Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > Maps > Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer Series > Karin Claus > Field Report

Field Report: DeLORME Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer™ 
Name: Karin Claus
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Height: 5’ 6” (167 cm)
Weight: 120 lb (54 kg) 
Email Address: KarinClaus@yahoo.com
Region: Evergreen, CO USA
Date: January 27, 2005

Backpacking Background: 
I live and play in the Colorado Rockies.  I have section hiked the entire Colorado Trail.  I through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in ’02 and the Pacific Crest Trail in '04.  I have been slowly and carefully updating my gear to lighter weight equipment.  I have been backpacking for the past twenty years. I have climbed 38 of Colorado’s highest peaks.  I enjoy getting out in the woods almost every weekend.  I'd rather suffer some discomfort than to carry extra weight. in my pack.  I have used hammocks, tents and tarps.  I like to sleep under the stars in good weather.  I love long weekend loop hikes.  I go backpacking because I enjoy walking, camping is just something I do because I am caught outside overnight.

Product Description:

The Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer™ hereafter called the Atlas, was delivered in a large padded yellow envelope.  

The Atlas arrived a little beat up.  It looks like the padded envelope was bent in shipping, which created a big crease, or dimple, at the left-hand edge of the Atlas, about a third of the way down.  The bottom edge is slightly bent, and there is a small tear on the back bottom edge, near the stapled edge.  This is cosmetic, and should not affect my use of the Atlas. 

The cover is glossy paper.  The Atlas is held together by staples at the spine.  I opened the Atlas to the center of the book.  The staples are sticking up slightly from the paper.  The staples are thinner than I expected.  After looking at the center of the Atlas for a while, I noticed the Atlas does not fold completely flat.

The Atlas and the cover are printed in color.
The Atlas contains 92 quad maps.  80 of these are at a scale of 1:160,000.  The others are 1:320,000.  The smaller scale maps are of Eastern Colorado, where less detail is required.  There is a key map of the entire state on the middle two pages.

Each map coordinate is given in degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees; e.g., 40°.35'.00" and 40.5833 degrees.  The World Geodetic System (WGS84) datum is used.

This is the seventh edition, copyright 2004.

There are 16 information categories also covered in the Atlas.  They are Biking, BLM Public Lands, Campgrounds, Fishing, 14ers, Hiking, Historic Sites/Museums, Hunting, Mountain Passes, National Lands, River Trips, Scenic Drives, Ski Areas, State Lands, Unique Natural Features, and Wild Trout Waters/Gold Medal Streams.

Web Site:
The web site shows that there are Atlases available for all 50 states.  The web site says that there is a 30 day guarantee.  It has an information/sample map - I picked "Colorado".  The web site then displays information about the Colorado Atlas.  It also displayed a small sample map.  There is a phone number for ordering by phone, and the website also lets you order online.  

There is also a support center web page.  From the support center page, there is a "Data Revisions" section, where you can suggest/correct data related issues in their products. 

Field Report:

I looked in the "Hunting" section, and found phone numbers for information regarding season dates.  I called both the small game and big game numbers to make sure they were correct.  

Inside my car, the Atlas did get subjected to a jug of water spilled accidentally on it.  The water ran off the cover, without damaging the Atlas, and then soaked into my reading book.  

The Atlas is still in fine shape physically.  The bottom right corner is now curled up, but this does not affect the use of the Atlas.  The Atlas now does fold flat.  When I first got it, the Atlas did not want to fold flat.

I have been going to trailheads almost every weekend for the past two months.  I have used the Atlas on most of these trips, for route finding for the driving portion of the trips.  I have used pages 39, 40 and 49 of the Atlas.  Looking at page 39, where I live, I am amazed that this page is mainly green (national forest) with a little bit of grey (state park) and a very small bit of orange (BLM public lands).

A couple of my trips have been to Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  The Atlas shows me all of the road choices to drive there.  I have driven all of the roads that the Atlas shows.  I have driven back via Central City and Black Hawk, and also via Golden.

I recently bought a GPS receiver.  I started learning how to use the GPS.  I wanted to go to a certain GPS coordinates.  I used the Atlas in conjunction with my topo software and the GPS.    I tried seeing if I could find the coordinates using just the Atlas.  The scale of the Atlas was not big enough for me to easily find where the coordinates were.  So, I used my topo software.  I located the GPS coordinates on the topo software.  Then looking at both the Atlas and the map, I found out exactly where the GPS coordinates were on the Atlas.  

I do need to use reading glasses to use the Atlas.

The page size is not conducive for me to look at the Atlas while driving.  I have tried placing the Atlas on the passenger seat.  But the Atlas is too large to spread open (without having to hold it open) , and have it easily read from the driver's seat.  Therefore, I stop the car and pull over, when wanting to consult the Atlas.

Location:
I have been using the Atlas in the house while planning trips, and in the car while getting to trailheads.  

Test Plan/Strategy:
For the final report - I will try to answer the following questions.
Will the Atlas help keep me from making too many wrong turns?
How well will the Atlas hold up if it gets a little bit of snow, rain or mud on it ?
How easy is it to find places using driving directions and the Atlas?
Read the "Hiking" section and see if any of my favorite hikes are listed, and if there are any hikes that I would like to go on.
Read the "Unique Natural Features", and see if there are any places that I would like to visit.
Visit some of the historic sites, and drive some of the scenic drives listed in the Atlas.


Summary:
I look forward to continue using this Atlas weekly for hiking, camping, entertainment, and snowshoe treks.

Likes: 
The Atlas is easy to use.
The information seems accurate.
The Atlas is affordable.

Dislikes:  
I would like to see heavier staples used, with the edges firmly crimped.
The Atlas is too large for me to look at while driving.  

Possible Changes:
Print the Atlas on smaller paper, so it will fit in my bookshelf, instead of on top.
Bind the Atlas differently, so it can be left open to a certain page.


Thank you for the opportunity to test this Atlas, and stay tuned for the final report.

Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > Maps > Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer Series > Karin Claus > Field Report