How to Pick the Best Hiking App For Your Weekend Adventure
So you’ve strapped on your hiking boots. What next?
If you’re anything like me, being trapped inside your house lately has made you go stir crazy. Maybe, like me, you’ve even poked around on Google looking for outdoorsy activities. And you’ve decided a hike would set you right.
When I tried this, I immediately hit a stumbling block: I didn’t know the best hiking app to use.
Outdoors in the wild, I did not want to rely on a map and compass to make my way around, especially in these trying times. Can you imagine snapping an ankle right now? But there were so many options to choose from that I was overwhelmed. Each one had different features, options. Some were free, some were wildly expensive.
To avoid the tyranny of choice which could have forced me to abandon my hiking plans altogether, I came up with a four-point plan that would give me the very best hiking app for my journey. The main points I cover are which apps actually have hikes near you, prioritizing the features that matter, keeping in mind your own level of ability, and finally deciding how much you’re willing to invest in your hiking app.
This is how I made my shortlist of apps and how I narrowed it down until finding the best hiking app for me.
In my case, this ended up being AllTrails — their features were what I was looking for, they were perfect for beginners, they had tons of hikes in my area, and I actually ended up shelling out for the paid version. But for you, there may be better hiking apps depending on what you’re looking for.
Here’s how you can find your hiking app.
1. Which hiking app has hikes in your area?
This is the easiest way to start putting a list together. By limiting your hiking app search to ones that actually have hikes near you, you can focus your search on ones that are viable right away.
I found the easiest way was to just google “hiking near me.” All apps that had hikes near me popped up to the top of the results — like AllTrails, Gaia GPS, TrailLink. It even gave me some local options like the “Discover Georgia Trails” app, which is a great option if you want to support local developers or want an app with a localized touch.
This is going to be the start of your hiking app shortlist. If you have another app in mind that doesn’t appear in your google search, make sure to check it for hikes near you.
2. What matters the most to you on your hike?
So you have your shortlist of apps. Next, you need to go through the suite of features each one comes with.
Instead of going through each one, decide upfront what matters to you.
For me, my number one concern was safety. I wanted to be able to access the map even without coverage, and I wanted to be able to see what other people had said about the trail.
The other thing I wanted was the ability to see if dogs could come. I like to bring my puppy places, but I know others are not always so keen.
So with those features in mind, I began to look. Having the most important features already picked out stops you from getting distracted by other flashy features you may not need. For example, Ramblr lets you upload photos and videos as you hike along your trail which seemed really cool — but they didn’t have the option to see if the hikes were dog-friendly.
Now you know which apps actually have hikes near you, and you know which ones cover the features that matter.
3. How serious is your hiking ability?
While I was terrified of losing my way in the wilderness, I wasn’t ready to go totally off-piste. I didn’t need an overpowered app that would allow me to hike Mt. Everest — I just needed a safe and easy user-friendly option for a novice hiker.
This is another instance where the “best hiking app” means something different to hikers of differing abilities. For example, the hiking app Spyglass includes a compass, a map overlay, a gyrocompass, speedometer, altimeter, a sextant, an inclinometer, and an angular calculator. I don’t even know what most of those tools are, let alone know how to use them to help me hike.
Maybe for those who want to navigate by the stars, this option would be good for them. For me, it was overwhelming and overpowered. By contrast, MapMyHike just looks like the Google Maps of hiking. You can easily see where you are, how much you’ve hiked, and can even look at speed and distance hiked. That’s all I want or need in a hiking app.
By keeping your ability level in mind when choosing the right hiking app, you can immediately prioritize the apps that will be helpful, and which ones will give you way too many features you won’t even know how to use.
4. Do you have a budget for hiking apps?
Hiking for most of us is free — you just rock up and start rambling around. But when it comes to apps, you almost always have the option to stay on the free version or upgrade to a paid version.
Even if you’ve already picked the hiking app you like best, it’s worth thinking if you want to pay for extra features. AllTrails, for instance, lets you download the map for offline service (which mattered a lot to me) and even tells you if you’ve veered off-route, which, as a novice hiker, seemed like a useful feature.
But equally, if you’re only planning on hiking for the spring, it may not make sense to invest. Consider if you have a budget and how much you’d be willing to spend and maybe even try one hike on the free version before committing to paying anything.
This fourth and final checkpoint leaves you with the best hiking app for you. It will have nearby hikes, the features that matter to you, catered to your personal hiking ability, and you know whether it’s worth it to spring for the paid version.
Hiking is one of the greatest outdoor pursuits there is. As someone who avoided hiking for a long time because I have a terrible sense of direction and was terrified to get lost, having a hiking app has made a world of difference to me. Now, I actually get outdoors and get to try hiking.
We’re very lucky to live in a time where not just one but a multitude of potential hiking aides exist to help you find and enjoy your ideal hike. The only problem is when you have too much to choose from — this can actually paralyze you and stop you from actually going out on your hike.
To avoid this, make sure you first eliminate the impossible options, keep what matters most to you front of mind, realize that there are different apps for beginners and expert hikers, and consider how much those options are worth to you financially.
The only thing left to do is go out and explore the world! Put on your hiking boots and find your peace outdoors.
