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If I may paraphrase Keats, "a good map is a joy for ever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness." Yes, I love maps and am always on the lookout for new ones. Besides the typical information you'd expect to find, they frequently contain neat pictures, local contact information and descriptions of unusual topography.
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A good map is essential when visiting the National Grasslands, not just for finding the next road along the way, but for also determining land ownership. Our National Grasslands are frequently a patchwork of parcels, some belonging to the USDA, others to the BLM or state, and others still privately owned by individuals or perhaps an Indian reservation. You need a map so that you don't inadvertently trespass as you hike the prairie.
Most of the National Grassland maps put out by the U.S. Forest Service are absolutely beautiful and very inexpensively priced. Some of them are available in waterproof, rip-proof plastic form, which makes them particularly easy to stuff in a back pocket while hiking. There are generally some decent pictures of various unique land features, descriptions of the common flora and fauna, and a little bit of history about the grassland. The map itself is laid out on a grid of one-mile squares, making it very easy to interpret. Forest roads are labeled and any hiking trails are shown as well. All in all, these are fun maps to own and use. You can order them directly from the feds; see the links below.
I'm also very fond of the Delorme State Atlas & Gazetteer series. I use the South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado ones all the time. These are very large format books containing topo maps of the entire state and are beautifully produced. You should also be aware that this series contains a great deal of info on historic sites, hiking trails and other attractions. For example, thanks to the Kansas gazeteer (pictured above) we found out about the fantastic Dillon Nature Center before we ever left home. This amazing, yet not so well known, preserve and natural history museum literally became one of the highlights of our Santa Fe Trail trip of 2000 — just one more example of why winter planning is so advantageous. By the way, these gazetteers also make great car companions when you're driving in the outback.
First on my list of useful software is Delorme's Map 'N' Go; this is a must-have! You've probably seen those Triptik strip maps put out by the AAA. Well, Map 'N' Go is used to create your own customized versions, and more. A complete travel package would contain an overview of your trip, a list of all directions (mileages and highway interchanges), the strip maps, close-up detail maps for the various stops and "attractions" information. The latter would be descriptions and prices for motels, campgrounds, museums, etc. Now note the following: the Map 'N' Go CD ROM contains the full text from all of the AAA Tour Guide books! Frankly I don't know how they crammed this onto a single disk, but you can access all of the usual AAA material on attractions, lodging and dining. I dropped out of the AAA when their towing insurance was no longer competitive, and just use this inexpensive software to make my own travel packages.
Another mind-boggler from Delorme is Topo USA. This is a set of six CD-ROMs containing topo maps for the entire United States! The maps are in color, show contours at 20 foot intervals and include over 300,000 miles of trails. Whew! Also included is a nice interface and search engine making it easy to move around or search for certain landmarks. I did notice a couple out-of-date features in the package though. Most notably Fossil Cycad National Monument was shown in South Dakota, but this was decommissioned back in the fifties and no longer exists! Nonetheless, for land features that don't change much this is a very useful map maker.
And now let me turn you loose on links to these and other map resources on the World Wide Web. Be sure to drop me a line if you discover another map resource that I should post here.
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