Arizona (National Geographic Guide Map)

It was a great guide, while on our Vacay!!

Far and away the best road atlases in existence.I travel on backroads all over the US, and as a result I'm forced to use the Delorme in the east, where Benchmarks aren't available. Every time I look at one of the Delormes, I am nagged by a terrible longing for the Benchmark.Also, the Benchmarks contain far more detail. On the Delormes, most of the smaller backroads aren't labeled. On the Benchmark they are. Plus, it is an infinitely more beautifully example of cartography.I have nothing but praise for the Benchmark series. They're in a class of their own.

In this age of GPS on your phone, it is still nice to have a paper map so you can see where you are in relationship to everything else. Yes, it has all the disadvantages, thin, easily torn, hard to get refolded, takes up the front seat area when open, and still worth having.

I like the National Geographic series for national park maps (specifically Rocky Mountain) as my paper trail guide for hiking. I wanted to try their format for planning a road trip through Arizona, but the information on the map is not quite what I was looking for. I will still use this one as my paper resource for AZ.

I have several Benchmark maps and they’re second to none. We love back country exploring and rely on them for getting us around. The detail is great, considering scale, most 2 track roads appear, tons of landmarks and attractions identified and good thick pages. Way better than DeLorme in my opinion. I don’t have GPS, I just use these books. I believe them to accurate and up to date at the time of printing.

I have purchased both the Washington and Oregon Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas, and now the Arizona Map/Atlas. These are indispensable if you are going to new places that are off an Interstate Highway. The level of detail is perfect for any outdoors person. Shown are virtually every public campground, forest road, river, stream, and boat launch, and even towns with populations of 50 and less. The editors thought the atlas through so that ANYONE can use it immediately upon receipt. I will never go back to folding maps. An excellent atlas!

I use these Benchmark atlases for all of my adventures in the west. Over the years I accumulated almost all of the DeLorme Atlas and Gazateers for the western states, but I find the Benchmark maps to be more accurate, and they make it much easier to differentiate between various road types. I often found with the DeLorme maps that what I often thought was a 2 lane gravel road ended up being a jeep trail.

If you are into off-road driving but maybe not a dare-devil, these guides are the best. I purchased a Utah version a few years ago after using 'not-to-scale' off-roading maps. These are far superior outlining the types of roads (4x4, high clearance, etc.) - A must-have, since you often lose cell service when you get off the grid!