Is there a great atlas to get?

[John and Debbie]

I wonder if there is a great atlas to get that might warn of road grades or unsuitable roads.   I bicycle and when planning a route I will check road grades when possible.   Is there an atlas that you use that you find very useful.   One video I saw said to have a paper atlas as you don't always have connections. 

[topgun2]

I do always carry a paper atlas with me - a Rand McNally spiral bound - but neither it nor any other that I'm aware of has the information you are seeking.

I do have a Garmin GPS and my truck's GPS both of which do not require cell service and even though the Garmin does consider road grades and height clearances they are not visible on the maps that I've seen.

Obviously, there are a number of mapping services that are available via cell but they don't do any good if there is no signal/service.

Good luck.

Bill 

[ScubaRx]

We travel with several Rand McNally atlas'. One of them is marked in highlighter with every road we've traveled over the past 14 years. Sometimes we're surprised to find out we've passed this way before. Another rides in the truck with us.

I trust our GPS to get us where we want to go, but I don't always let it decide the route. I also like having the atlas so I can "look way down the road." The GPS has a rather narrow overview unless you zoom way out and then you lose detail.

[SeaDawg]

We, too, carry Rand McNally for look ahead. It doesn't give elevations.

I've read on other forums about an atlas designed for truck drivers, that does give that info. Paper or download available. It's called Mountain Directory. 

[Overland]

We always have the Rand McNally in the truck, but the Benchmark state atlases are our favorite resource for trip planning.

For topo, I think iPhone/iPad apps are your best bet, so long as you download the maps ahead of time.  Gaia and Garmin are probably the first choices, but I've just downloaded Topo Maps+ to try and it seems decent.  Avenza is another - not my favorite, but I've had to use that on occasion for downloading government maps.

[Mike and Carol]

We also carry a Rand McNally atlas.  We have a number of them, we like to update every few years.  GPS is great, but it‘s nice to open the atlas and see the big picture.  Mike