Forget tracking your next national-park trip on lousy crinkly paper maps. National Geographic's new National Parks Explorer 3D combines its TOPO! outdoor recreation software with Trails Illustrated maps of 25 national parks, including Acadia, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Users can draw their own trails or select trails on maps, determine an elevation profile and length of a trip, search for landmarks and campgrounds, and track waypoints downloaded from a GPS. A live update feature keeps the maps current, but the wow factor is the 3D feature, which allows virtual travel over a three-dimensional topographical map—read: a way to check out hairy terrain before diving in headfirst.
$50; www.ngmapstore.com