Maps fascinate me...... They beckon me to distant places, intrigue me with their place names and lay out the big picture for me. They can describe the terrain, specify distance from one point to another and tantalize with data about landforms.

Hiking trails, boat access, wildlife viewing points, parks, campgrounds, freeways wineries and golf courses can all be a part of a map. So can restrooms, restaurants, information centres and cities.
We’ve used topographical charts of BC’s oceans and mountains, a dog-eared B.C. Recreational Atlas and fishing maps of one sort or another for decades on our expeditions into the wilds of B.C.

Usually I spread them out before the trip and mark out potential fishing spots or campsites in anticipation of the holiday. Just looking at them fills me with excitement about the trip.

So, when the Southwestern B.C. Road & Recreational Atlas came out this year, it was fodder for the imagination. If you are familiar with the B.C. Recreational Atlas, this will remind you of it, but it’s much more detailed for the southwest corner of British Columbia.

It includes the islands, Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley to Princeton, as well as the Sunshine Coast and Whistler to Lillooet.It includes city core maps for Vancouver and Victoria and a number of other centres along with regional ski areas and ferry services. There are more than 3000 names of places, rivers, lakes, streams, inlets, bays and mountains.

Provincial parks and protected areas, national park reserves and ecological reserves are all noted on maps along with a wildlife viewing guide that includes the time of year for best sighting opportunities. There’s even information about fish stocking and detailed maps of provincial park campgrounds, as well as forest service campsites.

This is 104 full colour pages simply crammed with information for the traveler with outdoor interests, including backroads and hiking trails.

Published by PTC Phototype Composing Ltd., the same people who put out the B.C. Road & Recreational Atlas, this volume’s maps are 200,000 to 1 compared to 600,000 to 1 for the B.C. Atlas, so there’s far more detail.

It’s distributed by Heritage House and plans are to put out a similar publication for southeastern B.C. in the next year or two, which would include the Okanagan. I look forward to it. In the meantime, it’s easy to recommend this professionally prepared, clear and clean map book if you are heading into southwestern British Columbia.