Here's a review of the DeLorme Tenth Edition from Amazon's website. The reviewer has found serious problems with the 10th edition also, and also recommends getting the earlier editions.
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2.0 out of 5 stars 10th Edition (2007): Many Unacceptable Errors, November 26, 2008
By doomsdayer520
(Since AMZN seems to use the same listing for all editions of the DeLorme Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer, here I am reviewing the 10th Edition.)
I am a huge fan of DeLorme's topographic atlases, which are indispensable for backroad travel and finding outdoor recreation opportunities, while the topographic detail really creates an understanding of the landscape. This latest (2007) edition for Pennsylvania indicates a switch in format, from the basic red lines for all roads to the more colorful representations of different categories of roads and easier-to-read labels for features of interest. However, something has gone seriously wrong with accuracy in this edition, and those familiar with the previous Pennsylvania editions (not to mention the state itself) will notice the problems very quickly.
DeLorme is usually diligent about the accuracy of its maps, but any sharp-eyed traveler will notice many, many errors in this edition. And strangely, most of them represent the cartographic situation several decades ago. Apparently DeLorme has reverted to direct modifications of existing USGS maps, which for many parts of Pennsylvania have not been updated by the feds for many years. Therefore, recent developments are missing for wide areas of the state. This is especially perplexing because the previous DeLorme editions for Pennsylvania were much more accurate and showed more cartographic research on then-recent developments. But the 10th edition presents a bizarre reversion to past realities, with a dismissal of DeLorme's own previous cartography.
Here are just a few examples among a great many, all of which depict information from old non-updated USGS maps. Many defunct state highways are labeled with route numbers here, such as PA 364 in Centre County (decommissioned in 1992) and a segment of PA 86 in Erie County (decommissioned in 1983). These defunct state routes and others were not marked as such in the last several DeLorme Pennsylvania editions. In Tioga County, PA 414 in Blackwell depicts the path of an old bridge that was replaced sometime in the 1990s. Around my residence in State College, there have been many new roads constructed in the past 6-7 years. Some are illustrated in this atlas but some are not, and the difference is a boundary line between two USGS maps - just one of which was recently updated by the feds.
This atlas also lists as "towns" any feature of interest from the USGS maps, such as Lebo Vista on top of a mountain in Lycoming County or South Pier within Erie city limits. Plus there are many unacceptable typos and misrepresentations. For example, in Jefferson County a stretch of PA 36 is mislabeled as PA 899, the depiction of PA 98 in Erie County goes too far north, and the depiction of PA 477 in Clinton County doesn't go far enough south. I've looked back, and none of the errors described in this review (and who knows how many others) were in the last few editions of the DeLorme Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer. Someone at DeLorme has a lot of explaining to do, especially as they collect customer accuracy complaints. In the meantime, Pennsylvania backroad travelers should revert to the recent previous edition(s) and avoid this exercise in lazy cartography. [~doomsdayer520~]
