Rating: 
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: For someone traveling in Montana, or a new resident, this book is a must! More information on traveling in Montana than all the others I've seen combined!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: For someone traveling in Montana, or a new resident, this book is a must! More information on traveling in Montana than all the others I've seen combined!
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Montana Atlas was all I needed.
Review: I arrived in Bozeman with almost no knowledge of the area but eager to explore. The "Atlas" was all I needed to get pretty much wherever I wanted to go. I explored just about every nook and cranny of the greater Bozeman area and many of the surrounding paradises via drives and hikes I had found out about from the book. The book helped me scout out some beautiful camping spots and cabins which will be great for when I bring the whole family out this summer. The supporting background stories and trivia really made the areas I visited come alive. I can't wait for my next visit, and won't be leaving home without my "Ultimate Montana Atlas!"
Rating: 
Summary: An Exercise in Frustration
Review: I found this atlas unbelievably frustrating to use. The author is married to the "Map Locator Number", a system in which the user must always reference two or more pages at the same time in order to find out about a particular place.For example, the end of each section has a "Dining Quick Reference", which does not include the restaurants' addresses or telephone numbers or even their towns. Instead, you get their "Map Locator Number". Then you must proceed to find the map, which appears some 20 to 30 pages earlier, at the beginning of the section. Then you look for the "Map Locator Number" on the map, which, once you finally find it, is large enough so that you know the place is within about 10 miles. To be fair, once you have the "Map Locator Number", you have the option of opening a third page, the directory portion, where, if (and only if) your restaurant is an advertiser, you will see a description of their place of business and nearly always get an address and telephone number. Otherwise, your final information is that the place is within about 10 miles. Good luck. In addition, stores, motels, parks, car washes, restaurants etc. are jumbled together by category and listed together by "Map Locator Number", making it very difficult, say, to quickly assess the next 3 or 4 possible places to stop for the night. (There are faint gray letters that code each entry: T for "To Do", F for "Food", L for "lodging", D for "Lewis and Clark", for example, but the coding is arcane and the entries are then jumbled together.) In frustration, I turned to the Great Falls telephone directory in my hotel room, which, to my delight, had extensive restaurant listings, including a section of restaurant menus. It had a map, too, that located restaurants by numbers, but it was possible to use the directory just one page at a time. If you've got to have The Ultimate Montana Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia, do yourself a favor and buy a big pack of Post-it Flags, and don't expect to use it while you're driving down the road.
Rating:
Summary: More info than I learned in 30 years
Review: I have traveled around Montana for pleasure and work for many years. I took some pride in knowing the names of mountain ranges, the best little restaurants, and of course the nicest hot springs at which to spend the night. Then I picked up this guide and found out there was a whole lot more I could know about each of my favorite stops, not to mention the places I haven't been.
I have been to enough of these Montana communities that I know their is more than enough information in this guide, about any community in Montana, that now I take it with me when I travel the state to learn more about each community I pass through.
Once I understood the format, and used it as a tourist - serious about experiencing and learning about Montana - would, I new that I had gotten more than my monies worth.
If my daughter was still young, I would use this book to teach her interesting facts on Montana as we travel the state.
Rating:
Summary: More info than I learned in 30 years
Review: I have traveled around Montana for pleasure and work for many years. I took some pride in knowing the names of mountain ranges, the best little restaurants, and of course the nicest hot springs at which to spend the night. Then I picked up this guide and found out there was a whole lot more I could know about each of my favorite stops, not to mention the places I haven't been.
I have been to enough of these Montana communities that I know their is more than enough information in this guide, about any community in Montana, that now I take it with me when I travel the state to learn more about each community I pass through.
Once I understood the format, and used it as a tourist - serious about experiencing and learning about Montana - would, I new that I had gotten more than my monies worth.
If my daughter was still young, I would use this book to teach her interesting facts on Montana as we travel the state.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Travel Guide!
Review: Just after graduating college in May 2003, I moved to Montana. Since my move, I have been using the Ultimate Montana travel guide to design my adventures through the cities and backroads of Montana. My hiking, camping, fishing, dining, lodging, and travel experiences have been greatly enhanced by this incredibly easy to use book! This book is a must have for visitors and Montana residents alike. With the assistance of this book, I have been able to get a stellar introduction to the beautiful state of Montana, and will continue to use the book for my up and coming travels and excursions! A FANTASTIC book!!!
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Travel Guide!
Review: Just after graduating college in May 2003, I moved to Montana. Since my move, I have been using the Ultimate Montana travel guide to design my adventures through the cities and backroads of Montana. My hiking, camping, fishing, dining, lodging, and travel experiences have been greatly enhanced by this incredibly easy to use book! This book is a must have for visitors and Montana residents alike. With the assistance of this book, I have been able to get a stellar introduction to the beautiful state of Montana, and will continue to use the book for my up and coming travels and excursions! A FANTASTIC book!!!
Rating:
Summary: This is truly the ultimate book on Montana
Review: My only criticism of this book is that it may be too much. Its as if the publishers refused to leave anything out. I am a Montana junkie and own every guidebook on Montana I have been able to find. I could have saved a lot of money if this book had been available earlier. The maps in here are better than the one the state travel bureau sent me. While they are not in color, their detail is impressive. And they are on a much larger scale than any foldout map. They are the only book I've found that has maps of towns other than the few major cities--I counted 45. The book is incredibly well organized. It is broken down into 15 regions of the state rather than the six regions that most books are divided by. The level of detail for each region is unbelievable The regions are ordered geographically with the maps as the starting point. It is very easy to look at where you are on the map and find information relevant to that immediate area. I found the information on Yellowstone and Glacier Park to be more complete than most books dedicated exclusively to them. The book is huge--as big as many phonebooks. Aside from its being the most impressive guidebook I've ever seen for any state, it is fascinating reading. It is loaded with historical tidbits, and fascinating pieces of information that you simply don't find in any of the other guidebooks. All I can say is, if you're even thinking of visiting Montana, you would be frankly dumb not to have a copy of this book. Oh and one secret the publishers for some reason are silent about--if you send in a card in the back of the book, they will send you a 32 page book of coupons with over $3,000 in discount.
Rating:
Summary: Montana.....all you ever wanted to know, and then some!
Review: Ok, so we are wondering where in the USA we may want to move to...from (hot) sunny Florida. The kids are almost out of the nest and we are wondering if Montana is the state. Good grief, I had no idea I would get SO much information out of one book, on ONE state. This book is definitely the book to have if one is considering moving to or just visiting Montana. I can't imagine much is left out. I need not go on and on what is included, as "Reviewer: Larkin Vonalt from Livingston, MT USA" says it all.
I had a few other questions in my back pocket so I contacted the publisher, Michael Dougherty, who took the time to answer each one thoroughly. I can't think of another publisher that would do that.
All in all, if you are looking for information on Montana don't go any further, this book is it. Definitely earns the 5 star rating.
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