AARoads Forum

Non-Road Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Mdcastle on August 01, 2012, 06:02:38 PM

Title: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 01, 2012, 06:02:38 PM
As per title I'm trying to update my collection for trip planning this fall.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Alps on August 01, 2012, 07:31:33 PM
Quebec does not give out anything for free.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: corco on August 01, 2012, 08:23:35 PM
Washington's is only digital now
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Dr Frankenstein on August 01, 2012, 10:34:04 PM
To complete what Steve said; Québec still has an official map, but does not give it away. The infotouriste centre in Rigaud had a "Cartes routières gratuites" (Free Road Maps) sign on the door, but they only gave me a small, barely useful 15"x11" monochrome map of the province and a tourist map of the region. I still don't have a copy of the actual official map, which costs $5 I think.

Ontario's Bainsville Tourist Information Centre did happily give me a province map that had a $2 price tag on it covered with a "Compliments" stamp.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 01, 2012, 11:02:38 PM
I do seem to recall having to order the Quebec map from a web site in French a while back, about the only time I found the four years I spent trying to learn French as actually useful.

Anyone know what years these are? I can't find a date anywhere on them, they're most likely at least 10 years old
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi699.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv358%2FMdcastleman%2FUntitled.jpg&hash=470d197f06e26ca46ea04478d04d27280d3d19b9)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: bugo on August 01, 2012, 11:38:24 PM
That Arkansas map is several years old as I don't even recognize it.  I'd look through my collection and check the date but it's in storage.  If you open the map it will give the date on the lower right hand corner.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 02, 2012, 12:08:21 AM
OK. Arkansas was right on top of the key, I don't know how I missed it. It's 2001 BTW.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: corco on August 02, 2012, 12:20:21 AM
The Nebraska is 1990-94, I think, since it probably matches the first round of Nebraska license plates with that font (I have maps from the second round, and that one doesn't match)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Takumi on August 02, 2012, 12:45:26 AM
That Kentucky map looks like it's from the mid-'90s, based on when that shade of purple and fonts like that were popular.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Dr Frankenstein on August 02, 2012, 10:05:44 AM
According to this: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/07/25/good-roads-and-bad-roads/

QuoteAt the Alberta Welcome Centre, plenty of free tourist literature is readily provided but it costs $2 for a provincial road map. Alberta is the only province [sic] to charge visitors for its road maps.

"It's just always been that way,"  says Victor the tourist guide. "We have a road map here from 1987, and it was two bucks back then."

Now I'm wondering which states (besides Washington) do not offer paper maps at all, regardless of price.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: bugo on August 02, 2012, 11:52:02 AM
Several states don't even have PDF files of state highway maps.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, some states have PDF files of state highway maps, county maps, traffic count maps, historical county maps, a state map archive, and many others.  Arkansas has a lot of TIF files on their website, which I prefer to PDFs.  I'm lucky, as my stomping grounds (Arkansas and Oklahoma) have lots of maps of different kinds on their website.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 02, 2012, 12:03:40 PM
You have Alberta, Quebec and Ontario that charge for maps. Then you have IA, MO, and ND that have stacks of them at every rest stop.

The KY might be from 2001. In very fine print in the corner of the main map it says "Compilation by Peggy Younger Cartographer 01", and Patton was Governor. CO has a 99-2000 at the lower left corner, so maybe that's a date code? For Nebraska  Bob Nelson was governor so the mid 90s date seems correct.

Does CA have a map that's worth getting? Normally I prefer to use offical maps for navigation, but the CA used to be inferior to commerical offerings.

Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 02, 2012, 12:07:59 PM
The Northwest Territories charges $3.50 for their map.  Considering the limited NT highway network, not really worth it.

Alberta is still charging $2 for its better map.  Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Yukon are freebies, and I have lots of Saskatchewan and Yukon maps to give away at the next road meet I can make (the current Saskatchewan map has on its cover a goofy-looking young woman on a zipline, so that should be a popular item). 

Alaska's official map is also a freebie.  Its mapping hasn't been updated since 2007, but that's because nothing has changed since then.  They at least did an update to insert the current governor's smiling face in place of former governor Sarah Palin's.

