Well, we all need a little dose of nature every now and then. What can be more soothing than a long hike to the mountains or a family trip to the woods? To be honest, hiking is one heck of
Ok, so you really want to go hiking but are unsure of how to find a trail, navigate or call for help if needed.
There are some pretty powerful apps available now that can help you with all the nitty-gritty details of planning a hiking adventure.
Since we are hiking fanatics, we have gathered some high utility Android and iOS apps that have come handy for all sort of outdoor adventures including hiking, camping, hunting, and backpacking. Since we really want you to pack your backs and go out hiking high up into the mountains or deep into the woods, we have tested all these apps for you, so you can stay safe and on-track.
A cell phone is not a full replacement for a GPS, paper map, compass or
So, let’s not waste any more time and move on to our top 10 best hiking apps that you should definitely check out before your next hiking trip!
No.1 MapMyHike
We haven’t placed this amazing app on top position for no reason. It’s a high utility app that doesn’t just track your hike, rather gives you a complete feedback for multiple health and fitness indicators including calories burned, distance covered, speed and a lot more metrics.
What we really love about MapMyHike is it’s fitness centered orientation. It has helped me to keep track of my activity during regular weekend hiking adventures. You can also easily record and share your hiking track and other metrics with friends. It also helps you find the most popular hiking tracks and local routes to traverse and compete. It’s freely available for base models, while the premium features are reserved for the paid version. Paying unlocks the real-time tracking feature along with a bunch of other amazing features.
To be precise, MapMyHike doesn’t overpromise for its capabilities. This is a hiking app that’s centered on health and fitness metrics and it does that like a boss! You can record all your hikes, performance indicators and insights that let you keep a close check of your fitness. There’s even an option to set personal goals and milestones. Though not as solid as some of the other apps that we will be detailing in the post below, MapMyHike does let you find some great hiking routes nearby, while you can share your track with other members as well.
Pros
✅ Great for nearby hiking adventures
✅ Fitness centred app
Cons
⚠️ Doesn’t have any large databases like many other apps
⚠️ Limited utility in terms of adventurous hiking trips
No.2 SPYGLASS
If we just talk about aesthetics and appearance and forget every other aspect for a moment, I don’t think there is another app that can come anyway near to Spyglass. It’s simply one of the coolest, neatest and most visually impressive navigation app that you’ll find online.
Coming on to the features and functionalities, I don’t want to disregard traditional GPS systems at all, but I have to admit that this amazing hiking app comes with most complete GPS features suite that you’ll ever need on a hiking trip. The app comes with an awesome interface, an all-powerful augmented reality view, and tracking features. There’s a highly reliable built-in compass along with gyrocompass, altimeter, inclinometer, speedometer, angular calculator and bunch of other super cool features that you can think of.
It’s a paid app that will cost you around $10 (very nominal) in the US. However, given that it comes with complete GPS kit, it is certainly one of the best and high-utility apps that can help you traverse anywhere across the world.
Pros
✅ The most complete GPS Toolkit you will find online
✅ A range of useful features
✅ Reliable navigation tools
✅ Augmented reality display
Cons
⚠️ Paid app
⚠️ The interface might not seem user-friendly to first-time users
No.3 Peakfinder
Here’s the app that will save the day for you and your partner when you’re tussling over the peak name; yeah I am pointing to the tussle that we talked about at the starting of the blog.
So, Peakfinder is basically your day saver when you are looking to hike on to the adventurous mountainous terrain. It comes in two different flavors one for the Alps and another for the Western USA. You can purchase and download the flavor where you intend to travel. The databases for the mountain ranges can easily be installed on your phone. This means you don’t need to worry about the remoteness of the place or internet connection and you will still be able to find the right peak.
The vector database has neatly rendered graphics with complete coordinates and height information for each peak. All you need to do is to point it towards the landscape and it will show all the peaks in surroundings with names. Tap a mountain peak and you’ll have the complete coordinates and height information. Moreover, it also offers a 360 panoramic view from the peak. So, while you might not have the strength to climb all the way up to the peak, you can still enjoy some breathtaking scenery and landscape from the peak of any mountain.
Pros
✅ Precise Accelerometer and Compass sensors
✅ The database is updated regularly
✅ Built-in binoculars to view hidden peaks
Cons
⚠️ There seem to be no cons of the app.
No.4 AllTrails
Peakfinder was all about finding the right peak, but not everyone is interested in finding the mountain names. So, if you are just a curious backpacker who likes to hike to remote mountainous tracks without bothering about the names of mountains that AllTrail is all you need.
This is a clean, user friendly app that offers a detailed library of tracks and trails for mountainous terrain. Apart from finding different trails in the surrounding mountains, the app also rates your hike as compared to other hikers. To expand the database and keep it up to date, there’s a review and feedback system where hikers can add observed data. Oh and AllTrails isn’t only for hikers or backpackers, it also offers a complete database for rock climbers, bikers and other outdoor adventure enthusiasts.
Overall, the app is nicely built with an organized database and precise navigation tools. Definitly handy for all sorts of outdoor activities including trail running, backpacking, rock climbing and the like.
