Santa Barbara, CA May 15, 2012 – To celebrate New Mexico’s centennial year, Benchmark Maps has released a trio of new map products for the Land of Enchantment. Their atlas, folded map, and mobile app offerings for the outdoor enthusiast mark a truly unique achievement in mapping quality and diversity. This comprehensive trio of recreation mapping tools gives New Mexico a level of attention that no state in the American West has yet enjoyed.
New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas (7th edition)
The acclaimed New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas has received content updates through Benchmark’s unique field-checking process. By driving the roads and surveying recreation opportunities, their team ensures that the most accurate New Mexico road map and points of interest are shown. Benchmark’s first title in 1996 was the 1st edition New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas, which makes this the longest-running of their 27 titles available at www.benchmarkmaps.com.
The intuitive layout of the New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas begins with a set of highway maps of the United States, the Mountain West, and New Mexico. Its 19-page Recreation Guide provides regional public land maps with outdoor recreation attractions that include hunting and fishing, boating and rafting, river access points, natural wonders, New Mexico historic sites, hiking trailheads, campsites, RV parks, and monthly averages for temperature and precipitation. The Recreation Guide is followed by 57 pages of Landscape Maps™ that depict the natural beauty of New Mexico’s landforms along with the most accurate road detail ever published for the state.
The New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas also connects to Benchmark’s online resources and community. For the first time, an atlas user can access Benchmark’s New Mexico points of interest with their mobile device. Scan a QR code in the atlas with a smartphone, and it will unlock content on www.benchmarkmaps.com made specifically for atlas users in the field. These online links allow access to quickly dial phone numbers or view websites for New Mexico parks and recreation information. While looking at a Benchmark New Mexico atlas or map, a user’s smartphone can connect digitally to New Mexico information. Near the useful index section in the back of the book, new pages allow one to make record of their adventures, create a wish list, and even scan a code to share their favorite locations or anecdotes with Benchmark’s social community.
New Mexico Recreation Map (1st edition)
The New Mexico Recreation Map (1st edition) is the newest in a successful line of Benchmark folded maps, the content for which is derived from the Recreation section of their atlases. Benchmark uses high-quality paper and superior printing techniques, to match production quality with that of their cartography and recreation content. For hiking, camping, and general travel, you cannot find a better folded map of New Mexico.
New Mexico Atlas app for iPhone & iPad (v1.0)
For iPhone and iPad users, Benchmark Maps has developed the New Mexico Atlas mobile app. The second in Benchmark’s new series of digital products (the California Atlas was first), the New Mexico Atlas app contains all the quality maps and field-checked content of the New Mexico Road & Recreation Atlas with the added functionality you expect in a great travel app. A geo-reference indicator notes your location.
With ease you can zoom between their map layers of land ownership and landscape detail. Turn on and off external layers such as USGS contour or “topo” lines, NEXRAD weather radar, or street detail with OpenStreetMap. Drop pins for waypoints and add notes to your journey, with GPS coordinates of course. Perhaps the best feature is being able to save favorite map sections and download what you like for offline use.
About Benchmark’s field-checking:
Since 1995, Benchmark Maps has been field-checking the American West. Benchmark field teams spent three weeks in New Mexico in early 2012, checking new highways and back road conditions. They confirmed edits received from discriminating map users, who also happen to be Benchmark’s most loyal customers and friends. Field-checker Ryan Lewelling describes the accuracy gained by Benchmark’s field efforts: “If there’s a trailhead, we’ve been there. If there’s a gate, we’ve crossed it. If there’s a campground, it’s in the right spot. We spend the extra time making sure each location is accurate so users won’t have to second guess like they do with other commonly used maps today.” He notes that New Mexico has always been “an extremely friendly state that is welcoming to all, and boasts some of the oldest history in the United States. Folks in recreation & land management do their job well to help people enjoy the lands. Everywhere you look, New Mexico has recreation opportunities.” Benchmark’s goal is to convey this enthusiasm to the reader, through details that reveal the state’s personality and by providing, in Lewelling’s words, “the best atlas and map products for every corner of New Mexico.”
Whether planning a day trip or an extended adventure across the state, Benchmark Maps 2012 line of products for New Mexico are essential companions for exploring the Land of Enchantment.
For inquiries please contact [email protected]
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