Hawaii still has no official DOT highway map at any price, though you can look at small and horribly-outdated .jpg maps carried over from its old website.  The University of Hawaii puts out very nice and frequently-updated paper maps, but they're about $4/island (except for one map that covers both Lanai and Molokai), so you're talking about $20 for coverage of the entire state. 
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: usends on August 02, 2012, 12:17:05 PM
The date for Colorado maps can usually be found in the lower left corner of the map, down near Four Corners.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: huskeroadgeek on August 03, 2012, 04:39:04 AM
Quote from: Mdcastle on August 02, 2012, 12:03:40 PM
You have Alberta, Quebec and Ontario that charge for maps. Then you have IA, MO, and ND that have stacks of them at every rest stop.

The KY might be from 2001. In very fine print in the corner of the main map it says "Compilation by Peggy Younger Cartographer 01", and Patton was Governor. CO has a 99-2000 at the lower left corner, so maybe that's a date code? For Nebraska  Bob Nelson was governor so the mid 90s date seems correct.

Does CA have a map that's worth getting? Normally I prefer to use offical maps for navigation, but the CA used to be inferior to commerical offerings.


I have(or used to have) all of the maps you pictured above. In fact, the Colorado and Kentucky maps you pictured are the ones I still use for those states(yes, I need to get some more up-to-date maps). The dates you give are correct-2001 was the last time I made an effort to get maps from every state. I don't have that specific Nebraska map handy right now, but I've had at one time every Nebraska map from the early 70s to the present and I recognize most of them-early to mid 90s sounds about right. Since I lived in Arkansas from 1992-99 I had all the maps from there from that time period, and it may be from that time period or possibly a little after. For awhile, the font for "Arkansas" on the map was the same as used on the state entrance signs-I believe they changed that sometime in the late 90s, so it would be after that.

As for California-unless they've changed, they haven't had their own map for years. I have a map from 1966 that is their own map-I have never seen one more recent than that. I remember one time in the mid 90s when I sent away for some tourist info(being most interested in a state highway map), I was disappointed to find out the map they sent me was pretty useless for actually using in the field-it was just a general overview of the state and they apparently contracted with some other company and just put their name on it.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on August 08, 2012, 02:52:49 PM
Quote from: Mdcastle on August 02, 2012, 12:03:40 PM
You have Alberta, Quebec and Ontario that charge for maps. Then you have IA, MO, and ND that have stacks of them at every rest stop.

I've noticed a lot of states around here have a guy behind the desk handing them out. OK, MO, and KS do this. Some states (KS and IA come to mind) ask you to sign their guestbook when receiving a map (which usually just consists of your name, hometown, destination, and number of people in your party–presumably used to create tourism statistics). Other states just leave a stack of maps in a literature holder and you can have at it yourself.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 08, 2012, 03:21:00 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on August 08, 2012, 02:52:49 PM
I've noticed a lot of states around here have a guy behind the desk handing them out. OK, MO, and KS do this. Some states (KS and IA come to mind) ask you to sign their guestbook when receiving a map (which usually just consists of your name, hometown, destination, and number of people in your party–presumably used to create tourism statistics). Other states just leave a stack of maps in a literature holder and you can have at it yourself.

In Canada, Manitoba and Nova Scotia maps are freebies, but grudgingly doled out from behind a counter.  At least one Saskatchewan welcome centre does same, but others let you take a map self-service (sometimes shrink-wrapped with a separate tourism guide).  Yukon territory (at Whitehorse visitor information, and many local visitor centres and motels), Prince Edward Island (at Gateway Village, at the east end of the Confederation Bridge), and Newfoundland/Labrador (at the North Sydney NS ferry terminal) are self-service.

For some reason, I never stopped at a New Brunswick or British Columbia visitor centre lately, so I don't know what their map distribution policies are.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on August 09, 2012, 04:26:20 AM
I sort of wonder what the purpose of having the guy handing out the maps is for. I presumed it was to keep someone from making off with the entire inventory...but one time I asked for an absurd number of Oklahoma maps for a road meet and the guy gave me a bundle of 20 or so of them like it was no big deal.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 09, 2012, 05:46:10 PM
Actually, IA and MO have them for the taking at every rest stop I've been to. IA has them in racks inside unstaffed rest areas and MO sometimes hides them in the same kind of literature dispenser as  the "meet hot country singles" boxes outside. But in both states if it's a staffed welcome center they ask you to sign. I don't think stealing road maps is a big problem, it sounds like something Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearny would do. WI has the nice ones only behind the counter but they do have some freebies, which are smaller and plastered with adds, for the taking.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: kphoger on August 09, 2012, 05:56:29 PM
Do they actually refuse to give one to you without your signature?  'Cause that's just crazy.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on August 09, 2012, 06:07:57 PM
I've never seen a signature required, and the request is always phrased as though you could presumably decline to sign and still get a map. I always just sign since I doubt IaDOT or the Iowa Tourism Board really intends to do anything sinister with the information that I was driving down I-35 in Iowa on such and such date.

