Locating boat ramps on the web

If anybody's interested, I've figured out a great system for locating boat ramps on the web and getting directions to them. First off, bookmark this page: http://fw.ky.gov/waterbody.aspx
From there you can find links for every ramp that KDFWR maintains. Notice how they list the latitude and longitude? Now here's the really cool part. If you haven't already, download and install Google Earth (it's free). In the "Fly to" window, type in those numbers, latitude first. If for example you're trying to locate Harmon Creek ramp, you would type in 36.9131, -84.9288 and hit Enter. It will fly you down to an aerial photo of the ramp. Right click on the little marker it puts there and select "Add to my places," then right click on it in My Places and rename it Harmon Creek Ramp (or whatever). Type your address into the Fly To window and check out the pic of your house. If you've lived there a while, you might even see your car in the driveway (the pics are generally a few years old). Then mark it the same way. Then you can go to the Get Directions window and it's easy to get directions straight from your house to the ramp. And if you zoom out just a little it's easy to see things like how close the ramp is to the dam, etc. The pictures are amazing! For instance, in the one of Benson Creek you can clearly see someone launching a boat. Dams are easy to make out. I have dozens of places marked (ramps, bait shops, friends' houses, etc) so any time I need directions from one place to another they're only a few clicks away. This has been a great help to me as I've been trying to explore new places to fish. Hope it helps someone else.

excellent tip... I've been using Google earth for quite sometime, but never for finding lakes, boat ramps, etc... That's a great link on KFW's site!!!

Good tip. Thanks.

Peter

Hey Everyone,

You may want to make sure you check the system requirements. Also, if you have dial-up, it recommends it to be at least 128 kbs, which is very rarely found. I think with broadband. DSL or cable, this would be a great tool. I'd even like to try to the premium products, but alas, I live on a farm, rural area, no broadband. Lots of other perks, but still, I miss broadband.

Danny