Customer Reviews

Benchmark New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas, 10th Anniversary Edition (Benchmark Map: New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My copy of the fourth edition of this map is worn out from use. Many of its pages have been torn out for backpacking or hitchhiking trips and then taped back in, many of my favorite roads have been highlighted and annotated, and its corners are all bent and scuffed from the map being stuffed beneath car seats and thrown into tents. I like that edition a lot, but I've always had complaints about it: its contents were detailed and accurate, but hard to access...it had maps of both public and private and urban areas, but were hard to correlate with one another. And there were certain areas that weren't noted, and that should have been.
However, with the latest addition of Benchmark's "New Mexico Road and Recreation and Atlas," almost all of my complaints have faded away, and my opinion of this map and this company have risen considerably.
Where before the information was hard to access, now the back of the mapbook has the entire state divided into a simple numbered grid, and every number over every area corresponds to a page on the map.
For instance, say I want to see a map of the Bootheel area. On the back it's labeled 48. I turn to page 48, and there it is, in full detail.
Then, if I'd like to see a map of that same area, but with the public lands featured more prominently, I just look on the top of the page I was on, page 48, and it tells me clearly, and with a diagram, to turn to page 80. and on page 80, there's exactly what I needed. Hooray!
It's great. If I had any complaints about it, it's that La Madera Road, my favorite dirt road of all time--between San Antonito and Madrid--could have a little more detail, and a few more of that area's ghost towns and historic features could have been noted. Overall however, I would recommend this map to anyone, as one of the very best I've seen of the state. (Now I want to buy their maps for the other Four Corners states as well.) I'm sure in a few years my new copy will look even more beat up than my last copy--and I can't wait to start to make it look that way.

I prefer the New Mexico Atlas and Gazetteer over the Benchmark New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas. The reason is that the gazetteer shows state and federal lands - places where I'm not tresspassing. That's important to me. I carry them both, but the gazetteer gets used much more.

Go out and get these maps. If you enjoy route planning and adventure traveling you will love these maps. I have them all. If you are route planning with Garmin software you WILL NEED these maps for the perspective and valuable information.

I find the details of Benchmark maps to be much more accurate than the DeLorme series. On a recent trip to New Mexico, we ran into several errors with the DeLorme, which caused us to have to re-trace our route a number of miles each time.

If comparing this to the DeLorme atlas for New Mexico--the only competition--the big difference is that the Benchmark atlas has a coarser scale and less detail. You can get a good sense of this simply by looking at the back cover: DeLorme divides the state among 45 pages of maps, Benchmark gives it 29, and it simply isn't possible to fit the same amount of detail in 2/3 the space. Instead Benchmark gives you partially redundant recreation maps and landscape maps; I'd much rather just have a single set of maps with more detail and all the information right there. This is not to suggest the DeLorme atlas is perfect; it certainly isn't. But it is the best game in town.

Benchmark New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas, 10th Anniversary Edition (Benchmark Map: New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas)Replaced old one I had worn out. Only thing missing in this one is a good city map with streets for ABQ.

This book is a very nice map as long as you like having maps in a book form. No need to have it any other way now that GPS units are in the car.

This is the best map that I have ever used. It's extremely detailed and consistent. The best feature of the map which few maps show is where roads turn to gravel or dirt - a rarely documented but important bit of information, especially in western states. I'm buying Benchmark maps for my upcoming trip and I don't think I'll be disappointed.

You must have benchmark atlas' if you are looking for the road less traveled. These maps will show you the dirt roads, camping, hiking and other off the beaten path places. Unless you are just staying on major highways, you NEED these maps! I love all 3 states I have.