On my most recent trip through KS I happened to walk in when the guy was away from the desk so I just grabbed the maps without signing. :P
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Alps on August 09, 2012, 10:28:53 PM
Tangentially, I always sign when asked, and my signature always includes my website.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on August 09, 2012, 11:21:25 PM
Quote from: oscar on August 02, 2012, 12:07:59 PM
...(the current Saskatchewan map has on its cover a goofy-looking young woman on a zipline, so that should be a popular item).
I didn't need a new Saskatchewan map but this prompted me to order one anyway...

Quote from: Scott5114 on August 08, 2012, 02:52:49 PM
I've noticed a lot of states around here have a guy behind the desk handing them out. OK, MO, and KS do this. Some states (KS and IA come to mind) ask you to sign their guestbook when receiving a map (which usually just consists of your name, hometown, destination, and number of people in your party—presumably used to create tourism statistics).
Someone (on MTR?) suggested that they used them to justify their funding. It was kind of cool thought, at Krisdala Baka Rest Area they have a guest book. I signed it and a year later flipped it back to see my signature.

I don't mind signing physical guest books as much as I mind giving my email address when requesting tourism information online. So far I haven't gotten any spam from the states and provinces that required it though, unlike how I'm still getting special offers from Biltmore two years after I first bought some tickets online.

The new maps are coming in. Arkansas and Maryland are the two most eager for me to visit, followed by North Dakota and Nova Scotia
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Dr Frankenstein on August 15, 2012, 11:01:46 AM
I can now confirm that what I said about going into an Ontario tourist info building and getting a free map despite the $2 (now $2.50 I think) price on it was not an isolated event. They all seem to give them away. So Ontario maps are free as long as you get them in a tourist information centre.

I just got a new one in Sarnia. (My older one was obtained in Bainsville, at the other end of the province)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: cu2010 on August 16, 2012, 11:59:00 PM
I can second that about Ontario- on all my previous visits, they just handed me a map free of charge.

New York has no "official" map. The tourism department continues to contract out to MapWorks to publish a free map, but they are no longer included in the state travel guides. I picked one up at the High Peaks information center off I-87 southbound back in March (since the previous one I had dated to 2005), but not all rest areas seem to have them.

(Sidenote: ILOVENY has put the entire 2012 guide online now, though paper copies still exist...)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 17, 2012, 01:02:17 AM
Quote from: oscar on August 08, 2012, 03:21:00 PM
For some reason, I never stopped at a New Brunswick or British Columbia visitor centre lately, so I don't know what their map distribution policies are.

Yesterday morning, I stopped at the BC visitor infocentre where TCH 16 enters the province from Alberta.  $5.54 (with tax added to the $4.95 base price, to rub salt in the wound) for the official BC highway map.  I bought a copy, but will have to read it later to decide if it was worth it. 

Previously, I had stopped at a local visitor information centre.  No free maps there, either -- that one was selling commercial maps, rather than the official one.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Alps on August 17, 2012, 07:30:43 PM
Quote from: cu2010 on August 16, 2012, 11:59:00 PM
I can second that about Ontario- on all my previous visits, they just handed me a map free of charge.

New York has no "official" map. The tourism department continues to contract out to MapWorks to publish a free map, but they are no longer included in the state travel guides. I picked one up at the High Peaks information center off I-87 southbound back in March (since the previous one I had dated to 2005), but not all rest areas seem to have them.

(Sidenote: ILOVENY has put the entire 2012 guide online now, though paper copies still exist...)
But does the Northway still have Send Help maps? That's what concerns us.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: webfil on August 26, 2012, 03:31:15 PM
Quote from: oscar on August 08, 2012, 03:21:00 PMFor some reason, I never stopped at a New Brunswick or British Columbia visitor centre lately, so I don't know what their map distribution policies are.

New Brunswick and Ontario tourist organisms offer a complimentary road map when asked for a free travel kit via mail order. They are also given away in tourist centres, but Ontario sells it in book and map stores (saw it for the announced 2,95$ at Aux Quatre Points Cardinaux (http://www.aqpc.com/), got it for free via mail).

