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Favourite Road Atlas?

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Finally got the vehicle ready for a trip south from Ontario into the Carolinas and maybe to Florida. I believe I read here somewhere about which (paper, not digital) road atlas to get for identifying parks, BLM's, free RV parking/camping spots, etc. Which guidebook/atlas/series do you recommend? We'll probably buy them en route once we've crossed the border into the U.S. We're running out of time for ordering on line. Recommendations are appreciated. Digital apps may also be helpful, so if you've got favourites, you're welcome to recommend them, too.
 
Martin, I am a maphead, and don’t have or use a GPS or Smartphone.

For a map/atlas I am a huge fan of the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer for whatever States I will be visiting, or even passing through. That is a pricy solution (I have probably collected 30+ States at this point), but they are worth every penny in the long run.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/575993

I’d at least get those for the States where you plan to spend much time. Just a side note: a stack of Atlas and Gazetteers fits nicely in a Xerox paper box lid.

For a paper guidebook identifying inexpensive RV/camping spots you are looking for this:

https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Ameri.../dp/0937877557

12,000 free and low cost campgrounds. That book has both printed directions and GPS coordinates

My favorite camping guide remains a mid-70’s Rand McNally campground atlas that includes all 50 States (and Canadian Provinces). It is nearly 600 pages in large atlas format, but it includes every State Park, State Forest, National Park, National Forest, BLM, City/County/Civic and private campground, with directions, info about # of sites, acres, seasons, fishing, boating, hiking etc, all presented in an easy to survey grid.

It is 45 years out of date, but all of the public stuff is still there. Most helpfully each site is numbered on a State road map, so it is excellent for spur of the moment let’s stop soon. Just look ahead along our route, find a couple choices nearby and have a read about the specifics.

Guidebook? If you are looking for paddling guides which States are you interested in paddling?

If you settle on a general route I’m sure folks here can suggest “must see” stops.


EDIT: I think the Rand McNally campground atlas is this one.

https://www.ebay.com/i/123780355564...MI_YrWmYXj5QIVr4VaBR3PBQjBEAQYASABEgK8hfD_BwE

The cover on mine has been gone for decades, replaced with some stiff paper and duct tape spine.
 
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I just use the Rand McNally Road Atlas large scale.
https://www.amazon.com/Rand-McNally...t=&hvlocphy=9002554&hvtargid=pla-656814907184

If I want to ferret around for paddling opportunities or back country camping the DeLorme Gazeteers for each state is a must. I carry Florida and Maine. They are goldmines of info. I have been backcountry camping in both states at sites that I never knew existed without the Gazeteers. The Maine one needs to be more current as logging roads come and go. The FL one has been in service 10 years and still works.

I don'r remember where I got the FL Gazeteer but I do remember trying to find one in FL and it was HARD!
BLM is not much presence in the East. But there are still free campsites.

I recommend no apps for navigation. I still find paper maps the very best for the big picture. Most states have Welcome Areas and will give you a map on request.

Campsite apps?:. You can try freecampsites.net for campsites. I simply use the ONP Walmart parking app from Allstays https://www.allstays.com/apps/walmart.htm

We logged in some 100,000 miles on our trailer and I bought that Free and low cost Campground book Mike mentioned. Never used it at all.

There were two of us in the vehicle and it was way easier to Google enroute than read a book. For example its not hard to google Levy County Campsites Florida once you are aware that you are indeed in Levy County FL. Its harder to find them in a book. Online they may show up on an online map.

Sometimes its a PITA that the South mentions Counties at all. Ie as in storm or tornado warnings. I seldom know what county I am in!
 
I don'r remember where I got the FL Gazeteer but I do remember trying to find one in FL and it was HARD!


Sometimes its a PITA that the South mentions Counties at all. Ie as in storm or tornado warnings. I seldom know what county I am in!

In the southern States I have found those Delorme Atlas and Gazetteers in larger gas station/convenience store/truck stop type places alongside I-95 (Love’s, Sheet’s, etc).

Try figuring out which county in Georgia.

http://ontheworldmap.com/usa/state/georgia/georgia-county-map.html

159 Counties, only Texas has more.
 
Finally got the vehicle ready for a trip south from Ontario into the Carolinas and maybe to Florida.

Martin, or anyone else thinking of heading south along the coastal plain, presuming you will be on I-95 at some point heading I suggest avoiding the Washington beltway. Like the plague.

I-95 runs part way around the Baltimore beltway, which isn’t pretty even outside of rush hours (think rush hours 6am to 10am, and 3pm to 7pm). I-95 also runs half way around the Washington Beltway, which is a freaking nightmare at the best of times.

