Navigating the Maps and Apps

Northwest Portal’s Maps and Apps have a lot of information

Use the tools to find the perfect destination and navigation for your next adventure.

Click on the boxes below for App Instructions:

Outdoors NW App Help

Off-Roading NW App Help

Snow NW App Help

Using the Web Maps in Your Browser

Toolbar/Information Search — Filter — Sharing & Embedding

Toolbars

The toolbars on the right or top of the map (depending on the size of your screen) allow you to change what information is displayed, view the legend, plot your location, create a bookmark, search, and print.

* To show your location, the map must be loaded directly into a browser tab. If you are viewing the map in a window on another web page, you will have to open it full frame to navigate. You can use the share button to copy the URL and paste it into another window.

You can zoom using standard computer/phone controls or with the control panel buttons.

Control Panel

The Control Panel is on the right on a larger screen, or on the top and bottom for smaller screens and mobile devices. If you are looking at the map on an embedded frame on a website it can be loaded without the filters and search controls.

Get links to the Northwest Portal home page and our sponsors,
Toggle between standard and airphoto map (only available in large screen),
Access the filter and search tools and see the legend. On a phone or smaller computer screen, the legend is in the sponsor box.
When you click on a point, the information panel will open.
Click on the + to open a panel and the - to close it.

Information Boxes

Click on any point, trail, road, or area to get more information about the location and links to additional content.

If there is more than one place under where you clicked, you will see all of the locations on the web maps and can open up the information box for the underlying place. For example, a trailhead and the National Forest. If you are on the app, the pop-up will only show the top point, so if you want to know what the underlying area is, you will need to click on a spot away from the trails and points.

Hint: If you want directions to any point on the map, the pop-up includes a Directions button that will give you Google Map directions to that location.

Legend

Icons

We try to use icons that are intuitive.

Most common icons:

All Icons

Filters

Filters let you find the perfect destination by highlighting places that meet all of your needs.

Using the Filters

Filters are organized in groups to make them easier to find, but you can select from more than one group. Most groups highlight places that meet all of the conditions, but a few (Land Manager, Pass, and Days Open) let you see places that have any of the options you select. Some groups show places that have any of the selected filters, others only show places that have all of the filters. If you pick from more than one group, places have to meet the requirements from all of the groups.

Each map and app has filters specifically selected for the topic. If you have a filter you would like to include, take or our survey or send us a message.

Filter Groups and Options

Outdoors & ORV NW, Only on Outdoors NW , Only on ORV NW

Activities (all): Activity from/on trailheads, trails, and parks and activities near campgrounds.
- Hiking, horse riding, mountain biking, road biking, ebikes allowed, motorcycle, single track motorcycle (excludes ATV/4x4 trails that are also open to motorcycles), ATV, 4x4, ORV roads, fishing, boating, kayaking, water trail stop, swimming, wildlife viewing, bird watching (both preceding only applied to limited locations) & golf
Facility type (any): Used with other filters to limit results to a specific type of place.
- Campground, trailhead, trail, park, picnic or day-use area, water access
Recreation facilities (all): Facilities at recreation sites.
- Off-trail riding area, Pay station, bathroom, off-leash area, EV charging, boat launch, paved launch, beach, public pool, playground, viewpoint, lookout tower, scenic viewing area, picnic/day use area, regional trail, paved trail
Access (all): Road access to site and water access at the site.
- All cars, high-clearance only (based on USFS road designations), trail access only, boat access only (no road access, boat and trail access only include sites that can be reached both ways), has lake access, has river access, has ocean access
Camping (all): Camping specific amenities and campground type.
- Campground (use if you only want places with designated campgrounds), has camping area (sites, such as a fishing areas that have a camping area but not an actual campground), dispersed camping allowed (recreation lands that allow dispersed camping), lodging/hotel, RV sites, Big RV sites (has sites that can accommodate RVs greater than 40’), tent sites, cabin or yurt, pull-through sites (campgrounds that we know have pull-through sites; this may not be complete), small campground (<5 sites), medium campground (5-25 sites), large campground (>25 sites), (campground size options only work if we know the size of the campground), Wi-Fi, Electric hookup, 50-amp power, water hookup, sewer hookup, RV dump, shower, laundry, campground host, camping kitchen
Pass required (any): Whether or not you need a recreation pass or to pay a fee.
- No pass required, Discover Pass (Washington State recreation pass), NW Forest Pass, National Park Pass, Fee
Manager (any): Show places managed by a specific organization.
- National Park Service, USFS, WA State Parks, WDFW, WDNR, county, city, other public (USFWS, Department of Transportation, and other public organizations), port/utility/non-profit/tribal, Private
ADA Facilities (all): Where known, but not a complete list.
- Parking, bathroom, dock, launch, trails, water access, picnic tables, campsites.
Cell service (any): Best cell service for major networks based on FCC data from December 2023 (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile). Precise coverage can vary.
- 4G or 5G service, cell service voice only, limited or no service (identified as no-service in FCC data but may get intermittent service)
Business services and features (all):
- Recreation equipment dealer, recreation equipment rental, serves food, store/groceries, dogs allowed, wine beer or spirits, brewery/brew pub, cider tasting/cidery, tasting room, farmers market/farm stand, lodging, serves food, outdoor seating, reservations required, reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome
Days open & events:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, event this week, event this month, event this year.

Search

The search function lets you find a place based on name. Search can also be used to highlight places featured in selected blogs and identifying places in a water body (for example, the Columbia River). Places matching the search will be listed in the information panel and highlighted on the map in Red. Click on any name in the list to zoom directly to the trail or point. The list will only show places that were in the window when you applied the search, although as you scroll around, all places will be highlighted. Use the Update Search button to update the list.

Sharing and Embedding

Add the maps to your website, or share a link to a specific area or place.

You can use the Northwest Portal maps to highlight any area or facility, sharing the exact area and highlighting places using the filters and search function.

If you link or embed our map on your web page, let us know and we will provide a link back from our site or map to your page.

Any of the maps can be embedded in two formats with the option to use the filter and search functions to load the map with specific locations highlighted.