NB DoT also offers 508 large-scale 11×17" official maps (http://www.gnb.ca/0113/maps/Mapbooks/2011-Mapbooks-e.asp) extracted directly from their GIS database and several other printable maps (http://www.gnb.ca/0113/maps/maps-e.asp).

Québec has quality regional tourist maps, offered for free in most of the tourist centres. Municipalité de la Baie-James roadmap, Montréal Bixi map and Centre-du-Québec bike & tourist map are neat.

The official province-wide roadmap of the MTQ is 3,95$ ; the 2011 edition I bought @ AQPC is worth a thousand Rand McNally's ― flawless, complete, up-to-date. The coverage even includes Baie-James municipal highway system and its facilities at reasonable scales (1:1.25M and 1:11M).

Prince Edward Island offers for free its papermap you can find on its website (http://www.tourismpei.com/pei-maps). Verso offers large scale maps of Charlottetown, Summerside and Cavendish.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Brandon on August 26, 2012, 06:38:54 PM
You can get Ontario's for free in a few places, at least at the welcome centre in Sarnia.  You fill out their visitors' log, and get one for free.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: ghYHZ on August 27, 2012, 06:49:05 PM

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland/Labrador all offer free maps at Visitor Centres.

PEI still calls theirs an "Official Highway Map" .  New Brunswick's map is now a "Tear-Out" map bound in their Touring Guide and appears be sponsored by Irving Gas and Circle K Convenience Stores. (on the inside.....sill says it's an Official Map)

Nova Scotia's is a "Tourism Regions Map"  colour coded to the Travel Guide.....and Newfoundland's is a "Travellers Map"  

NS, NB & PEI offer French versions......not sure about NL.


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PSSLZADG-so/UDvlCJW3vGI/AAAAAAAAI8E/ucxS3wPtV98/s800/IMG_1082.JPG)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Brandon on August 27, 2012, 08:59:17 PM
To top that off, and leave the US/Canada, the Cayman Islands offer a free map.  The Honduran island of Roatan offers a free map (the cartography could be better, IMHO).  Belize also offers a free map.  Cozumel, Quintana Roo, MX has a map as well (given out by the rent-a-wreck place), but you can buy maps with better cartography.  The Caymans map lives up to its name, "The Official and Most Excellent Map of the Cayman Islands."  They have decent cartography, and they even show the location of roundabouts on the islands.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 27, 2012, 09:36:05 PM
Quote from: corco on August 01, 2012, 08:23:35 PM
Washington's is only digital now

Which must be why, at the Oregon welcome center in Umatilla OR, I was able to pick up copies of paper maps not just for Oregon, but most of the other western states, but not Washington and California.  Nice of those other states to send their maps in bulk to other states' visitor centers for free distribution. 

The visitor center in Yankton SD also has lots of free maps for neighboring states.  But like the Umatilla center, it closes early at 5pm. 
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on September 02, 2012, 12:44:46 PM
A few notes on the stuff I got. I ordered all the stuff in one day, and of the states that sent tourist information, North Dakota and Nova Scotia are most eager for me to visit. Generally the tourist information includes a lot of pretty pictures, but I find it next to useless as far as planning trips. Every little county museum has the same prominence of places I might actually want to travel to see; Hotels I search for an book online; I stay in Holiday Inns or the cheaper Wyndham brands where I'm a member of their loyalty programs.

I'm paying particular attentions to the maps of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina where I'm traveling too in a few weeks. Virginia has nice insets but I don't like on their main map how scenic byways are in dark bold colors and look thus look like major roads. No complaints about Maryland; its' one of the better state maps. North Carolina the expressways are light and difficult to see and the insets don't show city boundaries.

Manitoba is apparently so boring the best they could come up with for a cover on their brochure was a kid on a small plastic playground slide. I'm there...

Wisconsin doesn't print maps anymore, or so the nice man at the tourist information center on my way to WI Dells told me. The sponsored version of the map has a 2012 date on it, but still the 2010 cartography.

Maps I use in the car or look at a lot at home I like to keep two or more copies, one to use, and one to file away in pristine condition. I redact the "use" copies by defacing the cover with a black marker so I don't accidently grab the "keep" copies.

Alabama and Nevada sent me information, but no map. New Brunswick and Northwest Territories "maps" were pages in the brochure. THe Mississippi map is the first have gotten since I originally started collecting them in 1983.

