In our digital world, there are so many apps out there screaming for our attention, but which is the best suited to our specific interests? No two travel apps are created the same, so we looked at a few that the avid hiker might take great benefit from and this is what we came back with:
MapMyHike
MapMyHike could be a hiker’s new best friend with a dual purpose; it tracks and maps out your routes and hiking trails, but it also tells you how much energy you’re expending and keeps track from a training point of view. If you take hiking really seriously, then this is a great way to chart your progress as you can track your hiking performance and get statistics and feedback on how you’re doing, mile for mile.
You’ll receive feedback on:
- Your distance covered
- Pace you’re hiking at
- Length of time hiking
- How many calories you’ve burned
- What elevation you’ve hiked and more
Users can map their routes according to hikes they’re going to take, hikes they have taken and saved in the past or from routes that already exist in a choice of over 70 million options. Investigate nearby routes according to your location, save your own and also share them with friends. MapMyHike will help you find the best routes to hike in your vicinity and will help you stay motivated as you build up your fitness on each adventure.
Download it here or get more information:
SpyGlass
SpyGlass is one of those handy, all-in-one apps that can do the job of multiple individual items. Its primary function is a complete GPS navigational app and compass, but it also handles the task of a number of different outdoor tools. For hikers venturing quite far from civilisation, it’s an essential kit of things you might need, mixed with a little bit of “really cool to have”.
The GPS functionality means that it doesn’t require any kind of signal or connection to track your exact location. This is especially helpful on off-the-grid hikes and excursions where trails might not be as worn in as they used to be. There are innumerable benefits to having this handy app in your arsenal, including being able to:
- Tag and track any location, from a starting point to a meeting point, to a random tree that you want to revisit
- Track the movement of the sun, moon and stars
- You can even navigate by the sun, moon or stars
- View augmented reality maps of your surroundings based on GPS navigation
- Exact precision can be pinpointed with the gyrocompass, akin to what the army uses
- Track everything from locations in GPS coordinates, to altitude, to speeds
- Store all locations for later use or to retrace steps
- Set target locations that you can hike towards
- Measure distances, heights, and angles
- Take photographs with your phone’s camera and overlay them with all the data from the app
If you’re a true outdoorsy type, this is a great app to have in your back pocket and will offer as much fun as it does function.
Spyglass is unfortunately not available for Android at this point. Download Spyglass now on iOS.
Yonder
Exploring the great, wider Yonder is an experience best shared with others, and Yonder allows you to do just that. Yonder is its own social network, collecting a stream of exciting adventures from users all over the world and collating them in one easy-to-use app. The main aim of the app is to help intrepid explorers find their next adventure by going on the recommendations of others around them. It geolocates your exact position and tells you what adventures lurk around the corner from you. It can also give you insight into what hikes, trails, landmarks and monuments your friends have visited in your nearby vicinity.
Users can share photographs of their latest hikes and adventures, and can then form part of an even greater exploration into all the activity that others have posted in the same area.
There are loads of different ways to explore, including:
- By map or specified location
- Geolocating our own location and seeing what others have posted or done around you
- By following users and their feeds
- By following trending experiences
It’s more of an all-rounder app and not only for hikers looking for new hiking trails.
Download it now or get more information:
There are so many great apps to choose from but we think as a hiker, you could benefit immensely from the ones we’ve featured. Download them and let us know if you found them useful while out hiking.