Pros
✅ Easy to use clean interface
✅ Intuitive maps
✅ Great Navigation tools
Cons
⚠️ Limited database
⚠️ Depends on feedback from users to expand the database
No.5 Cairn
Cairn is yet another great outdoor utility app with the downloadable database, which means you can use them at remotest places without signals of connection concerns.
What makes it slightly more interesting than other hiking apps that we have talked about is the safety features. It offers real-time distance and GPS features, while also giving you safety information about the track you’re currently tracking.
Even better, the app lets you keep your family and friends updated with your track! You can inform them of a last minute change in plans and stay confident that your loved ones aren’t worried.
Pros
✅ Free of cost
✅ Easy to share your hiking plans with family and friends
✅ You can set starting and end goals
✅ Informs you of availability of signals from different carriers beforehand
Cons
⚠️ Not available for Android OS
No.6 Gaia GPS
Gaia GPS is one of the more comprehensive and detailed navigation and hiking app that’s available in the market. The app was first released back in 2009 and over the decade the developers have been able to update new information into the database, thus today it has one of the most detailed and precise databases available in the market.
The app lets you explore some of the best and most precisely written adventure guides shared by experts and in the literal sense serves as your virtual guide to explore the world. Topographic maps of some very famous adventures around the globe are available in the database. The database can be downloaded for offline view. Explore new databases online. There are no restrictions on how many maps you wish to download with no additional cost.
Pros
✅ One of the most customizable apps (colors, sounds, coordinates etc.)
✅ Accurate topographic maps
✅ Feature to record tracks and routes
✅ Sharing on social media
Cons
⚠️ Monthly subscription required
⚠️ Internet connection required for real-time topographic map access
No.7 Viewranger
Viewranger is your personal GPS handheld system. Use it as fully functional GPS to wonder the most remote places.
The best part about Viewranger is that it gives you all the functionality and features of a GPS at fraction of the cost and over the year of my experience with Viewranger, I haven’t found its preciseness anyway below par than those costly GPS systems. Even if you don’t have an internet connection, you can still continue to access the app just as any other GPS Unit.
Pros⚠️
✅ Free download
✅ Intuitive maps
✅ Access too topographical maps
✅ Route-tracking and navigation
Cons
⚠️ Topographic maps must be purchased
⚠️ Lacks Ski-specific functions
⚠️ Battery extensive app
No.8 SAS Survival Guide
This is one heck of an app! The app is a complete survival guide with tons of useful tips, tricks, and features that will help you survive even the remotest of places and harshest environments. Not to forget, this isn’t any fluff app or an amateur effort, but an utterly professional tool.
If you aren’t familiar with the name “SAS survival guide”, that’s the name of the bestselling survival guide by Lofty Wiseman and this hiking app comes with the complete book. So, basically, you can rely on this app for any situation you might encounter out of the safety net of society.
To make things more interesting, the apps have converted the most useful topics of the bestselling book into videos and illustrative guides that help you stay away from poisonous plants, what to eat and how to locate animal tracks.
And before you think that’s all the app has to offer, it surprises you with the Morse Code – yup the ultimate survival checklist that you will ever need. Oh, did we mention that the latest version of the app comes even with an urban survival guide? Do you need more than that?
Pros
✅ Loaded with survival information
✅ Life-saving tips
✅ Affordable
Cons
⚠️ We seriously can’t think of any limitation
No.9 Yonder
This is a free hiking app and offers tons of useful information to users. The app comes with 22 different activities with information of over 20k destination that you would love to hike around. Use this app to check out reviews and feedback from other users for specific routes. This will help you to be better prepared for your next hiking trip.
The app lets users’ marks their favorite trails and tracks as well as keep a record of them. To encourage users for feedbacks, the app let them like or comment on posts and share the content on social media as well.
Pros
✅ Incredibly easy to use interface
✅ Different outdoor activities
✅ Socialize with other hiking enthusiasts
✅ Add and share your records
Cons
⚠️ The database isn’t as huge as some of the other apps
⚠️ Lack of robust navigation tools and features
No.10 Maps 3D Pro
Map #D makes reading topographic maps and contour lines a piece of cake! The app comes equipped with everything you’ll need to understand and traverse in mountainous terrain. It take 2D and makes it 3D, includes robust navigation tools, and stats to track your goals.
The best part about the app is the way it projects the maps and let you view them in the 3D view, which make it so much easier for you to embrace the terrain and interpret the features like paths, trails, hills among others. You can plan, record, and share your routes and records as well as save as many maps as you want for offline navigation and viewing.
Pros
✅ Easy to use interface
✅ Great for 3D viewing of topographic maps
✅ Rich database
✅ Offline access
Cons
⚠️ Not available for Android platforms
Conclusion
There are tons of other exciting and high utility apps which you can download to make most of your hiking experience. One thing that all these apps share is to promote healthy lifestyle and encourage people to explore the untamed beauty of nature.
Though many apps are freely available for most platforms, however, for apps that costs money, you can download their free versions for trials before actually purchasing the full version.
So, what are you waiting for? Lookout for the best hiking app for your OS and get started for a healthy and pleasurable hiking adventure with friends or family.