My Favorite App for Hiking
This month's Not Just a Mom link up is all about our favorite phone apps. I did a blog post on that last year (which you can read here). Since not much has changed-- honestly I don't think I have a single new app-- I thought today I'd go into more detail about the one app that everyone seemed to have questions about: AllTrails.
I love the AllTrails app and use it all the time. There is an option to have paid access to the app that allows you to do even more but I just use the free version.
If we're looking for a new place to hike we just type in the area we're looking in... like when we went to Niagara falls.
When you click on the hike you are interested in you can find out a lot more about the trail; how long it is, what other app users think of the trail, how to find the trail head and where to park, etc.
Scroll through to the bottom and you can see there is a map of the trail-- shown by a red line.
You can click on the map for more details; and when you are ready to start hiking you show up as a blue dot ON the trail. I have zoomed in many times to make sure we are staying on track and not going off trail. I love that we can also see how much we have left to hike when we're hiking a new trail we aren't familiar with.
One of my favorite features though is that if there are other hiking trails in the area they show up as dotted lines. I fully admit that once or twice we have used this to find shortcuts when a trail is taking much longer to hike than we had planned!
Linking up with:
sounds like an excellent app for hiking - great post! #MMBC
ReplyDeleteIt has helped stop us from getting lost at least a time or two.
DeleteI've already downloaded this and I'm so looking forward to using it! Thanks so much for sharing about it!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I hope you like it.
DeleteWhat a useful app!! We’ll definitely have to use it next time we go hiking!!
ReplyDeleteIt really is so handy to have.
DeleteI think Mr. Nine has this for when we hike in Michigan. It’s awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt really is! I have found so many hikes I didn't even know about using it.
DeleteI use AllTrails to find hikes around me - so great when the trails aren't blazed well!
ReplyDeleteYes! Exactly.
DeleteThat sounds like a great app! I don't like to use my phone when hiking - it's the time to get away from it - but google maps has rescued us a few times! #MMBC
ReplyDeleteI try not to use my phone when hiking either (other than to take photos) but this app has saved us at least once when we were walking over 30 minutes in the wrong direction.
DeleteThis is SO COOL Joanne- you got me all excited with this one- wish we had it when we went to Niagara a few years back- might have to go back just to use this ;)
ReplyDeleteYou just might! LOL.
DeleteI use this app too, it's great!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is.
DeleteI love using AllTrails to find new hikes! Also, I love all the additional info it provides -- if dogs are allowed, how many miles, if it's heavily trafficked, etc.
ReplyDeleteYes! We once skipped a spring hike after reading 3 current reviews that told us how awful the mosquitoes were. We went in the summer instead and didn't have to worry about it at all.
DeleteI am going to try this app. We have trails all around us, but this winter it was kind of hard because some weren't accessible because we got so much ice and snow this year. I will love using this all year!
ReplyDeleteOh good! I hope you love it.
DeleteYes, we love this too. It came in so handy this year when hikes were our main source of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteYes, it helped us find quite a few new ones this year.
DeleteThat is a really cool app!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is.
DeleteThis app is so helpful! I love reading other hikers reviews on it when it's a new place and always take a screen shot of the maps too - just in case.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is great to know what to expect before starting out.
DeleteWhat a perfect app for hiking! My husband has one he uses. I will have to see if it's this one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it is...
Deletethere is literally an app for everything
ReplyDeleteThere sure is!
DeleteI have used the website All Trails. I didn't know they had an app. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteI didn't know All Trails had an app!! I love All Trails and we use it all the time! Looks like I have another app to download now :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteHow did I not know about this app before? I love it! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely download it.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteAll Trails will be perfect for our travel hikes. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDelete