Select the two cities that you want to check the distance between. This could be your starting point and your ending point, or the starting point and the next closest large city along your route.
Obtain a road atlas and flip to the mileage chart, typically located in the map index. Larger atlases will have a larger mileage chart with more cities listed. Smaller atlases may have a only select number of major cites listed.
Locate the starting city at the left of the chart, and locate the ending city at the top of the chart. Follow the "starting city column: across the page, and follow the "ending city column" down the page until the two columns intersect. The point of intersection will have a box with the distance between the two cities.
