Swiss Riders looking for Dirtbike Maps for the US

[Enduristan]

Hello to the US

We are planning to leave Switzerland for a 2-weeks trip through WA, ID, MT and WY in September. As we only got 12 days of riding, we want to make the best out of it and do some planning in advance. Can anybody suggest some maps for us?

So far we found DeLorem's US Northwest Atlas & Gazetteer Set, which looks great for the details and the fact that we can clearly identify the dirtroads we are after. But the road atlas seems a bit large even for our oversize map pockets. Then we got Butler Maps recommended. This ones look good as handy maps, optimized for motorcycle rides. But I'm afraid they are not focused on dirt roads (correct me if I'm wrong).

Riding in Australia, we used Hema Maps: These were handy maps, one for each state, containing large and even small and adventurous dirt roads. Like this we managed to ride thousands of miles on unsealed roads. Well, maybe the US is not THAT empty than Western Australia, and maybe more than one map per state is needed to show the required degree of detail. Would be great to get some suggestions - also trip suggestions are very welcome of course!

However, we are very excited to visit all those great places!

Many thanks and best regards
David

[jdrocks]

suggest putting this request is the Northwest and Rockies regional forums. there are some established routes that will probably fill your needs rather than just buying a book of maps and going potluck.

enjoy your trip, some great riding out that way.

[Colorado Uli]

David,

The DeLorme Atlas' (individual state editions) are not bad. However, for whatever reason (economics, or the fact that there are just so many roads in the western lands), they can be quite outdated and include false information. I have experienced this several times in Utah, where clearly marked major dirt roads don't even exist or have long ago been abandoned. Other times, their system of identifying the type of road is also way off the mark, i.e. major roads are only small trails or fine dotted lines turn out to be larger and well maintained dirt roads.
Also, be advised that you can't always tell from that atlas if a road/trail that passes through private land (a ranch or farm) is open to you and you may encounter locked gates after riding on a road for a while.

I have found that the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps (found here: http://www.natgeomaps.com/trailsillustrated.html) are pretty good, but you would have to carry a lot of them because you're covering a lot of country on your trip.

For Colorado, we have a company (Lattitude-40) that makes outstanding trail maps for mountain bikers and other outdoor lovers, but that won't do you any good on this trip since you're not coming down here.

I'm leaving this week for a two week ride north from Colorado along the Continental Divide Trail to the canadian border (using my brand new Enduristan Monsoon bags ) and will do some running around in Idaho as well. I will buy local Forest Service Maps for areas I decide to invade (as you know, we Germans are famous for that ) as they are easy to carry, and if you buy them at the National Forest ranger stations they will answer all your questions about local trails and roads as well.

Prost!

[wbbnm]

Another good source are Benchmark maps. There is one large Delorme sized book per state. I use them for rides in NM, AZ, CO, UT, and CA. Not sure if they are available for the northern tier of states.

Some versions show land ownership and dirt roads on the same map. This is really valuable for trip planning. In general primitive roads across private land are not open, but major named/numbered county and forest roads USUALLY are.

My other big planning tool is Garmin City Navigator. It shows a huge number of roads. The problem is that it is hard to get a good big picture of what you want to do. I usually use the paper for the big picture planning then create routes and tracks using the computer maps. I copy the pages from the book with the roads highlighted to carry with me.

[Colorado Uli]

Before I foget to mention it: While you're up in Idaho, look at riding the Magruder Corridor and the Lolo Motorway (not really a motorway but a long 4x4 dirt road).
And if you see me crashed in a ditch somewhere, won't you stop and offer me a beer?

Cheers!

[Enduristan]

Gentlemen

Thanks a lot for this useful advice! Also I learn, that tracks on private land are most likely locked by gates (in Australia it used to be OK if you just closed the gates again after passing). I will check out the web pages of all those maps and then see, if I can order them in somehow.

Uli, would be my pleasure to meet you along the way, but I hope there is no need to pull you out of a ditch. If there is, my procedure will be as following: Lift up your bike, check if your Monsoon bags are OK, offer you a beer. Hope that meets your expectations ;-)

Thanks again mates!
David

[eakins]

you are correct. all of our 1st version of state maps are paved road oriented.
at this point only our Utah v2 map features dirt.
colorado is coming next but at least another month plus.
our washington wabdr does provide a complete state dirt ride and you could pick parts of that route to use.

i'd suggest you buy the benchmark maps for the states you need.
our basemaps are all benchmark but zoomed out farther to fit on 1 page.
benchmark does an incredible job showing what is open and what is not plus give 2 grades of dirt roads.
we plan almost exclusively from benchmark.

http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr...nchmark%20Maps