Reddit Reddit reviews Oregon Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas

We found 2 Reddit comments about Oregon Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Reference
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Atlases & Maps
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Oregon Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas
Map Scale = 1:225,000 & 1:750,000Sheet Size = 11 x 16
Check price on Amazon

2 Reddit comments about Oregon Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas:

u/butanerefill · 2 pointsr/preppers

My favorite State maps are by Benchmark. They make really nice large format road atlases that have a fantastic level of detail in terms of features and tiny local roads (even logging roads where I am in PNW). They are easily findable on Amazon.

https://www.benchmarkmaps.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Oregon-Benchmark-Road-Recreation-Atlas/dp/0929591607/

u/TBTop · 2 pointsr/oregon

If you're going to go east, which I cannot recommend highly enough, you will need a copy of the Benchmark Oregon Road & Recreation Atlas, which shows the back roads and campgrounds. Do not neglect this. Take Hwy 31 to Paisley, which was once a two-fisted cowboy town complete with its own whorehouse. From Paisley, use your atlas to find the gravel roads through the ZX Ranch, at 1 million acres the largest in the United States. You want to end up at U.S. 395 at Abert Rim. Hang a right and drive past Abert Lake to the town of Lakeview. At the intersection of 395 and Oregon Hwy. 140, in a red brick building that's easy to miss, you will find the Snack Shack, which serves a hamburger as good as any you will eat anywhere in the whole country.

You will now be in the Great Basin, a vast and impossibly romantic steppe (high altitude desert) that comprises most of Nevada and parts of Oregon, California, Utah, and Idaho. All rain and snow that falls there stays there, i.e. does not reach any ocean by way of tribuaries and rivers. It is probably the most remote area in the country outside of Alaska; for example, the visitor's HQ at the Hart Mtn Nat'l Antelope Refuge is farther away from an Interstate than any other spot in the Lower 48. This cattle and cowboy country; Harney County, east of Lakeview, is the ninth largest county in the U.S., and the 8th largest cattle county.

From Lakeview, there are some choices to make. The shortest route would be by way of Plush, a wide spot in the road with a cafe, through the Hart Mtn refuge. Go up to Steens Mtn., which at 9,200 feet is the tallest summit that you can drive to in Oregon and I think the entire Pacific NW. There's a loop road, and some camp grounds. It'll be on your atlas. Take it. Wind your way back to Burns and U.S. 395, then drive north. If you do that, you'll miss a lot but you will have gotten the essential landscapes. You also will have gone through the Malheur Nat'l Wildlife refuge, famous for the variety of birds. It was the first wildlife refuge in the U.S., set aside a little more than 100 years ago by Teddy Roosevelt.

The longer route would be to take Oregon 140 into Nevada (another spectacular drive) all the way to U.S. 95. Hang a left, and drive north. Look for Whitehorse Ranch Rd. and hang a left. Well-maintained gravel road that ends at Oregon Hwy. 205. You can stay on that all the way to Frenchglen, or to that Steen's Loop Road that I mentioned. Find your way to Oregon Hwy. 78 and rejoin U.S. 95. Look for Leslie Gulch Rd., which takes you through spectacular landscapes to the Owyhee reservoir. RV sites. Go back out and drive to Ontario (a true dump of a town) and find U.S. 20.

Take U.S. 20 through more spectacular landscapes to Burns. Hang a right on U.S. 395 and find the town of Seneca. Take Forest Service Rd. 16 to Hwy. 62 and back to Prairie City. Hang a right on U.S. 26, making sure to stop at the top of the hill for a killer view of the Strawberry Mountains that you drove around on 16 and 62. Hang a left at Oregon Hwy. 7 and drive to Baker City, arguably the nicest little town in Eastern Oregon, and with some surprisingly good food.

At Baker City, get on I-84 toward Portland. But do not pass up the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center about 5 miles out. It's definitely worth the two hours. Tells the whole story of the largest mass migration in modern North American history.

You can do the short way in a few days, and the long way in about a week or so. I cannot recommend the long way highly enough, but if the high desert ain't your cup of tea then do the shorter way and take 395 all the way to Pendleton and I-84. Either way, you'll have driven through a region chock full of Western history, which I can talk about if you want. You'll be way out there in the Great Nowhere, but not beyond help if you need it. If you're carrying a cellphone, Verizon's the carrier to have out there. By far the best coverage. But do NOT rely on it and Google maps and/or your vehicle's nav system to the exclusion of that atlas I recommended.

The roads I've mentioned are very good, but don't be foolishly unprepared. Make sure to have good tires and to know how to change one. Carry more water than you think you will need, and keep an eye on the gas gauge because the stations are few and far between. And this is not sandals and shorts country. There are plenty of rattlesnakes out there, so a pair of suede cowboy boots and long pants are essentials. And have a hat and sunglasses and sun screen. Watch where you walk, especially at the Owyhee reservoir.

I haven't listed all the places, but I've hit the highlights. It's a truly spectacular region of America, not well traveled because it's so far away. That's actually the saving grace. There are places out there that, except for the roads, are otherwise unchanged in >100 years. And you'll have a lot of it mostly to yourselves, with the exception of a pickup truck every now and again.