I avoid the Washington beltway (and crazy wheel-spoke layout city) if at all possible, and I used to drive there once a week. Even past the Washington beltway I-95 as far south as Bowling Green in Virginia is often stop-and-go. Northern Virginia has too many people.

Much easier and more scenic on a coastal plain I-95 route: Endure the Baltimore beltway if you must and get off on I-97 south to MD-3 to US 301 south.

Rte 301 will miss all of Washington, and put you on I-95 at Bowling Green south of the mess. There are traffic signals on Rte 301 in Waldorf and LaPlatta, but even so it is smoother sailing and far more scenic than I-95 around DC and northern Virginia.

The Sheets gas and convenience a few miles south of the Potomac River bridge on 301 carried Delorme Gazetters. As did the Love’s travel stop at VA exit #4.

It is worth comparing gas prices from State to State, before you cross the line and it’s too late. State gas tax can make a big price difference.

Beer, booze and tobacco likewise, if any of those are needed supplies.
 
I can't imagine why anyone coming from Ontario would use I-95 at all.
I. 81 yes if you live in Eastern Ontario.
79 to 77 if you live near Toronto. then you can work back due S to 95.


Martin do you have a route planned?

I have never ever been through DC fortunately. Going south we have a travel trailer and I would pull my hair out. 81 does have campgrounds that are open and accessible without obtaining ulcers.
 
I can't imagine why anyone coming from Ontario would use I-95 at all.
I. 81 yes if you live in Eastern Ontario.
79 to 77 if you live near Toronto. then you can work back due S to 95.

I have used I-81 many times when travelling to visit family in Georgia over Christmas or on snowbird trips to the Gulf Coast. It is a lot more scenic than I-95, but it’s a mountain route and can be dicey in the snow.

I-79 to I-77 seems to involve a long dogleg east to the coast of the Carolinas. Not sure which way a route-finder would recommend for eastern NC or SC from, say, Toronto.

It looks like Martin timed his getaway to coincide with an Arctic blast stretching down the east coast. It is 38f in my favorite area in NC (near Elizabethtown) right now, with a low tonight of 29f.

Keep heading south Martin. At least it is above freeze in north Florida.
 
Aww.. I 81 is fine. We pull a twenty foot travel trailer and get a chuckle out of VA "snowplows".. Basically a tractor with a plow when the big snows arrive and there are not enough real snowplows to go around. I especially like them On Ready at the SIde of the Entrance Ramp BEFORE any snow flies.

The best ride we have ever had was on 81 two years ago and again last year where 14 inches was dumped VA-PA No one else was on the road No trucks . No noise.. A quiet ride at a reasonable speed of 45.

The funniest scene..i-77 south of Charlotte in a freezing rain/snow situation.. The plow was in a ditch. Wonder if the driver still had a job.

Worst trailer dragging experience? Piscataqua Bridge ME-NH was closed when three semis decided to weave themselves together into a pretzel in a snowstorm closing northbound traffic.. The Sarah Long bridge was not yet finished.. All the diverted traffic in Portsmouth trying to get to the remaining Memorial Bridge
For you who have not visited this charming colonial city the blocks are short, the streets one way, some cobbled and no gradual corner.. Road engineering from the 1600's designed for horses not modern vehicles.

It is four degrees here today.. Wanna Go Canoeing? Will be below zero tonight. Mt Washington Observatory was minus 27 F this morning with a wind chill( matters in the mountains with no shelter if you are unprepared) of -64.
 
Aww.. I 81 is fine.

The best ride we have ever had was on 81 two years ago and again last year where 14 inches was dumped VA-PA No one else was on the road No trucks . No noise.. A quiet ride at a reasonable speed of 45.

I have had a couple of not-very-fun winter trips south on I-81. One particularly snowy trip I crept along 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gear-clutch-2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear-clutch-1[SUP]st[/SUP] gear-clutch, coasting at a top speed of 15 mph for at least an hour. I gave up and slept the night away bedded down under the cap in the first rest stop I saw.

The worst, and scariest, experience on I-81 didn’t involve a snowstorm, or at least a snow storm where I was travelling. It was a decently bright sunny winter day. Many of the tractor trailer rigs headed south were coming from somewhere further north.

Somewhere there had apparently been a freezing rain to sleet to snow back to freezing rain event. The tops of the trailers were shedding shoebox to refrigerator size chunks of 3 and 4 inch thick ice. Which would fly off with some elevation, flutter in the air briefly, and crash to the pavement shattering into smaller pieces that skittered up the road.

