FEATURED
ROAD ATLASES
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and ordering information |
COMPANY |
PRODUCT |
American Map |
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A review of the new 2008 road
atlas will appear here shortly. The following applies
to the 2007 edition: The 2007 road atlas produced
by American Map is unquestionably the best map book
in its price range. It's spiral bound, printed on
good quality paper, and it's a great size for reading
while on the road. The atlas has maps of all fifty
US states, ten Canadian provinces, and includes
detailed maps for 326 cities. This atlas also has
the best maps we have seen for Mexico and Canada
in this price range. Two more features that we really
like are the mileage and driving times map that
covers the entire region between central Canada
and central Mexico, and the temperature, distance
and volume conversion tables on the inside rear
cover. The state maps are chock full of useful,
easy-to-see-at-a-glance information for locating
places in adjoining states. For road trip planning
purposes, the National Parks locator and the suggested
drives section is excellent. This atlas is superior
to products that cost twice as much. |
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A review of the new 2008 road
atlas will appear here shortly. The following
applies to the 2007 edition: We purchase
new atlases every 1-2 years for our personal use,
and this year's edition is the best of breed.
The boundaries of state and national parks leap
off the page with the updated color scheme, and
we find the use of the slightly muted colors for
the different municipalities on each page make
it much easier to use. As in past years, truck
routes are easily identifiable, and the information
about fuel taxes, road conditions, bridge restrictions,
clear channel radio stations and other data vital
to long-haul truckers make this atlas fascinating
to read and use. The laminated pages and spiral
binding make this atlas nearly indestructable.
Yes, it's more expensive, but for serious road
trippers, it's well worth the price. Not only
will the pages resist spilled coffee, you can
write on them with a grease pencil or "dry
erase" marker and wipe it off later. |
Rand McNally |
|
 Perennial
favorite, updated and rendered even more attractive
by a new low price. You really can't beat it for
value. |
STATE
MAPS
Click on product name for current pricing
and ordering information |
COMPANY |
PRODUCT |
Benchmark Maps |
Road & Recreation Atlases |
 In
the last nine years, Benchmark Maps has established
itself as the best source for detailed state road
gazetteers. Unlike most road atlases, the Benchmark
series uses landscape illustration to show mountains
passes, marshes, canyons, and other geographical
elements clearly. The maps look like aerial maps
with elevations shown in relief, and it is easy
to see at a glance if the roadway you are considering
climbs up a steep pass or slogs through a swamp.
These superb maps also identify little known locations,
dirt roads, historical sites, and they provide the
most extensive list of recreational opportunities
we've ever seen in an atlas. Unlike DeLorme, the
areas contiguous to the title state are included,
making it easier to navigate when in close proximity
to borders. Currently the series includes atlases
for Arizona, California, Colorado , Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New
Mexico, Idaho, Utah,
and Wyoming . |
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Atlas
& Travel Encyclopedias |
With
over a hundred detailed black-and-white maps and
hundreds of photgraphs & extensive coverage
of historical events & recreational opportunities
in Idaho , Wyoming, Yellowstone
National Park ,
and Montana,
these two volumes live up to their "Ultimate"
name. Excellent resources for Yellowstone &
Glacier National Parks. Read
RTA's review. |
DeLorme |
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DeLorme's series of state gazetteers
are a good place to turn for more detail than
ordinary road maps. A blend of road atlas and
topo map, the gazetteers can help you keep from
getting lost when you're way off the beaten path,
and they're conveniently published in book form
for easy reading while driving. Something to remember
when purchasing DeLorme Gazetteers is that they
adhere strictly to state lines. This means that
if you're exploring Death Valley, for example,
you have to keep juggling between the Nevada and
Southern California books. For this reason, we
always carry a standard road atlas and use it
in conjunction with the DeLorme Gazatteers. |
Thomas Guides |
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| Spiral-bound
atlas with the great detail Thomas Guides are known
for. |
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MAPPING
SOFTWARE & GPS
Sources for online and print topo maps |
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| Browse
Mapping Software> Browse
GPS & Navigation Systems> |
COMPANY |
PRODUCT |
Microsoft |
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 Microsoft
Streets & Trips 2010 makes trip planning easy
with street level maps of the U.S. and Canada.
Send your route to your GPS device; connect a
GPS device for spoken directions. Share trip details
or itineraries with friends and family. Save time
by setting your map to always start at a particular
location. Choose specific roads to use on your
trip just by dragging and dropping the route.
Craig Antill, RoadTrip Advisor and frequent Forum
contributor, is using this equipment on his road
trip in the southeastern U.S. this week and provides
this assessment of an earlier edition of this
software. (1/12/10) |
DeLorme |
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 We've
been using StreetAtlas USA since 1994, and it's
gotten better with every new version. In this latest
version, the designers have clearly focused on "building
a better mousetrap" and are directly targeting
the users of the industry leader -- Microsoft Streets
and Trips (see next entry). While we haven't field
tested DeLorme's 2006 software ourselves yet, it
does seem to have some nifty features. The "avoid
routing tool" has been simplified and makes
it easier to block out areas that you might wish
to bypass when traveling. There is also a "MapShare"
utility that allows for the posting of maps and
routes with a unique URL for sharing with friends
and family. The voice recognition software has also
been enhanced and is capable of responding to simple
voice commands like "be quiet" or "next
turn" in addition to providing the industry
standard of turn-by-turn directions. |
Rand McNally |
|
 Although
the online version of Rand McNally's mapping software
is good, Streetfinder doesn't measure up well against
the equivalent Microsoft and Delorme products. |
DeLorme |
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Create your own topographic maps for the entire
U.S. Includes automatic trail & road routing
and realistic shaded relief or 3-D views. Discover
300,000 miles of trails, 43 National Parks, and
120 National Forest trail networks.
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Garmin |
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Similar in scale to the USGS 1:100,000-scale
topograpgical paper maps. The entire US is on
one CD. Features trip and way-point tracking capability. |
Alexis Publishing |
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| Good introduction
to using GPS equipment; includes a free CD with
MapTech's mapping software. |
National Geographic |
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Distinctive
design with bold colors and relief shading.
Measures 70" x 49". Scale: 1 inch = 44
miles.
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National Geographic |
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| All
of North America (Canada, United States, Mexico,
& Central America) Measures 30" x 23".
Scale: 1 inch = 209 miles |
Binford & Mort |
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| Reproduced
from the original four-color letterpress plates.
Includes portraits & illustrations of historic
figures and events of the settlement of the Pacific
Northwest. Measures 34 3/4" x 19 3/4". |
Ives Goddard |
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| Display
map showing North America native languages and language
families |
ADC the Map People |
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| Display
map of Washington, D.C. and everything within a
50-mile radius |
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RTA's new Map Wizard lets you make instant road trip maps. Simply enter your beginning and ending points, then click to find RoadTrip Attractions along your route.
