The Google Maps of the Week

Today's release of the 8-bit map tiles for Google Maps has to get a special mention this week. The NES version of Google Maps is all sorts of awesome. If you haven't seen it yet then go to Google Maps and select the 'Quest' button.

However there were some other brilliant maps released this week.


The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change released this real heat map for England. I say 'real' because it actually uses Google Maps to display heat use at building level throughout England.

The CEO - Heatmap shows heat demand from individual buildings throughout England and provides a range of tools to help developers and planners identify priority areas for low carbon heat projects.


AllTrails wasn't released this week but it was the first time I stumbled upon it. AllTrails currently has over 200,000 members who have mapped over 45,000 trails. The trails includes routes and information on many different activities including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.

It is possible to search for trails by location and the results are displayed on a Google Map. It is then possible to refine the trails shown by the driving distance from your location, the length of the trail and / or its duration.


The Yard Sale Treasure Map seemed to get a bit of buzz this week. You can use Yard Sale to find yard sales happening around your location and plan a route and an itinerary, to help you visit them all.

When you add a location to Yard Sale Treasure Map the nearest sales are automatically added to your itinerary. You can add or remove sales by clicking on their map marker. You can even search for places to stop off on your route. For example if you fancy a coffee between yard sales you can search for nearby cafes and add one to your route.