Not something I wanted coming through the windshield, or even running over with a tire.

I didn’t want to pass a semi, and they were hauling arse anyway. I really didn’t want a semi to pass me, and trying to stay in the highway void between semis only worked so well for so long. They would pass me and I would slow way down, ready to bob and weave around flying ice chunks.

It was a tiring drive; alternating speeds between “Please don’t catch up” 80mph and “Please get ahead quickly ” 40mph. With an up and down mountain route my MPG for that leg sucked.

Not that I-95 along the coastal plain is a guaranteed joy. We fled South Carolina in the snow one winter trip, and it did the snow-sleet-freezing rain bit for the entire 600 mile trip back home. The defroster in the ancient van didn’t provide enough heat to take the ice buildup off the windshield wipers, so we had to pull over every half hour to knock the encrustation free.

Ain’t winter travel fun?
 
Thank you, Mike and YC for your detailed responses. I'm sorry to report that illness in the family has required us to postpone our trip south. Hopefully, though, we'll be able to put your recommendations to use in the not-too-distant future.
 
The trouble with winter in the South is it ain't winter. Its some sort of mongrel cur. I prefer nice keep it below freezing cold where there is actually some traction in snow. Around freezing it changes to Vaseline and its worse if treated it seems.

A nice dirt road in Northern Maine in winter is joy.. Except for the loaded logging trucks. Twitch roads are not available to dodge into.

That said one of my neighbors fell in his driveway. The lovely ice from the last storm is not leaving soon.. I think he will get crampons once he gets out of his cast.

The edges of our lake are skimmed over about ten feet with ice
 
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Everyone drive carefully this winter. A friend of mine was in the 10 car pileup on I-80 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. In the hospital with a cracked sternum and a couple of broken ribs. It least it wasn’t the 50 car pileup. Be safe out there.
Jim
 
Thank you, Mike and YC for your detailed responses. I'm sorry to report that illness in the family has required us to postpone our trip south. Hopefully, though, we'll be able to put your recommendations to use in the not-too-distant future.

Martin, sorry to hear about the family illness, but if you have the gift of time you can keep a weather eye out on the forecast down south and perhaps schedule your trip when there isn’t an arctic freeze sweeping across the area.

The 10-day forecast for my favorite inland area of coastal NC already looks much warmer, if a bit wet

https://www.wunderground.com/forecas...n/34.63,-78.49

If you need to keep heading south to find agreeable warmth the north Florida around Gainesville has gobs of wonderful paddling; Suwannee, Sante Fe, Ichetucknee, Juniper and other springs.

https://www.wunderground.com/forecas...nesville/32601

There are lots of Florida paddling guides. Sandy Huff’s Paddler’s Guide to the Sunshine State is a good one.

https://www.amazon.com/Paddlers-Guid.../dp/0813022827


EDITS: Not “The Nature Coast”, that’s just the counties along the Big Bend Gulf coast. The north central area around High Springs has some catchy name.

South Florida, the Everglades or Keys, are usually nicer still winter weather wise.

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/fl/everglades-city/34139

But it a longish drive further south even from the Suwannee/Sante Fe area to south Florida. High Springs to Everglades City is another 5+ hours south. Or, to get silly about going as far south as you can drive, another 8 hours from north Florida to Key West.

There is so much paddling in the north Florida, including the Atlantic and Gulf sides an hour or two away, that once there you wouldn’t need to move far.
 
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The further you get into winter the more south you need to go alas. There seems to be a pretty hard boundary along I 4. The temps often are ten or more degrees different. However we were literally chased out of the Glades by body sapping 87 degree heat and matching humidity last Feb. We scooted to Fisheating Creek ( what a gem) north of Lake Okechobee but the water levels were too low for the normal three day camping trip.
I have Sandy Huffs book and have for years but frankly find it less useful that Johnny Molloy's Canoeing and Kayaking Florida book ( there are other co authors).
We have a special liking to the Chassahowitzka and Hillsborough rivers. I am quite upset that they want to pilfer more water out of GInnie Springs ( near High Springs) on the Santa Fe. That is another great river.
Another fave is Wacissa River and Aucilla River. They join. They are northwest of Perry in one of the gems of Florida . No people. Goose Pasture Campground is a great base.

This year will be the first year in 20 years we have not canoed FL in the winter. We are going on a cruise in Jan ( kayaking!) and hitting the Panhandle of FL but not till April with boats . Then we dare not venture further south.
 
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