Texas Atlas and Gazetteer

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy unless you live in a big city.
Review: I bought this because I wanted topographic maps for a couple of cities in Texas, from where I live in Katy out to Needville and didn't want to buy each map from USGS. Well as it turns out the only thing this book is good for is big cities such as Houston, Dallas, etc. The claim that everything is inside including backroads, etc is a bunch of balony. Where I live at--Katy Texas shows up in about a 1/4" square in this book and that is it! The topographic information, roads, etc. are shrunk down to the size of this tiny square, you wouldn't be able to tell anything from it even looking in a microscope. This makes the book absolutely worthless in my opinion, because it is the same with every city out from here to Needville with the exception of Sugar Land, which is somewhat detailed. But for the most part the whole section of the state I was looking for is not covered in any manner worth paying for this book, guess i'll have to order from USGS after all. However, if you do want information on larger cities this may be the book for you ie: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio...if you are looking for outskirts though this is not what you want.

Rating:
Summary: Not as detailed as other DeLorme atlases
Review: I use the DeLorme Gazetteers extensively for retrieving hang glider pilots who fly cross country and often land in somewhat inaccessible places. We swear by them -- they are truly indispensable for us. Maybe it's because Texas is so big, but the detail in this one is not nearly as good as the others. This makes it hard to distinguish those little dirt roads from each other, my main concern. But my BIG complaint is that the pages started to fall out of the perfect binding (all the other states are saddle stapled) almost as soon as I started to use it. I'm hoping that the next printing will fix this!

Rating:
Summary: Pages started to fall
Review: My BIG complaint is that the pages started to fall out of the binding. Other than that it is a great atlas with good detail on back roads

Rating:
Summary: Worst atlas I have ever seen. Useless on backcountry roads
Review: Not very useful. I am a person who likes to discover the back country by using the "hidden" roads. But for this purpose this atlas is useless.
1. All roads have the same color (red). No color distinction for the importance of the road, meaning you don't know what is a farm road, what is a highway.... O.k. the line may be thicker or thinner but why not use a different color?
2. You can not distinguish between paved roads, gravel roads and dirt roads. All roads are solid red lines. I often like to take the unpaved roads. Just for the fun of it. And sometimes I like to know which ones I should not take when hauling my travel trailer.
3. No indication if it is a private road (closed) or if it is a public road.
4. No numbering of small back country dirt roads. You have almost no chance to map the road sign you just see from your car to a road on the map.

If you need a road atlas from Texas that shows you all the necessary "backcountry" details then go with the "The Roads of Texas" from the Texas A&M University. This is not perfect either but much better than the Gazetteer.
The Gazetteer people should have a look at the Benchmark maps. These guys know how to make maps. Unfortunately they don't have one from Texas.

Rating:
Summary: Outdoor Atlas and Recreation Guide for Texas
Review: This is a Texas-sized collection of maps! In fact, it's the biggest volume in our Atlas & Gazetteer Series-even bigger than Alaska! The Texas Atlas & Gazetteer contains detailed topographic maps covering every inch of the Lone Star State. The backroad detail is extraordinary, including dirt "two-tracks" and ranch roads. The maps also include elevation contours and shaded relief, so higher areas are clearly defined. Other features include forests, dams and impoundments, boat ramps, campgrounds, airfields, rangeland and agricultural areas. In addition, there are street maps for over 100 cities and towns, large and small. And there is a complete Index of Placenames and Physical Features, including airfields, bodies of water, canyons, mountains, ranches and much more-you can look up anything from Amarillo to Zarzamora Creek! The scale is 1:400,000 (1" = 6.3 miles). A mosaic of all the maps would measure approximately 12 deep wide by 10 feet high.

Rating:
Summary: Texas Atlas & Gazeteer
Review: This is the best map book of Texas. The maps are large and easy to read, but still very detailed. Not only does it show the big cities and towns but it shows all the farm roads and back roads. The book lists campgrounds, national forests, state parks, places for hunting and fishing. You can look up ANY place in Texas and find it in here. It is a wonderful map book.

Rating:
Summary: Texas Atlas & Gazeteer
Review: This is the best map book of Texas. The maps are large and easy to read, but still very detailed. Not only does it show the big cities and towns but it shows all the farm roads and back roads. The book lists campgrounds, national forests, state parks, places for hunting and fishing. You can look up ANY place in Texas and find it in here. It is a wonderful map book.