Benchmark Atlas

[DesertXJ]

I recently read a trip report and at the he gave some of literature he used, one of them was a Benchmark Atlas. I searched it out and read reviews about them which I would say were 95% positive. My question is what do the Back Country guru think of them? My use would be 70% off-road use and 30% hiking etc. do they really give a good view of off beaten trails etc as the reviews claim.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I used to use them when I started four-wheeling years ago. Can't say I've touched one in a long time...there are much better options for backcountry travel.

 

[DesertXJ]

What options would that be Randy

 

[IntrepidXJ]

For certain areas in Utah and Colorado I like the Latitude 40 maps. Plus I have a bunch of Trails Illustrated maps that are usually pretty good. USGS Topo maps are always a good choice, too.

 

[Nick]

I love the Trails Illustrated maps for overviews of an area. For more detailed maps, I mostly just use GPS Gaia with cached maps on my iPhone for hiking or iPad for car/boat camping. I used to print out my own topos for each trip, but it became less convenient to do and GPS Gaia has been great.

 

[DesertXJ]

I have some Trail illustrated maps and I also use Gaia which is great, I looked at the Lat 40 maps they have a lot for Colo but only listed Moab trails for Utah. I'm a Garmin user and I use a Oregon 450 handheld with topo maps installed, and Nuvi 465 with topo in my Jeep.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

...I use a Oregon 450 handheld...

I use the same. I don't usually need to refer to physical maps anymore, but I usually keep one in my pack, just in case.

 

[Nick]

My 450 stopped working reliably this year. Seems like the antenna was going out. I'm just fine with that though. I much prefer using my iPhone.

 

[DesertXJ]

What's nice about Gaia is that I can track my trip with my Oregon and then upload the tracking info to Gaia with my waypoints and it will show up on my iPhone or iPad

@Nick i just got my iPhone 6+ (thanks to wifey letting me use her upgrade) I'm dying to try out Gaia on it.

 

[backwoodsBob]

I have always liked them! (the benchmark atlas) While I don't think they are "all inclusive" in the back roads department, (the kind of roads that have grass growing between the tire tracks) they do provide a nice all in one reference to whats out there! .... I carry one for Utah, Montana in the truck,... They have been helpful for subterfuge routes ... a topo can give you a quick go/no go idea.... they are not that expensive....

A couple years ago we used one to find a back road, (any back road) having just traveled to a general area in southern Utah, on a totally off the cuff trip. woke up to an Awesome vista!

 

[Artemus]

@Nick i just got my iPhone 6+ (thanks to wifey letting me use her upgrade) I'm dying to try out Gaia on it.

My exact use case. 4 stars!