It’s the ideal time of year to get out and start hiking again. Whether it’s through long paths in the countryside, or scaling some increasingly high mountains, it’s all good fun and extremely satisfying. Besides remembering to take relevant equipment with you, it’s also a great idea to stockpile some useful hiking apps on your iPhone.
Here are 10 of the best options.
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1. Gaia GPS ($9.99) - Gaia GPS offers an encyclopaedic style wealth of maps. That includes the best government topographical maps for the U.S. and Canada, as well as worldwide road, aerial and topographical maps. You can easily record your tracks and waypoints, as well as take geotagged photos. Apple Watch functionality means you don't have to pull out your iPhone all the time, too.
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2. Trail Tracker GPS (Free) - Tracking your entire trip, whether you're running, hiking, cycling or even driving, Trail Tracker GPS is ideal for checking your progress and other statistics. You can easily send your coordinates for assistance, in case of emergency, plus there are extensive terrain maps and floor plans. There's even a way of competing with yourself for those who regularly follow the same route.
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3. Trails (Free) - Free to download and enjoy online maps, Trails also offers an inexpensive yearly subscription to ensure you have offline topographic maps. The app records your GPS track along with various statistics such as the altitude involved, ascent/descent, speed, pace and duration. You can connect it to other Bluetooth devices such as heart rate monitors too in order to see just how your fitness levels are increasing.
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4. AllTrails (Free) - Offering over 50,000 trails across North America, AllTrails prides itself on having curated trail info to ensure it's always up to date and relevant. You can divide them up according to trail length, rating, and difficulty. Options are also available for finding dog-friendly, kid-friendly, or wheelchair-friendly trails. Driving instructions are also provided for you to get to the start of the trail easily enough.
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5. Terra Map (Free) - Terra Map promises to offer enhanced battery life, meaning it'll help you along the way for up to 14 hours of tracking. You can view topographical maps for the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It offers elevation contours, a way in which to share markers with friends via social networks, and keeps an eye on your speed.
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6. Summit Seeker ($0.99) - Got an ambition to reach the highest point of elevation in all 50 states? Summit Seeker will help you keep track of that, while being able to learn more about each peak. You can easily use it to view your current GPS location, as well as send photos of where you are to friends and family. Check-ins are easily arranged, too.
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7. Yonder (Free) - A kind of journaling app for hikers, Yonder makes it simple to share your explorations with others. You can look up other hikes, view images and videos, as well as share comments on how things went. Over 20,000 destinations are catered for here, across 25 different types of activity. It's ideal for collecting up your precious memories.
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8. Army Survival Guide ($1.99) - Hopefully you won't need any advice from this app, but it's worth having just in case. Army Survival Guide includes information on basic survival medicine, how to create a shelter, finding water, and how to deal with dangerous animals. A comprehensive section also deals with how to spot a poisonous plant. It's vital, because you never know what could happen.
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9. Map My Hike (Free) - Map My Hike is an app focused on giving you a way of logging over 600 types of workouts, including hiking. You can use it to keep track of every step of the way, with the GPS keeping an eye on your pace, route, distance and elevation. It'll easily hook up to many other tools too, such as Jawbone, Fitbit and Garmin devices.
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10. Ramblr (Free) - Ramblr has you creating a story out of your hiking adventure. As you track your route through the app, you can add videos, pictures, audio, and text descriptions of how you're feeling as you progress. Bundling in statistics and extensive map tracking means your whole adventure has successfully been stored away to look back at on a rainy day. There's Facebook and Twitter integration, too.