Part 3 of our handy smartphone apps saga: This time, sweet apps for hikers.
To be sure, smartphones aren't listed among The Ten Essentials. But app developers appear to be trying their darndest to mimic your hiking must-haves. There now are mucho apps eager to provide the basics (trail navigation, first aid reference, etc.).
But remember, your phone is still only as smart as its battery life or the nearest cell tower (an obvious concern for off-the-grid hikers). Solar chargers can help up smartphone reliability. But for navigation, your only fail-safes in the backcountry are satellite-based GPS technology backed by a traditional map and compass—and your ability to use them.
With that in mind, here are a few worthy apps to bust out at the trailhead.
Peak.ar is an Apple/Android tool, developed by Austria's Salzburg Research Institute, that schools hikers on nearby mountains. Simply capture the skyline in the viewfinder and the app's worldwide database will label the names and relative heights of the mountains ahead. Bonus: The program syncs with Google Maps for a map view of neighboring peaks. Great for hiking through new mountains or boosting your kids' excitement about yonder peaks!
Price: Free
Park Maps brings you 250+ maps of national parks, monuments and recreational spots via GPS. My heart did a mini-somersault at the sight of this Apple app's high-resolution maps (crisp maps aren't a given in the app world). Extra perks: You can study each map in portrait or landscape styles and download them to zap worries about Internet connection.
Price: $0.99
MotionX GPS is Apple's reigning cool kid in outdoor circles. This popular GPS-enabled app tracks your position, speed and more on street, topographic or satellite maps. It helps guide you back to the trailhead, geotags photos and shares your location in real time with friends and family. It even syncs with your music library to set your hike to music. Clearly, I'm not the only one with a crush, though. This little dynamo won About.com's 2011 Readers' Choice Award for Best Outdoor/Hiking App.
Price: $2.99
myTracks is a handy app for performance-driven hikers. This Android program works with Google Maps to help you plot your hike in advance. Once you're on the trail, just press "start" and your screen will display live stats of your speed, distance, location and elevation. Easy sharing post-hike lets you follow through on bragging rights, too.
Price: Free
Kinomap Maker is Apple/Android heaven for geotagging adventurers. Its GPS muscle and photo/video capability let you shoot a personalized record of your trek. And half the fun is uploading your tracks to the Kinomap's community website, a user-friendly platform for sharing to your Facebook page or blog.
Price: Free
Want more app suggestions? Our previous blog posts for general outdoor use and camping are chock-full of apps that will fit in nicely on most hikes, too.
Do you have a favorite hiking app that's not on the list? Do share.
To be sure, smartphones aren't listed among The Ten Essentials. But app developers appear to be trying their darndest to mimic your hiking must-haves. There now are mucho apps eager to provide the basics (trail navigation, first aid reference, etc.).
But remember, your phone is still only as smart as its battery life or the nearest cell tower (an obvious concern for off-the-grid hikers). Solar chargers can help up smartphone reliability. But for navigation, your only fail-safes in the backcountry are satellite-based GPS technology backed by a traditional map and compass—and your ability to use them.
With that in mind, here are a few worthy apps to bust out at the trailhead.
Peak.ar is an Apple/Android tool, developed by Austria's Salzburg Research Institute, that schools hikers on nearby mountains. Simply capture the skyline in the viewfinder and the app's worldwide database will label the names and relative heights of the mountains ahead. Bonus: The program syncs with Google Maps for a map view of neighboring peaks. Great for hiking through new mountains or boosting your kids' excitement about yonder peaks!Price: Free
Park Maps brings you 250+ maps of national parks, monuments and recreational spots via GPS. My heart did a mini-somersault at the sight of this Apple app's high-resolution maps (crisp maps aren't a given in the app world). Extra perks: You can study each map in portrait or landscape styles and download them to zap worries about Internet connection.
Price: $0.99
MotionX GPS is Apple's reigning cool kid in outdoor circles. This popular GPS-enabled app tracks your position, speed and more on street, topographic or satellite maps. It helps guide you back to the trailhead, geotags photos and shares your location in real time with friends and family. It even syncs with your music library to set your hike to music. Clearly, I'm not the only one with a crush, though. This little dynamo won About.com's 2011 Readers' Choice Award for Best Outdoor/Hiking App.Price: $2.99
myTracks is a handy app for performance-driven hikers. This Android program works with Google Maps to help you plot your hike in advance. Once you're on the trail, just press "start" and your screen will display live stats of your speed, distance, location and elevation. Easy sharing post-hike lets you follow through on bragging rights, too.
Price: Free
Kinomap Maker is Apple/Android heaven for geotagging adventurers. Its GPS muscle and photo/video capability let you shoot a personalized record of your trek. And half the fun is uploading your tracks to the Kinomap's community website, a user-friendly platform for sharing to your Facebook page or blog. Price: Free
Want more app suggestions? Our previous blog posts for general outdoor use and camping are chock-full of apps that will fit in nicely on most hikes, too.
Do you have a favorite hiking app that's not on the list? Do share.
Ratings and Comments
If you're on Android you must try BackCountry Navigator. I've tested several GPS apps, including MyTracks, and BCN is by far the best hiker's choice for Android Apps. Makes it a cinch to download maps (street, topo, satellite, etc.) for offline use while hiking. Also has a nice interface for recording your track while hiking. The developer is also active with updates and new features. Definitely recommend!
AccuTerra is a sweet iOS for download maps and accessing them while you're offline. So cool.
Hey, does anyone know how to turn off the "phone" part of their smartphone and just use the GPS part while out in the wilds? It sucks the battery in no time where there aren't any towers. How does one prolong the battery use?
Airplane mode will disable voice and data. GPS should still work ware the phone only needs to receive a signal (at least mine does). Disabling data will stop apps from using background data which will prolong battery life. If apps your not using are still draining the battery you can stop them individually.
Airplane mode will disable voice and data. GPS should still work ware the phone only needs to receive a signal (at least mine does). Disabling data will stop apps from using background data which will prolong battery life. If apps your not using are still draining the battery you can stop them individually.
Another good Android app is GPS Essentials. Turns your smartphone into a very "full-featured" GPS unit.
Arkansas State Parks has a great app for Apple/Android that helps you find different types of trails in the state park system giving you directions to the trailheads and parks. Pretty cool: http://www.ArkansasStateParks.com/mobileapp Another reason Arkansas is called "The Natural State."
Great article. I found this charger to be very powerful and pocket sized at the same time. I hope REI begins carrying this www.PortableSolarPower.Biz its called the pocket panel, check it out.
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