Some of the Canadian maps have odd dimensions and don't fit into my map file. Nebraska is much improved. They feel the need to differentiate geological regions on their highway map, at least now it's in very subtle colors.

I tried to order the French version of the PIE map but I couldn't get their French web site to take a US address. Quebec wanted $12.00 to ship a map plus the $4.50 cost. I passed on them.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on September 02, 2012, 02:24:26 PM
How do your organize your "map file"? I am always looking for a better solution than the ubiquitous Shoebox O' Maps, but so far I haven't found anyone using one.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: bulldog1979 on September 03, 2012, 02:41:49 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 02, 2012, 02:24:26 PM
How do your organize your "map file"? I am always looking for a better solution than the ubiquitous Shoebox O' Maps, but so far I haven't found anyone using one.

I have a simple solution for my old Michigan maps of various years. I have a couple of the larger three-ring binders, and I slipped my maps into page protectors. I have a plain sheet of card stock inserted into each protector, and I could print labels with the information to stick on the card stock above where the map sits. Two will sit flat, side-by-side, on each side of the card stock.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on September 03, 2012, 12:39:22 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 02, 2012, 02:24:26 PM
How do your organize your "map file"? I am always looking for a better solution than the ubiquitous Shoebox O' Maps, but so far I haven't found anyone using one.

Photobucket is down this morning but I can still get on my Facebook to post these...
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ash4%2F386827_10151142730689875_2112668935_n.jpg&hash=8372e753580c986bf60bd504870d7e38e14392c6)
My map cabinet. My mom used to work for GMAC and when they closed up shop here they sold off the office furniture for pennies on the dollar. I think this originally held some kind of oversized index card. But two rows of standard maps fit perfectly in each drawer, along with space on the side for long maps or ones to be filed. Excuse the mess, cleaning the basement is a low priority in the summer.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ash4%2F301138_10151142731204875_281381339_n.jpg&hash=84d36370ea1520a1d378a0213619530346af2720)
The top space is for the pretty but useless tourism brochures I pick up. I'm thinking about boxing up or discarding them and using the top to stack my atlases which are now in storage totes under my bed.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ash3%2F574701_10151142731849875_50827948_n.jpg&hash=b889a7ab122b812626c223c78cc2142ec2722f31)
I took the maps out so you can see the hardware and layout. The Quiznos bag I put maps in to take along when I travel.

I also have a 8 foot, well lighted workbench to look at maps on.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on September 03, 2012, 02:41:02 PM
Wow! I'd love to have something like that. Don't know where I could find it, though...
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: cu2010 on September 03, 2012, 05:09:03 PM
I'd love to just have that many maps. :)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Duke87 on September 03, 2012, 05:27:37 PM
Quote from: Mdcastle on September 02, 2012, 12:44:46 PM
Alabama and Nevada sent me information, but no map.

I got an Alabama map at the welcome center on I-20 just past the Georgia line last December. When I signed the guest register, I asked the lady behind the counter "do you get people from Connecticut through here often?", and was disappointed when she said "yeah, people drive down here from the northeast all the time".

Didn't think to look for any maps when I drove way out west earlier this summer. The map pocket in my car is getting pretty stuffed, so it just wasn't a priority.

I'd rather collect older or more unique maps, anyway. Current paper state maps offer nothing that any number of websites (and Rand McNally) don't easily have.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Mdcastle on September 03, 2012, 08:51:57 PM
Quote from: cu2010 on September 03, 2012, 05:09:03 PM
I'd love to just have that many maps. :)
Before people get too impressed, all the drawers aren't filled to the capacity with maps. Some are 1/3-1/2 full and the second one from the bottom is state park maps, recreational brochures and the like.


Quote from: Duke87 on September 03, 2012, 05:27:37 PM
Quote from: Mdcastle on September 02, 2012, 12:44:46 PM
Alabama and Nevada sent me information, but no map.

I got an Alabama map at the welcome center on I-20 just past the Georgia line last December. When I signed the guest register, I asked the lady behind the counter "do you get people from Connecticut through here often?", and was disappointed when she said "yeah, people drive down here from the northeast all the time".

Didn't think to look for any maps when I drove way out west earlier this summer. The map pocket in my car is getting pretty stuffed, so it just wasn't a priority.

I'd rather collect older or more unique maps, anyway. Current paper state maps offer nothing that any number of websites (and Rand McNally) don't easily have.

