# Making a national-park trail map with the Forest and Trails preset > trail networks through park land, made for hikers' walls This preset recreates the national-park visitor map in layers: hiking trails and park roads over forest green, rivers and lakes in blue, all on a dark backplate. It loads on Yosemite Valley and suits any park, trail network, or favorite hiking area. ## What you need ### Laser cutting - 3 mm [laser-grade plywood](https://yxecreations.com/collections/laser-grade-plywood) for the forest layer; a backplate sheet (dark stain, `#1f2937` in the preset) - Optional blue [acrylic](https://yxecreations.com/pages/acrylic-sheets) for water - Laser cutter, glue, weights, plus plan to fill-*engrave* the trails and *score* the park roads (neither is cut) ### UV print / sublimation - High-res PNG, flat blank: the flat version looks like a proper park poster ### 3D printing - FDM printer; multicolor (3MF) recommended: green, blue, black, dark gray ## 1. Start from the preset Open [the Forest Trails preset](/map-designer?preset=forest-trails). It loads on Yosemite Valley at zoom 12.6: a whole valley with its trail web. Search your park and stay around zoom 12 to 13.5: wide enough to catch the trail network, close enough that individual paths separate. Frame so a river or lake anchors the composition; trails alone can read as scribbles. ## 2. Tune the layers Five layers, top to bottom: - **Trails**: Solid mode, **Paths** at width 2, black. The star of the preset: every hiking path in frame, exported as solid fills (fill-engrave them on a laser). If the web is too dense, zoom in slightly rather than thickening lines. - **Park roads**: Score mode, **Secondary Roads** (width 3) and **Streets** (width 2), black. The drivable loop roads; on a laser these score as single-pass centerlines (line mode). Toggle off **Streets** for backcountry areas. - **Forest**: Solid mode, **Forest** filled `#2E7D43`. Big organic green shapes: the body of the piece. - **Water**: Solid mode: lakes/rivers filled `#4EA8DE`, plus **Rivers** (width 3) and **Streams** (width 2) as ribbons. - **Backplate**: `#1f2937` dark slate; reads as granite/meadow wherever forest isn't. For flat prints, note that black trails over the dark backplate can get lost: recolor Trails to a warm tan like `#E8DCC0` for print versions. ## 3. Export - **Laser:** per-layer SVG ZIP. Cut Forest, Water, and the Backplate; fill-engrave Trails (solid ribbons too stringy to cut and glue) and score Park roads as single-pass lines. Small-polygon cleanup on: forest cover is full of sliver polygons. - **UV print:** high-res PNG; recolor trails first (see above). Background off gives a transparent PNG for printing on wood, where bare substrate plays the granite role. - **3D printing:** 3MF for the four colors; STL if you'll paint. ## Laser Cutting & Engraving ### Laser cutting 1. Cut the **Backplate** from dark-stained stock. 2. Cut the **Water** layer (lake and river shapes) from blue acrylic or painted ply. Tape before cutting; stream ribbons are delicate, and it's fine to let the thinnest ones go and keep only the main river. 3. Cut the **Forest** layer from your green material: large organic pieces, easy to handle. 4. Glue water and forest onto the backplate using the screen as the placement guide. [3M tape](https://yxecreations.com/collections/3m-tape) 467 or 468 is ideal for acrylic water shapes; 300LSE grips harder materials. 5. Score **Park roads** as single-pass lines, then fill-engrave **Trails**, through the assembled top surface (or onto the forest layer before gluing: test alignment on scrap first). Trails burned through the green look like routed paths. 6. Finish matte; a thin frame in the backplate color completes the park-poster look. ## UV & Sublimation Printing ### UV print / sublimation 1. Recolor Trails to `#E8DCC0`, export the high-res PNG. 2. Print on hardboard or bamboo; transparent-background variant on natural wood is the best-seller look for this preset. ## 3D Printing ### 3D printing 1. Export the 3MF: green forest, blue water, black trails/roads on the dark plate, pre-stacked. 2. Print flat, no supports. Keep 180 mm+ so width-2 trail ribbons survive; or hide Trails and print just forest/water, then paint trails on. ## Make it yours - Works anywhere trails cluster: Yosemite, Zion, Banff, your local state park or trail-running network. - Highlight *the* hike: keep Trails subtle and add a route layer over your exact line in a bold color. - Autumn palette: forest `#B5651D`, water `#3E6B8C`, trails cream. - Topo mashup: add two or three topography layers under the forest for valley walls. - Engrave trailhead names and mileages along the bottom margin. - Patch version: small export + Stitch holes mounting option, cut from [leatherette](https://yxecreations.com/pages/leatherette). - Mark the campsite or proposal spot with a heart icon at export. --- Open the tool: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/forest-trails Read online: https://www.mylasertools.com/learn/guides/forest-trails