If you're interested in how lidar (aka laser scan) data can be used to generate orienteering maps, you need to be checking out what's going on over at RouteGadget.   

I don't have the computer skills to do as much, but I'm learning.  I spent some time this weekend looking at some very interesting terrain and creating a map with OL Laser.  I thought I'd share what I've been doing.

From the lidar data - which I was able to find and download for free - I generated 2.5 meter contours.  I also generated an "intensity" image based on the ground.  From the intensity image I was able to pick out roads, trails and parking areas.  I could also make out vegetation from the intensity image (which is something like a black and white photo).  But, I decided to use the vegetation data in the lidar to generate vegetation information.

To create a rough vegetation map, I used OL Laser's object height feature.  For anything below 0.8 meters, I created a light yellow shade.  For everything above 0.8 meters, I created white areas (to correspond to forested areas).  

You can see the results below.