The Ultimate Montana Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia, 2nd Ed. (Paperback)

I like to read guide books, and I have stacks of them that I've perused: of places I've been, of places I'm going, of places I'll never visit. As an inveterate reader of guide books, not to mention a traveler to some of Montana's most arcane and unusual places, as well as being a collector of trivia, information and gossip, I didn't expect there to be much in this book that I hadn't seen already. I was wrong. It was chock full of unusual and interesting information, and it was all I could do not to grab my keys, jump in the car and head for parts heretofore unknown.This book still had things to tell me.

The entry for Livingston puzzled me as I couldn't figure out what criteria had been used to give commercial establishments a big write-up or to essentially pass them by with a simple mention. A phone call to the writer-editor-publisher shed light on this mystery. Those commercial establishments that got big write ups paid for them. I'm not certain what my philosophy is about this . . . certainly Triple A does much the same. I felt better after I knew that's how the decision was made, because you can use the appropriate pinch of salt, just as you would when reading an ad. Publisher Michael Dougherty explained that this revenue greatly helped to pay for this project and certainly they would have had to have charged a lot more than thirty bucks for this book without that. Still, there are also entries that are clearly included because the Doughertys were enthralled by them, and those are the pieces that make for the most engaging reading. This guide covers everything from kitsch to class, with everything in between. For eclectic travelers it really is a treasure trove.

Because they want to make this the ultimate guide to Montana, they'd like to hear from readers about great stuff they might have missed. The Washoe Theatre in Anaconda, for instance. This was an immense project and that they manage to include as much stuff as they did, stuffed into a reasonably sized package of a book (about the size of the Spokane phone book) is quite an accomplishment. You can't fault them for missing a thing or two, and if you call them up to tell them about it, they're pleased to hear about it, and will include it in future revisions.

The guide is stuffed with detailed maps, mile by mile information for all Montana State and Federal Highways as well as information on Dining (1796 restaurants), lodging (685 motels, 150 guest ranches, 200 bed and breakfasts) 350 campgroudns, 96 forest service cabins, shopping, auto services, hiking (255 hikes) and fishing( 225 sites), Lewis and Clark information (140 points of interest), scenic drives, adventure, entertainment, area information, local history, roadside geology, 270 outfitters, quick reference guides, 71 public golf courses, 25 hot springs, 200 historical markers, 65 scenic drives, 50 ghost towns, 700 annual festivals and events, 40 rodeos, 31 ski areas, and a partridge in a pear tree. Just kidding about the partridge.

Essays on a variety of subjects pepper the volume, including such fascinating topics as the Frontier Cattle Industry, Lewis and Clark, the history of Butte, Kid Curry and the Wild Bunch, a great section on Ingomar (including, if you will, a "bed and breakfast") the Indians and Fort Union, the Nez Perce war, the Bozeman cemetery and the Pryor Mountain Horse herd as well as all sorts of interesting Montana trivia like: the area surrounding the Yellowstone down around Colstrip was once home to one of the largest herds of bison in North American, more than a million and a half animals. Did you know that Petroleum County, the last county established in Montana in 1925, is also the smallest in population with only 518 people? Or that Alzada, Montana is closer to the Texas panhandle than it is to Yaak, Montana? From the town in the southeast to the town in the northwest is 800 miles, or a 12 hour drive.

In any case whether you're traveling from Alzada to Zortman, or Glacier to Yellowstone, or Scobey to the Monida pass, or just hitting the highlights as you speed through on Interstate 90, "The Ultimate Montana Atlas and Travel Guide" makes an excellent traveling companion and earns the space you give it behind the seat of the truck, in the glove box, the map pocket or under the seat. An excellent find.

The Ultimate Guide is not really a travel book. It's not insightful. It's very difficuly to use. And given all the ads, I thought it grossly overpriced.

First, it's a book that was written to provide information on businesses. It's a yellow pages first, and a travel guide as coincidence. It's absolutely crammed with advertising. Not just side bars or obvious ads which clutter the pages, but most city and town descriptions are just entries on establishments. For general example, there's a paragraph and a picture about Flo's laundermat, Joe's knick nack shop and the Super Number motel. Historical and scenic information is often just lifted from goverment publications.

Yes, it has many maps, but they are just simple grids. They don't tell you were points of interest are located.

The book is bulky and very difficult to use. Probably the biggest complaint is simply locating information. The approach they used is to put black numbered dots on a regional map and then have you flip through the pages trying to locate the corresponding description. But when you flip back and forth looking for numbered dots, you are confronted with sections keyed to LETTERED dots. Such as T for attraction. You might end up in the wrong section, as there are something like 13 of them.

It's easier to use if you travel east to west as that's how it's organizied.

The text is difficult to read. Titles and subtitles are in a big bold font, but then the text is a small very faint font.
I wondered if the publishers actually ever tried to use this book.

After I used the Ultimate book for a couple weeks, I went back and read my Moon Handbook, which now read read like best book ever written. The Ultimate Guide is not at all insightful and simply doesn't contain travel writing. There's no inspiring pictures of scenic beauty (except the front of the nick nack shop). However, with Moon, you will get some of the author's opinions, but I found that better than having no insight.

The Ultimate Guide might be useful if you lived in MT or spent a couple weeks in MT traveling between small towns.

In the end, I would recommend the Moon Handbook, the AAA guide and the free information from Montana tourism over the Ultimate Guide. I wish I had bought the new edition of the Moon Handbook (at about half the price) than the Ultimate Guide.