Rand McNally Large Scale Atlas Reviews Summary

Usability

Pros:

• "This atlas is much better than the others I have had, and should hold up to being in the RV much longer."
• "Being spiral bound makes it easy to fold back to just look at 1 page at a time if you want to."
• "The larger map scale is a definite improvement for my older eyed."
• "Since the 2023 Large Scale edition now includes Canada and Mexico, it gave me even more reason to buy it."
• "I used this for every cross country trip I drive. It helps me plan my route & where I need to stop for the night."
• "Easy to read with larger print which is very helpful."
• "The maps are detailed, color printed and easy to read."

Cons:

• "I found the pages hard to connect with the other pages. I was totally lost sometimes when traveling."
• "I liked the spiral binding...but other than that is is confusing."
• "Very disappointing. Too difficult to use as the states are broken up in order to allow for large print."
• "The Atlas is big and if you plan on someone using it in your vehicle as you are driving down the road I would suggest another plan as many of the states are on multiple pages and again it’s big."
• "It is too large and unwieldy to try and use in a car."
• "The map is hard to read where it’s cut off in the middle because of the spiral."
• "I worry the pages will tear lose from the spiral binding."

Design and Binding

Pros:

• "I love the spiral bound version."
• "The Spiral bound pages do not bind when you go from page to page."
• "Being spiral bound, it lies flat when open."
• "This is by far the best atlas I’ve purchased! The spiral binding makes it much easier to manage while in your vehicle as well."
• "I also appreciate that it's spiral bound, so I can easily fold it."
• "The spiral binding preserved the book when folding back pages for easier handling."
• "I love the spiral binding which makes it lay nicely when the book is open."

Cons:

• "Each place I looked seemed to fall on an edge of the map that was split between two pages."
• "The highway(s) are well marked......BUT because of the folds of the page at the page center breakdown......it can be harder to follow from city street to city street."
• "A bridge that connected two roads to make a major crossing from one city to the next that opened in 2017 was not on the map."
• "The print was large but I personally did not like the way the states were laid out."
• "Nice, big map. States are printed over 2 pages. Middle of the states are interrupted by the spiral binding."
• "I did not like the wire ring binding. It created a gap between pages."
• "But a disadvantage is the way they just split the maps in half and the spiral cuts are often right where you need to see."

Practicality for Travel

Pros:

• "This atlas is very good for planning a domestic road trip."
• "Used it in conjunction with our GPS to give us broader picture."
• "It's alway better to be prepared for the unexpected when traveling this great country."
• "This sturdy but not heavy atlas let’s you see the full picture."
• "I will use this along with my GPS while on the road."
• "More reliable than GPS!"
• "This is a must have when traveling across country with the tribe. A fantastic backup to the the best of iPhone's directional vibes!"

Cons:

• "This atlas claims to cover the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, but the Mexico section is a joke - just one high-level map spanning two pages, and with only an inset for Mexico City."
• "It’s big, but I can read it."
• "This is not something you want to try and use while driving (which might be a good thing). Because of how huge it is, it is easy to find stuff, but you should probably rely on a copilot or pull over to use it."
• "I always bought an atlas to use when I traveled out of state, but GPS really makes maps obsolete."
• "It would be awkward to use if you were trying to use it in a car due to the size of it."
• "Hoping to get it for a road trip with my child but wasn’t useful at all."
• "The atlas is absolutely huge. We didn’t notice that it was any clearer than a smaller atlas, but to use it you almost have to be sitting at a table."