, due to budget cuts, the USGS doesn’t go out and manually check the maps anymore. Thats scary. Someone could become lost or worse.