With the help of your phone you can easily eliminate some of the bulk from your pack by replacing maps, compasses and more with weightless apps on your phone. If only there was such a thing as virtual tents.
Below are five apps to improve your hiking adventures:
Map My Hike (Android)
Map My Hike is the perfect app for anyone or wants to track their hikes and learn a little more about their hiking habits. Having completed your hike you can access information such as your pace and calories burnt, this can be a great tall for those looking to improve or training for a much more challenging hike. You can even set yourself goals and track your progress. You can look back at maps from previous hikes and share your success with the rest of the Map My Hike community.
All Trails
All Trails comes ready with over 50,000 trails just waiting to be walked, with your guide right in your phone you’ll never get lost on a trail again. You can take photos and record notes along the way, making it a handy way to remember and share your hike with others. For those looking for a little more adventure, you can take off on your own hike and All Trails will record your journey using GPS, meaning you still have access to all of the great log features that come with the app. You can even share your custom route with other, so they can give it a try on their next hike.
View Ranger
View Ranger is the perfect companion on any hike, not just does it include an extensive range of hiking routes, designed for people of all abilities, but it also features augmented reality, Skyline. With Skyline all you have to do is point your phone’s camera and it will label mountain peaks, lakes and more. Never again will you have to look into the distance unsure of what that beautiful lake is called. View Ranger understands that hikers like to wander off the beaten track and sometimes this means no phone signal, you can easily save maps and all of the information that come with them so that you won’t find yourself lost halfway through a hike with a map that won’t reload.
Peak Finder AR (iOS, Android)
Peak finder is another app that using virtual reality to help hikers learn more about the highlights along their route. You simply point your camera at a scenic view and instantly an array of labels will pop up, helping you to learn more about what is right in front of you. Where Peak Finder stands out is the option to view the landscape from a technical drawing perspective, making it even easier to understand exactly what you are looking at. With Peak Finder a hike becomes more than just a physical exercise, it also becomes a learning experience. To make Peak Finder even better, you can download trails and areas, meaning that the app works perfectly while offline.
Maps 3D Pro (iOS)
Maps 3D Pro is a great app for anyone planning a hike, all maps are 3D because Maps 3D understands that mountains are not flat and that no hiking route is as straightforward as it looks on a 2D map. 3D maps allows you to easily see the elevation across your whole route, so there are no surprises. From within the app you can also access information about each route, such as distance and difficulty level of the trail. The app can be used to record your hikes, so that you can assess your average speed and other important stats, for anyone either training or just wanting to know a little more about their hiking habits.
