California Road & Recreation Atlas: Landscape Maps, Recreation Guides, Detailed Roads, GPS Grids (Benchmark Maps) [Paperback]

Benchmark Maps (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2005

Please note - this edition is out-of-print and has been replaced by the California Road & Recreation Atlas- 6th edition - Amazon ASN - 0929591496. Please place ASN in search field to find new edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This oversized guide places its "recreation maps" of the state on left-hand pages facing diverse listings (with phone numbers)...An index to recreation resources is a state tour in itself. Then come the "Landscape Maps(tm)", so three-dimensional you feel every bump in the road as well as every foothill, mountain and fault; plus more listings and a complete and seemingly infallible index -- San Francisco Chronicle, January 3, 2000

"Landscape Maps™", so three-dimensional you feel every bump in the road...more listings and a complete and seemingly infallible index. -- The San Francisco Chronicle, December 14, 1997

Landscape Maps featuring improved landform detail, the addition of hundreds of back roads...useful to anyone who drives the state. -- Bob Masullo, Sacramento Bee, March 31, 2002

The Landscape Maps™ are what set this publication apart. Legibility is excellent and the maps have a clean appearance. --Kathy Rankin, Western Association of Map Librarians. March, 1998

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Benchmark Maps; 5th edition (2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929591801
• ISBN-13: 978-0929591803
• Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 10.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's nothing like'em, March 23, 2004

By 

Louis I. Jaffe (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Road & Recreation Atlas: Landscape Maps, Recreation Guides, Detailed Roads, GPS Grids (Benchmark Maps) (Paperback)

The Benchmark state road atlases are in a class by themselves. No one else combines excellent road legibility with vivid shaded-relief imagery of the land forms.

The main competitor is DeLorme's series of state atlases. Here's how they compare: Benchmark is better for primary and secondary roads, better for labeling landmarks, far better on land forms. Benchmark also has a dedicated set of pages showing what government agencies own what lands. DeLorme is larger scale, with occasionally better detail on local features.

Neither is a definitive guide to back-country roads, although Benchmark does more to classify which roads are actually driveable vs. which are mere tracks.

Benchmark covers only the Western states, DeLorme all 50 states. For any state covered by both, I would want to have both atlases in the car, but if I had to chose just one it would be Benchmark.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous atlas, April 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: California Road & Recreation Atlas: Landscape Maps, Recreation Guides, Detailed Roads, GPS Grids (Benchmark Maps) (Paperback)

This series of atlases is fantastic. The relief shading adds a tremendous amount of information and without cluttering or distracting from the road detail. Absolutely great for camping in remote areas, for example. With a GPS you can practically pinpoint your location on every page.

Printing and binding are excellent. My old edition went through hell and came out battered but alive.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Accidental Tourists, September 9, 2003

By 

Kyle D. Macdonald (Whitter, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Road & Recreation Atlas: Landscape Maps, Recreation Guides, Detailed Roads, GPS Grids (Benchmark Maps) (Paperback)

If you love California roads and traveling off the beaten path this is your guide. If you are a tourists or just passing through there are better solutions.

As an avid off-roader this is the best for the entire state.