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You can check the road surface, see the surrounding terrain, check for any signs or intersections or proximity to structures, etc. At the very least, you should

You can check the road surface, see the surrounding terrain, check for any signs or intersections or proximity to structures, etc. At the very least, you should zoom out enough to check that your path actually ends up going to your destination. If you don't have data access then Google Maps routing won't help much either. It all comes down to offline/hard maps, situational awareness, and basic wayfinding to get through these areas safely. EDIT: what are people disagreeing with here?

AlotOfReading 6y ago
Here's an example from El Malpais in NM: Streambed: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.991622,-108.0730561,94m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@34.991622,-108.0730561,94m/data... Lightly used dirt roads: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9927729,-108.076162,158m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9927729,-108.076162,158m/dat... As for the data issue, Google maps (by default?) caches the turn-by-turn directions when you start navigation. Spotty cell service isn't really a problem until you make a wrong turn.
- manigandham 6y ago
  Like I said, if you zoom out then you can clearly see the actual "Ice Caves" road #53 with lane markings, and a smaller "Ice Cave" dirt road that ends near that group of buildings. Everything after that is just dirt, no roads at all regardless of what Google says, which is my point. Zoom out, assess the terrain, look for markings, check for buildings, and compare paths to the destination. Unless you're visiting the bottom of the crater there, you shouldn't ever be going off that main highway. The map tiles should also cached (how else would it show you the turns?) but yes offline/paper maps are a must when going into unfamiliar areas.
  - AlotOfReading 6y ago
    The area is actually full of ice caves and native sites that Google will send you on those dirt roads to get to. Also, regardless of what preparations people ought to do, there's going to people who rely solely on one method without backups. It should be robust to that.
    - manigandham 6y ago
      That's why I said "the biggest problem is blind trust in the system."
  - thrashh 6y ago
    I’ve been on legit roads in the middle of nowhere and not seeing marking or roads doesn’t mean anything (western USA problems). That said I do think people should carry a $15 paper map booklet if they plan on venturing outside the city. I both have offline maps of the whole US and paper maps in my car, but I also do this a lot.

AlotOfReading 6y ago

Here's an example from El Malpais in NM: Streambed: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.991622,-108.0730561,94m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@34.991622,-108.0730561,94m/data... Lightly used dirt roads: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9927729,-108.076162,158m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9927729,-108.076162,158m/dat... As for the data issue, Google maps (by default?) caches the turn-by-turn directions when you start navigation. Spotty cell service isn't really a problem until you make a wrong turn.

manigandham 6y ago
Like I said, if you zoom out then you can clearly see the actual "Ice Caves" road #53 with lane markings, and a smaller "Ice Cave" dirt road that ends near that group of buildings. Everything after that is just dirt, no roads at all regardless of what Google says, which is my point. Zoom out, assess the terrain, look for markings, check for buildings, and compare paths to the destination. Unless you're visiting the bottom of the crater there, you shouldn't ever be going off that main highway. The map tiles should also cached (how else would it show you the turns?) but yes offline/paper maps are a must when going into unfamiliar areas.
- AlotOfReading 6y ago
  The area is actually full of ice caves and native sites that Google will send you on those dirt roads to get to. Also, regardless of what preparations people ought to do, there's going to people who rely solely on one method without backups. It should be robust to that.
  - manigandham 6y ago
    That's why I said "the biggest problem is blind trust in the system."
- thrashh 6y ago
  I’ve been on legit roads in the middle of nowhere and not seeing marking or roads doesn’t mean anything (western USA problems). That said I do think people should carry a $15 paper map booklet if they plan on venturing outside the city. I both have offline maps of the whole US and paper maps in my car, but I also do this a lot.