
Google’s Street View Trekker camera was introduced three years ago, but I didn’t discover it until today in a story about Trekker sites in Colorado. Trekker cams, it seems, let you tour places on Google Maps that are not accessible to automobiles. It requires that individuals packing special 60-pound Google street view cameras hike and photograph the locations.
Google kicked off the program at the Grand Canyon in 2013 when ten Googlers and five Trekkers spent three days capturing the main trails on the canyon’s South Rim. Since then, Trekkers have photographed locations all over the world. Tourism boards, non-profits, universities, research organizations, or other third parties that can gain access and help collect imagery of hard-to-reach places can apply to borrow Trekker cameras.
Thirty-two locations in Colorado, from Estes Park to Garden of the Gods, have been videotaped, edited, and downloaded onto Google Maps. I’m looking forward to “hiking” many of the locations:
Google Maps
- Flatirons, Vista South Trail
- Flatirons, Prairie Vista
- Flatirons, Homestead Trail
- Flatirons, Shadow Canyon Trail
- Flatirons, Mesa Trail
- Flatirons, Marshall Mesa
- Flatirons, Community Ditch
- Flatirons, Marshall Valley
- Flatirons, Doudy Draw Trail
- Flatirons, Spring Brook Loop South Trail
- Flatirons, Towhee Trail
- Colorado State Capitol
- Garden of the Gods — Time Machine
Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Red Rocks
- Highland Bridge
- South Platte River Trail
- Civic Center Park
- Washington Park
- Wild Animal Sanctuary
- City Park
- Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield
- Denver Botanic Gardens
- Denver Zoo
Visit Estes Park
- Lake Estes Trail
- Estes Park Riverwalk
- Knoll Willows Trail, Estes Park
- Sprague Lake Trail, Estes Park
- Bear Lake Trail, Estes Park
- Lily Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park
- Deer Mountain Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park
- Forest Canyon Overlook, Rocky Mountain National Park
- Toll Memorial Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park
When I saw they were starting this project, I thought “Thank goodness there are young/strong/surefooted hikers that wan to do this. Didin’t realize they had been so many place. Thanks for the list!
I’d never heard of this before. What a wonderful idea! And bless those dedicated hikers.
Hope they know how much it’s appreciated!