Frequently Asked Questions

All of our maps have north at the top, west to the left, east to the right, and south at the bottom. The arrows or letters in the map's frame are clickable and will move the map coverage in these directions. Each map also has a clickable barscale on the left. The units are in miles.

There are several possible reasons. Our software does its best to recognize what you've typed and match it against a large database of addresses. For best results, try these tips: Address field: We can only route to or map street addresses with street numbers and street names or the intersection of two streets. We are not able to recognize post office boxes, apartment numbers or vanity names for buildings. We also cannot recognize geographic features, names of housing developments, or names of businesses.

The street name you've entered may be spelled differently than the actual street. In this case, our system tries to find a close match to the street or city name that you've entered and returns that map. If no street match can be made, a map will be generated of the zip code area (if entered) or the city instead.

City and state fields: Although our system will try to find a close match for misspelled city names, for best results, use the exact spellings of all names. Make sure to double-check your spelling. If you're unsure of the state's abbreviation, click "state" for a full list of U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

There are two ways to zoom in. Along the left-hand side of the map there's a zoom scale with numbers from 1 to 10. Just click on any of the numbers to zoom in and out. Zooming all the way out (1 on the zoom scale), provides you with the state and/or regional view of an address. Zooming all the way in (10 on the zoom scale) allows you to see the specific street and cross street for an address. The numbers you see indicate the scale level of coverage that each zoom level will produce.

You can also click directly on the map to zoom in or recenter. Under the map are buttons that let you choose which action you want to perform. To recenter only, choose the Recenter button and click directly on the map at the spot you would like to be the new center. Or to both recenter and zoom in with one step, click on the Zoom In & Recenter button and then click on the spot to be the new center of the map.

Our driving directions try to find the fastest route between two points. This means we try to use roadways with the highest speed limits. We try to route you to interstate highways or U.S. highways as quickly as possible, then keep you on these highways as long as possible.

Please let us know about any errors or omissions you find in our maps or directions, especially the names of towns and streets that we may have been unable to locate for you. Be sure to let us know the exact address or addresses you were trying to locate and if there is a problem in the directions, please let us know at exactly what step you feel an error occurred.

The street or subdivision you are looking for may be new and not yet in our database. Please be patient, as adding new streets can take a long time. We will be sure to let our data suppliers know of these errors so that they can review them and add them to their update cycles.

At a minimum we need a city and state/province or ZIP code. The following entries usually succeed in finding your location on a map:

ZIP code
City, state
City, state, ZIP code
Address, city, state
Intersection, city, state
Address, city, state, ZIP code
Intersection, city, state, ZIP code

Please note, if you have entered a city and a ZIP code, we show you the center of that ZIP code's area on the map. A ZIP code in a rural location may cover a large area and won't be centered on a city. If you don't get the map that you expected, enter the city and state, but leave out the ZIP code.

If you enter any of the above combinations and we are still unable to find your location, it's probably not in our database. Please let us know about any errors or omissions you find in our maps or directions, especially the names of towns and streets we may have been unable to locate for you. We will be sure to let our data suppliers know so they can review them for inclusion in their next update cycle.

Intersections should be entered as simply as possible, like "Main at Elm" or "Main and Elm." Using a slash (/) or dash (-) between the street names will not work ( e.g., "Main/Elm" or "Main-Elm"). Generally, a road name will work better than a route number.

Some common abbreviations that you'll find on our maps and in our directions include:

Hwy ? Highway
Fwy ? Freeway
HOV Ln ? High Occupancy Vehicle Lane
BR ? Business Route
BR ? Business Route
CR ? County Road
I-(94) ? Interstate

For the best results, click on the print button above the map. You can also use the print feature on your browser (under "File") to print a map or directions.

The page and grid reference numbers that are provided with our maps and driving directions can be used with the yellow-covered edition of the Road Atlas (United States, Canada and Mexico). To purchase a Road Atlas, click here.

Because of space and scale limitations, the Road Atlas does not show all of the towns that can be mapped on randmcnally.com. Even though you won't see the town in your Road Atlas, the grid section or detail map from your results page indicates the town's correct location.

Occasionally we are not able to complete the beginning or ending of a route because data is not available for smaller or local roads in some areas. We recommend that you check local sources or get our step-by-step maps to see how to navigate from your starting point to the beginning of our directions, or from the ending of our directions to your destination.

Latitude and longitude are used to express specific locations on Earth's surface. Lines of latitude (parallels) run east-west and measure the distance north or south of the equator (0? latitude). Lines of longitude (meridians) run north-south and measure the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian (0? longitude). The Prime Meridian is also known as the Greenwich Meridian because it passes through Greenwich, England. These measurements are used in maps, globes, and GPS software to provide precise location information.

Unfortunately we are no longer able to provide the free World Mapping Online feature. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Simply put, the locations selected when no address is entered are the ones determined to be the best starting and ending points for routing purposes. Often, but not always, the point is a city hall. In some cases, it may be a different point of reference with coordinates that best facillitate routing.

In general, the points are determined using data provided by NAVTEQ. For locations not in NAVTEQ's database, the coordinates usually come from Rand McNally's Domestic Names File (DNF). These sources provide reliable starting and ending points regardless of whether a specific address is entered.

Use a dash (8225-D) or no space (8225D) to indicate the residence number; if you leave a space between the number and the unit, the address might not be found.

You can get directions to U.S. National Parks by entering the name of the National Park (i.e. Yellowstone National Park or Yellowstone NP) into the "city" field along with the state in which it is located on the Driving Directions page. You can even include a specific entrance for the park (i.e. Yellowstone National Park - East Entrance). Unfortunately routing to Canadian National Parks by name is not available right now.

Road Explorers members need to sign into the website in order to delete addresses. Sign in, and then click on the "My Info" link at the very top of the page to the right of the Rand McNally logo box. On the "My Info" page, click on the "My Address Book" header, which takes you to a list of places and addresses currently in your Address Book. To the far right of each individual listing, you will see two links to either "Change" or "Delete" that address. Click on "Delete" to remove that address from your Address Book.

Road Explorers members need to sign into the website in order to delete saved road trips. Sign in, and click on the "My Info" link at the very top of the page to the right of the Rand McNally logo box. On the "My Info" page, click on the "My Saved Road Trips" header, which takes you to a list of trips currently saved in your account. To the far right of each trip, you will see two links to either "View/Change" or "Delete" that trip. Click on "Delete" to remove that trip from your "My Saved Road Trips" list.

Yes, you can enter latitude and longitude in both online maps & driving directions. Enter latitude first, using a coma to seperate latitude and longitude. All west longitude should be negative. (Example: 42.026135,-87.755317)

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