Your favorite/least favorite state highway maps?

[CapeCodder]

My favorite for a while was Illinois. The cartography was easy on the eyes. My least favorite was/is Massachusetts.

[dvferyance]

California is by far my least favorite. Utah is pretty bad too. As far as favorite goes I like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Hard to pick my favorite.

[Dirt Roads]

California is by far my least favorite. Utah is pretty bad too. As far as favorite goes I like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Hard to pick my favorite.

I've always liked Virginia's, but I recently picked up a new one and am having difficulty distinguishing between freeways and scenic multi-lane divided roads.  I think that my copy had some sort of problem with ink selection.  But the freeways have changed from dark red to a brownish maroon, which appears to be the same color as the dark green outlines on the dark red multi-lane.  If I put on ultra-strong reading glasses, the black dividing stripes in the dark maroon start to show up.  I should be excited, since Chicago maroon is the official color of Virginia Tech (which hasn't really been used much since my freshman year, long gone along with the name VPI).

[paulthemapguy]

There were these AAA atlases my parents got in the early 2000s that were the worst I had ever seen.  While the route symbols were only a little on the small side, the numbers inside the route symbols were insanely tiny and hard to read.  The space inside the symbols was used very poorly.  All the numerals and text were so tiny and hard to read, for what reason? The scales used on the maps were similar to the analogous Rand McNally atlases for all the states, but the text was at least large enough to be legible in the Rand McNally one!

[VetteDriver16]

California is by far my least favorite. Utah is pretty bad too. As far as favorite goes I like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Hard to pick my favorite.

I've always liked Virginia's, but I recently picked up a new one and am having difficulty distinguishing between freeways and scenic multi-lane divided roads.  I think that my copy had some sort of problem with ink selection.  But the freeways have changed from dark red to a brownish maroon, which appears to be the same color as the dark green outlines on the dark red multi-lane.  If I put on ultra-strong reading glasses, the black dividing stripes in the dark maroon start to show up.  I should be excited, since Chicago maroon is the official color of Virginia Tech (which hasn't really been used much since my freshman year, long gone along with the name VPI).

I've found Virginia's map confusing for the same reasons as yours.  Michigan's map is pretty simple and straightforward. 

[Tom958]

I'm not familiar enough with them to have a favorite, but I really dislike Alabama's, and North Carolina's definitely could be better.

[dvferyance]

California is by far my least favorite. Utah is pretty bad too. As far as favorite goes I like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Hard to pick my favorite.

I've always liked Virginia's, but I recently picked up a new one and am having difficulty distinguishing between freeways and scenic multi-lane divided roads.  I think that my copy had some sort of problem with ink selection.  But the freeways have changed from dark red to a brownish maroon, which appears to be the same color as the dark green outlines on the dark red multi-lane.  If I put on ultra-strong reading glasses, the black dividing stripes in the dark maroon start to show up.  I should be excited, since Chicago maroon is the official color of Virginia Tech (which hasn't really been used much since my freshman year, long gone along with the name VPI).

I've found Virginia's map confusing for the same reasons as yours.  Michigan's map is pretty simple and straightforward.

I am not familiar with the new one. The latest edition I have is the 2018-2020 edition. I did not know they changed the format up until now they have always looked the same since at least the early 90's.

[Scott5114]

The 2005 KDOT official map (PDF) is, as far as I've seen, the most aesthetically-pleasing official state map ever published. (It was changed the following year because the red lines for primary highways clashed with the green used in some parts of the relief map, making it inaccessible to those with color blindness. If not for that unfortunate oversight, I'd say it was the best, full stop.)

[epzik8]

I love any of Maryland's, but not very many of Virginia's.

[bandit957]

Kentucky had some - probably in the '90s - that just were just blah. I think the problem was that it showed every town to be the same size.

West Virginia had one back around 2000 that I frowned upon because it featured a set of photos that essentially endorsed what were really bad policies in schools. Later, the school in question was found to have ranked among the very worst in the state. It's going to be humiliating for the state of West Virginia for people to look back at that map and see that it touted such a failed policy.

[CapeCodder]

Kentucky had some - probably in the '90s - that just were just blah. I think the problem was that it showed every town to be the same size.

West Virginia had one back around 2000 that I frowned upon because it featured a set of photos that essentially endorsed what were really bad policies in schools. Later, the school in question was found to have ranked among the very worst in the state. It's going to be humiliating for the state of West Virginia for people to look back at that map and see that it touted such a failed policy.

What did the WV cover look like?

[bandit957]

Kentucky had some - probably in the '90s - that just were just blah. I think the problem was that it showed every town to be the same size.

West Virginia had one back around 2000 that I frowned upon because it featured a set of photos that essentially endorsed what were really bad policies in schools. Later, the school in question was found to have ranked among the very worst in the state. It's going to be humiliating for the state of West Virginia for people to look back at that map and see that it touted such a failed policy.

What did the WV cover look like?

I don't even remember. It was probably the 2000 edition.

[Road Hog]

Arkansas' state maps in the 1970s had great fonts (I think based on the classic Gousha maps, upon subsequent learning) but the town name fonts have been almost unreadable for the last 20 years at least. Just change the font from something besides Industrial Drafting Board Light and it'll be great.