Maps

There are a few items a good letterboxer needs. I have a back back that holds all the "important" necessities including my signature stamp, logbook, ink pads and pen. I also have extra freezer ziplocks, extra logbooks, an extra lock and lock container, bug spray, a shovel, and any hitchhiker or cootie I can offload while on the trail. I also have a VERY important item that I believe I would be lost without. I have a map for the area in which I am going to do the day's letterboxing. Some letterboxers believe they can do without this tool, using instead a GPS or even just the yahoo/google directions printed offline.  This is a grave mistake in my book( though I do have and use a GPS for directions occasionally). I have planted many boxes with the use of my maps in areas that do not show up on a GPS. I also feel GPS devices only work well if you have an address to input. They do not give you an overview and it makes it harder to change your mind about where you would like to go next.
  With all that said, I knew we needed a set of maps that would help us find our way on our western letterboxing and brewery tour. We immediatly knew we should look at the company that made the maps I use for letterboxing. Unfortunetly we found out that Arrow Maps no longer made any maps. So instead we looked at American Maps and Randall. We found some, but the same idea that the GPS will save us all has apperently affected the map makers. We were looking for spiral bound street maps that would aid us in areas like Denver, Boulder, Rapid City, and others that would be confusing to navigate. We found none. The maps we did find were not ad detailed as the Arrow maps we were acustomed to and almost none were made sooner then 2003. I'm not sure what we are going to do about this map problem. Though I'd rather not, we may have to pin the locations we would like to visit on Google Maps and then, heaven forbid, print them all out.

If you know where I can get good street maps of Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, South Dakota, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico. Please let me know!

Laura (EverAfter83)