Travel routes

[Dso66]

Is there a book or soft ware app that shows the best travel route to destinations?

[Allworth]

Rand McNally "Motor Carrier's Road Atlas". Available at truck stops.

[bsinmich]

AAA has the tour books they update every year. That and the maps are the only 2 reasons I still carry AAA membership.

[DonPd]

You can get this free from Garmin but you do need to have a Garmin device to get maps that the software can use.

BaseCamp

It allows you to create routes and transfer the routes to your Garmin device. You can also print the directions for the routes. View the routes in Google Earth.

You can also use Google earth to plan routes and it is also free.

[C-Bears]

That would be a hard question to answer. First of all, are you driving a 9' high truck camper? Are you towing a FW that is 13'6" high?

We are 13'5" high so we are not sight seeing down country roads. We start by using computer based mapping, but then everything is checked against our current Trucker's Atlas.

[PastorCharlie]

I have used Delorme Street Atlas Plus for many years and I find it the best overall. I have never had a problem with it and I update it ever 2 years. It does not require any Internet connection and is programmable to ones own interest. It will take you where you want to go the way you want to go.

I also have used Magellan, Garmin and Rand McNally and they are good but do not compare with Delorme.

[john_bet]

Dso66 wrote:
Is there a book or soft ware app that shows the best travel route to destinations?

Your best travel route may not be the same as mine to the same place. To many choices.

[Dso66]

Sdaniel, you might have what I looking for. By best I meant. Roads and routes that might be better pulling a fifth. Lower mountain passes and such. Just thinking. Thanks for all the input

[sdianel_-acct_c]

I just downloaded CoPilot app to my iPhone and love it! It has an RV setting and is easy to use.

[Carb_Cleaner]

Harley Ride Planner.
Free, but you gotta have internet:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/owners/plan-your-ride/hd-ride-planner-overview.html
CLICKY

[2gypsies1]

It all depends on how you travel. If you're on limited time and have to get there in a hurry just pick the nearest interstate and take off.

If you have plenty of time and want to see things along the way, start with a good road atlas, highlight what you want to see and make your route from there. If you're traveling in the West, the Benchmark individual state atlases are awesome. They include public parks and public lands.

If you want to do it on your computer, we've used Delorme for over 20 years. You don't need to be online. You can customize the map by putting in vias to include the scenic stops you want to make.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

As several people have said - define what you consider a 'best' route?

As an example

For me the best route from San Antonio to Davis Mountains State Park near Fort Davis in far west Texas is US-90, with an overnight stop near Del Rio or at Seminole Canyon State Park.

But I'm not on a time schedule.

While we were park hosting at the park in November and December - several times we had rigs pull in that had towed directly from San Antonio to the park down I-10 - 9 to 10 hours straight towing often arriving after midnight.

They were on a limited time schedule - coming to take advantage of a few days off from school with their kids.

We are retired old farts, and we prefer to travel on weekdays - get setup well before the weekend crowd arrives.

I use Streets & Trips for detail planning - but a look at a map is always the first step. Interstate highways were designed to be the easiest, fastest way to get from place to place.

And I drive a lot of interstate miles - especially when my objective is to get to a certain location. But when we have time - I prefer US highways and a less hectic traffic situation/ pace.

What is your preference?

[Jim_Shoe]

I use Streets and Trips and supplement with Mountain Directory West. I have Mountain Directory East, but rarely use it. I've heard that MS is going to stop publishing S & T. Not enough sales volume. I'm still using the 2010 version of S & T. There aren't many if any expressways that aren't on there already, although it probably isn't current when it comes to RV and National Park camping locations. But Good Sam's RV Travel and Campground Guide is published annually and makes a good supplement.

[Veebyes]

Yhe trouble with so many so-called helpful routing apps assume that you have internet access at all times. This is not the real world.

Delorme seems to be the only thing left available in stand alone mapping software. Still using Streets & Trips here. Much better to have the hands on ability to change the route on the fly using the map to pick & choose how we want to go.

Try using any of the internet based mapping in the mountains, up in the far north of far away from the main highways where there is no cell service in the west.

[Matt_Colie]

There is a problem with your question. What is your interpretation of "best travel route". Do you mean fastest?, flatest? most scenic?

There are several as noted. The problem with using an on-line app is that all the paper you print is good until you make the first change. Delorme Street Atlas and CoPilot are the remaining laptop packages.

Matt