Andover’s River and Trails Web Map with Mapmaker Chris Watson

​Most folks know what to take on a local hike: a water bottle, a granola bar, an extra layer and a map. This last item might be the most overlooked necessity, however, because it might take a little more thought: where to find a map of local trails? Fortunately, for walkers (and paddlers) in Andover, a digital map is a few keystrokes away on the Andovertrails.org website. On the site, click on Town Trails, and on the right-hand side is a link to the “Andover Rivers and Trails Web Map,” which provides a view of the town’s roads, all the trails and parking spots at access points. 
 
A special effort is now being made to ensure that Conservation Commission properties are updated on the map, according to Jane Cairns, Andover Trails Committee member and former chair. For this work, the committee relies on professional map-maker Chris Watson, who has been involved with the long process of creating a map of Andover’s trails for several years.
 
The idea for producing such a map began with a conversation, Watson said in a recent interview. Several years ago, he and Andover Trails Committee member Steve Golden, were brainstorming a way to create a map for the “Andover Challenge” (a run, bike, swim paddle event.) They approached the town Geographic Information System (GIS) coordinator Jeffrey Carey and received access to the town’s mapping technology. Watson created the map using GIS mapping technology, customizing the map to provide two types of information.  The first component is the trails, reservation boundaries, parking, and canoe launch areas in Andover, as well as the Bay Circuit Trail and the 10- and 20-mile Andover bicycle routes. The second component is an underlying map of the town. This allows users to see where trails meet roads and how to access them.
 
Watson is a GIS specialist who got into GIS mapping when this technology first appeared in the late 1980s. He later made GIS mapping his specialty when he was getting his masters in environmental science at UMass Boston, earning also a masters GIS certificate. He continued developing his mapping skills while working as a research fellow on UMass Boston grant-funded projects related to sea-level rise and coastal storms.
 
The Andover River and Trails Web Map has several features that let a user get detailed information about trails: location, parking, and links to associated websites and printable maps. The map also shows canoe-launch areas. If the user is on a device with GPS capabilities, Watson explained, they can click on the location button to find out where they actually are.
 
It’s also possible to locate a trail by entering a reservation name or access several different types of base maps provided by the software, such as a base map that shows a bird’s eye view of a reservation’s topography. There is a feature that lets users measure an area or distance on the map. And perhaps most importantly, the user can print the map or electronically share specific trail locations. There is even a button they can click to get back to what they were looking at the last time they opened the map. (Who doesn’t get distracted when “wandering” around a map on the computer or phone?)
 
“We are trying to give as much information we can about the trails so people have it at their fingertips,” Watson said.
 
Watson continues to work on the map, consulting regularly with Dave Dargie, Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS) land manager, who has walked every single trail in Andover. “David is the institutional knowledge,” Watson said.
 
Piece by piece, the two are correcting any errors on the map, by adding trails that were not put on it, or adjusting trails. The work was stalled for a while, Watson said, but now they are back on track and should be done with this process in a few months.
 
For Watson, the map work is very satisfying personally. “I love doing it,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.” 

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