Letter from Dale Sanderson
Maps – March 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ed:
I noticed in your article about reference books that you preferred DeLorme’s Atlas of Colorado. Just wanted to check whether you’ve had an opportunity to use Shearer Publishing’s Roads of Colorado atlas. I think the cartography in DeLorme is a bit more æsthetic — particularly in the recent edition, which has shaded relief.
But in terms of drivable roads: whereas DeLorme simply regurgitates USGS and Census data, Shearer actually researches their atlas. I find it to be much more accurate. Not only that, but it shows maybe two or three dozen different classifications of land usage — and does so in a fashion that is much more useful than how DeLorme portrays it. While DeLorme relegates the eastern plains to a much smaller scale, Shearer shows the whole state at the same scale. And finally, they include some interesting text information on Colorado placenames, ghost towns, etc. If you’re not familiar with it, you might check it out.
Dale Sanderson
Denver