I'm not much of a collector for current maps either, especially for areas I don't plan to go to. I wanted fresh copies of NC, VA, MD, and DE because I'm going there so I decided I might as well get new ones for any older than 2000 too. I tend to use Google Earth when planning but I tend to stick with official maps in the car since they're free and I don't have internet or GPS in my car. I actively collect every year of MN, IA, WI, and IL, and that's what the top drawer is. For newer years I have a redacted "use" copy or two and a couple of "don't touch" copies.



Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Alps on September 04, 2012, 04:45:21 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 02, 2012, 02:24:26 PM
How do your organize your "map file"? I am always looking for a better solution than the ubiquitous Shoebox O' Maps, but so far I haven't found anyone using one.
I have one low bookshelf that I keep stacks of maps on. Left stack is international (mostly Europe and Canada). Next three stacks are US from A to Z. Final three stacks are old editions in that same order, although my old maps are starting to outgrow the available space. (I could try to shuffle books and increase the height of that shelf.) The stacks don't bleed together because they're all about the same height and there's no spare width.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on September 07, 2012, 09:00:58 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on August 09, 2012, 06:07:57 PM
I've never seen a signature required, and the request is always phrased as though you could presumably decline to sign and still get a map. I always just sign since I doubt IaDOT or the Iowa Tourism Board really intends to do anything sinister with the information that I was driving down I-35 in Iowa on such and such date.

At the visitor center in the rest area on eastbound I-80 near Ogallala, Nebraska, the quid pro quo is a bit more explicit -- a sign says "A new highway map for your ZIP code".  The map isn't that new -- 2011 update (but newer than the 2007 edition I've picked up in recent years).  But the guy behind the counter said he'd just gotten his map supply, and it was touch and go whether NDOR would even issue an updated paper highway map.

I stopped at most of the rest areas on eastbound I-80 in Nebraska, but the others had at most closed visitor information counters, and no maps aside from one (2011 edition) posted behind glass on a wall.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: rschen7754 on October 20, 2012, 02:03:36 AM
Nunavut offers free maps through their tourism site!
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Dougtone on October 20, 2012, 06:31:37 AM
Quote from: Steve on August 17, 2012, 07:30:43 PM
Quote from: cu2010 on August 16, 2012, 11:59:00 PM
I can second that about Ontario- on all my previous visits, they just handed me a map free of charge.

New York has no "official" map. The tourism department continues to contract out to MapWorks to publish a free map, but they are no longer included in the state travel guides. I picked one up at the High Peaks information center off I-87 southbound back in March (since the previous one I had dated to 2005), but not all rest areas seem to have them.

(Sidenote: ILOVENY has put the entire 2012 guide online now, though paper copies still exist...)
But does the Northway still have Send Help maps? That's what concerns us.

The last few times that I've stopped at a Northway rest area (usually the Clifton Park rest area), I have not seen the SEND HELP maps.  Otherwise, I would've grabbed a bunch to give out at meets and also to store away for safe keeping.  I've only seen the SEND HELP maps at the Clifton Park rest area.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: empirestate on October 20, 2012, 04:51:19 PM
Quote from: cu2010 on August 16, 2012, 11:59:00 PM
New York has no "official" map. The tourism department continues to contract out to MapWorks to publish a free map, but they are no longer included in the state travel guides. I picked one up at the High Peaks information center off I-87 southbound back in March (since the previous one I had dated to 2005), but not all rest areas seem to have them.

Depends what you mean by "official map". NYSDOT used to publish a fantastic series of paper maps, including a 4-sheet 1:250k state map from 1995, which is huge and is posted in a couple of the rest areas around the state. I've only seen that once in person, and I can't remember which rest area it was. Of course, I have my own copy at home. :)

That's the wall version of the state atlas, also at 1:250k, most recently updated in 1998 (with a 1:125k urban area supplement issued in 2000). You can sometimes find older versions of the atlas in libraries. And I have it, of course. :) :)

An unfinished series of county maps was also produced in the late 80s and the 90s, at 1:75k scale, with one or two counties published at 1:100k instead. As you've guessed, I own all of these that were produced. :) :) :)

And finally, the 1:24k, 7.5 minute quadrangle maps, equivalent to the USGS topos but usually newer and with more transportation-specific information. These are still online at http://gis.ny.gov/gisdata/quads/drg24/index.htm but I also have several dozen of the paper editions.  Oh, and the complete digital collection. :bigass:

So yes, NYS once had an official map, indeed a whole library of them, but the terrorists won when mapping functions were transferred from NYSDOT to the new Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure, now part of the state Homeland Security division. I mean, such an ambitious paper mapping program would have died out on its own eventually, but the demise was so sudden and complete that it can't be called a totally natural death.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Scott5114 on October 20, 2012, 05:50:51 PM
Because mapping...totally makes sense as part of Homeland Security.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: empirestate on October 21, 2012, 02:15:40 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on October 20, 2012, 05:50:51 PM
Because mapping...totally makes sense as part of Homeland Security.

