Travel to Utah

Utah Atlas & Gazetteer

Format: Paperback
Author: DeLorme
ReleaseDate: 01 April, 2005
Publisher: Delorme Mapping Company
Rating:

New Style OK But Not Great
I will never plan a trip without one. I have been a huge fan of DeLorme State Atlas and Gazetteer books for 20+ years. I find them absolutely indispensable and have them with me on any car trip, period. I do however have a preference for the older style of mapping used on the earlier editions. I used to own an old Utah Atlas and Gazetteer and much preferred it to the new one. The enhanced topo information and colorations are neat but the actual road mappings have a new style that are annoying to me. It is much harder with longer dashed lines for unimproved roads to determine whether the road intersects another one. Anyone who does backroading in Utah knows that when a road is near another on the map does not mean they intersect. One road could be 1000 feet below another and both will dead-end. It is not fun to plan a trip not being sure whether your road goes through. Although I still like the maps, I feel the need to have another topo source for backroads. I wish DeLorme would update their Atlas and Gazeteers in the old format rather than the 'slick' newer style.

Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona... Great places for these
Duplicates of each. I have several of these of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. . . one in the house for planning and study, one in the truck. Occasionally I rotate them so they don't wear out too quickly. I gave Delorme top billing in my Desert Emergency Survival Basics book, but you don't need a desert and you don't need an emergency to need a delorme atlas. Any rural area in the United States is probably covered by them.

If you spend a lot of time in the back country these maps are the best alternative, from my point of view. It's true the maps don't have labels on the back country cow trails another reviewer complained of. The fact is, neither do the roads. But it's often helpful when you come to the fork in a dirt two-track and they both wander off a few degrees off North, to be able to crack open the Delorme and discover the one on the left plays out just over that hill over there at a windmill. There's no excuse for needing labels these days. A compass and Delorme will allow you to locate yourself in most instances.

However, even the back woods purist ought to own a GPS. I've been wandering around the back woods longer than most readers of this have been alive. I rarely get lost, but I frequently don't know exactly where I am. Occasionally my old TrailBlazer saved me a lot of walking to get back to the truck. Once it saved my life in a snowstorm, I imagine.

For motor traveling you'll cover too much ground to allow the 7. 5 minute maps to help much. You pass from one map to the next too quickly. When you are afoot a couple of them become useful. Meanwhile, I use Delorme as one of the ways to keep track of my wanderings. I recommend them wherever you are. And a GPS, as well.

A Necesity for exploring Back Country Utah by Car
It doesn't replace hiking maps, but if you have a 4wd or high clearance vehical and want to explore Utah on dirt roads, this is for you. There are a lot of dirt roads that cover the BLM and National Forests of Utah, and this book has them.

It also lists camping and fishing sites accross the state. A word of warning. Dotted red lines may only be passable by 4wd vehicals.

It would also be great for planning Snowmobile outings or 4-wheeler camp trips. Have fun.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Utah travel books.

	North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer (North Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer)
	New Mexico Atlas & Gazetteer
	Nevada Atlas & Gazetteer
	Idaho Atlas & Gazetteer
	Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails