I tried ebay, amazon, etc. Most listings are for vintage maps. AAA lacks detail. Where can I find a 50 state pack of good detail rich maps? Local stores around me just have the neighboring states of NJ. Any ideas? Ron
This could be something to look at: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/category/maps/travel-and-hiking-maps
I generally buy an Atlas for the state or states I am interested in and my preference is the Benchmark Atlas they also make folding paper maps but I'm not familiar with the folding type but love their Atlas.. Have you tried Barnes and Noble or REI? http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/
Great responses. Someone at work has a boxed set of 50 state maps. They are outdated or I would have snatched, er, borrored them long ago... Ron
While I've got GPS and all that Nothing for me is as enjoyable as pouring over cool maps and some of the neatest for motorcycle scale trips are the afore mentioned gazetteers http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10096 $20 a book and most states use only one book.
I agree about the love for paper maps, gps and computer screens just don't show enough of the "big picture", constantly having to scroll up and down to see where the damn road goes. I use a combo of gps, computer, gazeteers, and good old folding paper maps.
How much detail do you need? I use AAA maps and they seem to have most of the dirt roads I want. I have 5 western states of Benchmark Atlas books ($20 each state) and use those for smaller scale routing. Benchmark has more detail including all the forest service roads. I also have an Arizona DeLorme, but it has almost too much detail, because it has foot trails as well. Can be tedious to make a route. However, I did use it for scouting 13 miles of a sand wash for the Great Western Trail. The wash is called Camp Creek and was only on DeLorme and my City Navigator software. It took me three attempts to navigate that wash end to end. A new front tire on the last attempt did the trick. My technique for laying out a trip is to start with AAA maps, then drill down with Benchmark. After that, I open my Basecamp software with its City Navigator NA maps. I drill down to .2 mile scale and all the forest service roads are right there. Then I make my tracks with the tracking tool on Basecamp and load it onto my Garmin 60CSx. Presto! Plug and play... After that my AAA maps only serve as a back-up.
Especially for New York, but also most of the Northeast, I like Jimapco maps. Their county-level maps in NY have tremendous detail.
I've found that most states have PDF versions of their maps either on the Tourism site or the State Dept. of Transportation site. The pdf lets you zoom in without getting pixelated images. I will print the sections that match my routes and trim them to fit my tank bag. If I'm feeling really anal retentive then i will highlight the route too. That way I can just swap pages in the tank bag as I go. For the big picture view, I try and find what I need at the Barnes and Noble nearby. Or I use Mapsco, they used to have a store in town and may still, but here is their website. https://www.kappamapgroup.com/
I agree with this, you can individually contact most states and get maps either free or for a couple of dollars. Collecting all 50 might be a fun exercise. I try to keep a full size road atlas in the vehicles but they get torn up gradually.
On a hijack, does anyone know of a freeware road map program? This did get me thinking that on trips someone will have a laptop or netbook, and I have a few old USB drives. A program loaded on one of those and stashed in the glove compartment might come in handy and would essentially cost nothing to do. Edited to add- in addition to the maps themselves, if it had trip planning features or even just mileage between cities that would be a nice feature.
My experience with the free state maps from Tourism Depts, is a lack of detail, mostly aimed toward highway travel. I use GPS too, but there's something about unfolding a map and imagining the immediate future, rather than staring at a 2" screen. Checking the links....
+1 on Jimapco.....They can go County by County or Regional. I'm also a big fan of slickers made by Rand McNally that are at WalMart. I augment those with MadMaps when I tour. The best series I ever had was published by Readers Digest back in the early 90's and on occasion show up on Ebay. Doc