Well, it ties in with GIS as an information system. One of their early initiatives after the switch was to pull all aerial imagery, a brand-new undertaking for the state, then later to re-issue it with the selective blurring they still use today. The actual mapping products were folded in as raster products along with the many vector data sets available, but production of new maps and distribution on paper were both stopped.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: english si on October 21, 2012, 11:17:23 AM
Certainly in Britain, the excellent Ordnance Survey* maps do not have certain military features on their public-facing maps for sale. They do, however, do military maps for the military, which have such things on them.

*note how it's Ordnance - weaponry - first used to map the Highlands to help the army suppress rebellious Jacobite clans, then they mapped the  SE (French invasion worries) and started selling the maps (only to withdraw them for security reason after Waterloo - the battle where we crushed the French and ended their European empire) not long after they were made, so the first ones were published before they finished surveying the country. The beginning of the modern era of mapping was about 'Homeland Security'.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: kkt on October 21, 2012, 01:55:20 PM
Quote from: english si on October 21, 2012, 11:17:23 AM
Waterloo - the battle where we crushed the French and ended their European empire

There's an unfortunate tendency on the part of both the British and the Prussians to take sole credit for the victory at Waterloo.  Neither Wellington with his British, Dutch, German, and Belgian army nor von Blucher with the Prussian army could have won the battle alone.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: vdeane on October 22, 2012, 11:37:22 AM
I think the weather also helped too... not to mention, Napoleon wasn't at his best that day.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: english si on October 22, 2012, 11:54:44 AM
Quote from: kkt on October 21, 2012, 01:55:20 PMThere's an unfortunate tendency on the part of both the British and the Prussians to take sole credit for the victory at Waterloo.  Neither Wellington with his British, Dutch, German, and Belgian army nor von Blucher with the Prussian army could have won the battle alone.
We is also available in inclusive form...

My point was simply that the maps were removed from public sale for security reasons after the enemy was soundly defeated.

And like the Americans don't often take sole credit for WW2, despite coming to the party late... ;)
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 27, 2014, 07:54:05 PM
Quote from: rschen7754 on October 20, 2012, 02:03:36 AM
Nunavut offers free maps through their tourism site!

And you can pick them up at local visitor centres as well, or at least the one in Iqaluit (the other communities I visited, the visitor centres were closed when I tried to visit).  However, while the map shows roads, none of the roads are in Nunavut.  The territory has no roads long enough to show up on a 16" x 21" map (with no city or other insets) covering all three of Nunavut's time zones, and all its islands from the southern end of Hudson Bay to near the North Pole.

I also picked up some copies of California's 2014 "official state map" from the welcome center in Buena Park, during a short visit to that area a few weeks ago.  Not particularly good or useful as a road map, but better than nothing. 
Title: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: formulanone on August 28, 2014, 08:42:44 AM
As of 2014, you can still get free maps from the Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana welcome centers. I haven't checked the Florida centers in many years. I haven't checked other sites, but Alabama also has a huge PDF version of their state map online.

Pennsylvania still offered free maps at the welcome center, and Ohio "just ran out" on my last visit. I think those are the only border crossings I've made this year. Totally forgot to check New Jersey...I had a flight in mind.

The Mississippi one seems to tear very easily, the Alabama one seems the sturdiest, but the Georgia one seems to be the most legible, whereas the Louisiana one includes lots of (unnecessary) extra coloring and shading. The Pennsylvania one is lost somewhere in my house.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: freebrickproductions on August 28, 2014, 11:33:44 AM
Florida still provides maps. We picked one up in Alabama on our way down to Port St. Joe, FL this year.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: formulanone on August 28, 2014, 04:41:54 PM
No sooner than you posted, that I stopped by a rest stop along I-95 in Martin County. Sure enough, free road maps...they were located by the ladies room.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on August 28, 2014, 06:07:08 PM
Quote from: formulanone on August 28, 2014, 04:41:54 PM
No sooner than you posted, that I stopped by a rest stop along I-95 in Martin County. Sure enough, free road maps...they were located by the ladies room.

