Are there maps that lay out under 55 routes????

[Steve Plucker]

[QUOTE=mhsprecher;1396856]Some people can't read maps, as HL says. One of my best friends and an old car guy, can't. I love maps and enjoy reading them. I suspect it can be learned, but some people's brains don't work that way. My sister can't use a GPS, much less a map.

I planned a short tour for this weekend and learned one thing that maps I was using didn't tell me, which was that some roads I chose were gravel. Some old car folks don't want their cars driving on gravel roads, understandably, but if I had not driven my proposed route beforehand, I would not have known this. We are trying to stay off of some of the primary roads due to traffic and speeds.

AAA is a good source of maps, too, for those who are members. If you really want to stay off of the beaten path, which we are attempting with our short tour this weekend, those maps aren't much help. Finding those county map books that were once so common is getting hard to do. I used a combination of hard copy maps, Google Maps and Map Quest on my computer to plan the route.

Lastly, I think GPS makes you stupid. It is a huge help, but if you rely on it too much, you turn your brain off.[/QUOTE]

HA! Exactly! That is exactly what the Dish Network guy did last week in trying to find our place...After telling them three times how to get here, their GPS unit took them right by our place and still took them 15 more miles to the north and ended up at the Snake River Bridge!

Pluck

[Jeff/Illinois]

I have very little faith in GPS. I've been fouled up by it too many times to count.

I still use the ole Rand McNally maps, gets me thru every time. But not the spiral bound Atlas the old fashioned flat book works best.

Once in France, running around looking at WWI battle sites, the Somme, a GPS tried to run us down what amounted to a cow path, literally, with sharp rocks, leading out west of the big Lochnagar Crater outside of Albert, France that the Brits blew up under the German lines. If any of you are familiar with this area you will know how agricultural it is. There is NO WAY an automobile could travel THAT route and not get blown tires. Plus there is still barbed wire fragments and steel rods left over from the trench fighting. The farmers pile it up in the corners of their fields every spring, the stuff keeps working it's way up to the surface even 100 years later.

Not a good dirt road to travel unless you are in a tracked vehicle w/o tires

[denis4x4]

If you're in Durango and punch my address in to your GPS, it will take you 2 miles further so that you pass a Conoco station! As a volunteer at th USFS book store, I heard countless horror stories from map buyers as to how their GPS screwed up. GPS is great on a boat, now so good when you're touring the back roads in the west .

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by mike657894

Is there a resource for routes all over the united states that avoid all free ways?

What research did you do that failed. Did you google, try auto club, etcetera? Wayne

[w.michael]

I have planned tours using MapQuest in the past, but can't anymore. I used to just put in the beginning and ending points and let MapQuest make a route. Then I would look at the route, and drag the blue line over to the local roads that paralleled the highways. This used to work very well, but no more. MapQuest improved their site so much that you can't drag the route lines in the new version. Now MapQuest is useless in mapping tour routes.

Tom, my smart phone has a compass feature on it that seems to work.

W. Michael

[Tom Wesenberg]

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I agree about MapQuest going downhill. When something works great, just leave it alone. Photobucket also changed about 5 years ago, and now I can't post to Ahooga, and I can't even get back into my old photobucket account.

[Tom Foster]

[QUOTE=w.michael;.

Tom, my smart phone has a compass feature on it that seems to work.

W. Michael[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on the mapping app. My phone has one called Here, that found a couple of addresses in Louisiana that Mapquest and Google Maps could not. Plus it's Bluetooth enabled, so it plays through the speakers or my phone audio either.
Fearless

[H. L. Chauvin]

Could not help but to add this if traveling through pasture land in your Model A in rural areas.

Cows: Just try looking this up on the internet.

Some swear that if cows are eating, it is said that they either face north or south ..... take your pic. No limit to what is written on the internet.

Checked it out the other day going to work ...... somebody must have demagnetized this whole herd. LOL

[mike657894]

I went to google and it did give a south cycle route which is windy but would get it done. these things are getting better.

[Charlie Stephens]

The navigation system in my 2007 Mercedes has the ability to route you not using freeways. Check your navigation system and see what it has.

Charlie Stephens

[mhsprecher]

I am never lost. Sometimes I don't know where I am, but I am never lost. ;-)

[hotrodalley]

I use a 1950's Road Atlas. Its great and uncluttered with any interstates.

[Tom Foster]

Back to the original question, you might look for region or area maps. I have Texas Hill Country, Central Texas, South Texas, that are quite a bit more detailed than the TXDOT map which leaves out a lot of stuff. You can find state atlases which go over a whole state page by page. Finally, if you're really serious you can find a Butler Motorcycle Map which is incredibly detailed, down to dirt roads accessed by gates, and rates them by difficulty, Grade One, Grade Two, etc.

Or just stay off the Interstates.

Fearless

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

I am never lost. Sometimes I don't know where I am, but I am never lost. ;-)

Never lost............just exploring new territory.

[ian Simpson]

We are members of our local Motorists Association. They give out free maps of every province and state. They also have street maps of a few major cities. Lots of help.

But then, I was actually taught to read maps in Geography class.

I also have a talking GPS and compass apps on my phone that I seldom use.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Never lost............just exploring new territory.

agreed, on nice days I just pick a direction and go. As long as I know what side of the Il river in on I can never be lost.

anyways my Garmin GPS has ability to avoid highways and unpaved roads. Very rarely does it spaz out and not take me where I need to go. I usually just have it and have it on so I know where I am and use it as a scrolling map.

I should also note in highschool drivers ed part of the class was map reading, the teacher would pick a spot in the state and you had to get back home by writing out turn by turn directions with distances! Also I think in cub scouts we had to plan a family trip and use the map along the way giving directions.