Like Mississippi's, the one I picked up earlier this year in Florida tore easily.  I put the remains in my recycle bin when I was done with it.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: freebrickproductions on August 28, 2014, 06:16:19 PM
To be exact, we picked it up at the Alabama/Florida state line. It was so full of small side roads that it was rather hard to read so we ended up using the Alabama map to navigate down to Port St. Joe because it didn't have all of the small county roads on it.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: Roadrunner75 on August 28, 2014, 11:29:37 PM
Pennsylvania has a really good state map....and available at the rest area/welcome centers too.  I believe I also have one or two with a PA state senator's sticker on them that were handed out at some event.  I have some relatively recent Maryland maps from rest areas, an older VA that was pretty good and of course some NJs (not as good as they used to be).  The Pennsylvania Turnpike also used to give out maps - I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere that was basically the PA state map with the turnpike highlighted and related information.

Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: oscar on July 11, 2015, 10:19:31 AM
Quote from: oscar on August 02, 2012, 12:07:59 PM
The Northwest Territories charges $3.50 for their map.  Considering the limited NT highway network, not really worth it.

An appalling follow-up -- I stopped two days ago at the NT visitor infocentre on the Alberta border at the NT 1/AB 35 crossing (the only crossing into NT served by an infocentre), and paid for what I hoped would be an updated map from what I bought there from a previous visit. Turned out to be a ten-year-old map from 2005. I walked back in, got my money back. The lady behind the counter said that's all she had in stock. Ugh!

Not that the rather simple NT highway network changes all that much from year to year, so an old map is OK for most tourists. But there's the new Deh Cho Bridge replacing a ferry crossing of the Mackenzie River, a reroute of part of NT 4 near Yellowknife, and the NT 8 extension under construction to the Arctic coast.

Funny thing is, I got a less out-of-date 2009 NT map for free from a locally-operated visitor infocentre in Nipawin SK earlier on my trip. I also got free copies of somewhat out-of-date maps for most of the provinces (including Quebec), and all of the territories (including Nunavut, whose map almost never goes out of date since it has no highways). But they were out of stock for Saskatchewan, which is what I most needed (I got that a few days later from another infocentre). 
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: PHLBOS on July 13, 2015, 11:16:40 AM
Quote from: formulanone on August 28, 2014, 08:42:44 AMTotally forgot to check New Jersey...I had a flight in mind.
As of 2015, one can still get NJ's official road map at GSP's Montvale plaza.

Quote from: Roadrunner75 on August 28, 2014, 11:29:37 PMThe Pennsylvania Turnpike also used to give out maps - I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere that was basically the PA state map with the turnpike highlighted and related information.
I know the type you're referring to.  I don't think the PTC has had a version of such (paper or otherwise) since the Ridge Administration.

CT still issues an official paper road map.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: noelbotevera on July 13, 2015, 11:45:08 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on July 13, 2015, 11:16:40 AM

Quote from: Roadrunner75 on August 28, 2014, 11:29:37 PMThe Pennsylvania Turnpike also used to give out maps - I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere that was basically the PA state map with the turnpike highlighted and related information.
I know the type you're referring to.  I don't think the PTC has had a version of such (paper or otherwise) since the Ridge Administration.

Nope, the best paper maps I could find was a vacation map for Delaware, and it is really broad. That was in the Bowmansville service plaza, by the way.
Title: Re: Which states and provinces don't offer official paper maps anymore?
Post by: PHLBOS on July 15, 2015, 04:08:28 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on July 13, 2015, 11:45:08 AM
Quote from: PHLBOS on July 13, 2015, 11:16:40 AM

Quote from: Roadrunner75 on August 28, 2014, 11:29:37 PMThe Pennsylvania Turnpike also used to give out maps - I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere that was basically the PA state map with the turnpike highlighted and related information.
I know the type you're referring to.  I don't think the PTC has had a version of such (paper or otherwise) since the Ridge Administration.

Nope, the best paper maps I could find was a vacation map for Delaware, and it is really broad. That was in the Bowmansville service plaza, by the way.
I know that one can still get the standard PA road maps at the state Welcome Centers (but not the Turnpike service plazas).  Every now and then, I stop at the Linwood (Delaware County) Welcome Center just off I-95 northbound and pick up a few maps.