These Apps Will Help Keep You From Getting Lost in the Outdoors

Ah, the great outdoors. The flora, the fauna, the welcome mystery of the open trail stretched before you. You’ve left it all behind (no cell service, no problems!) until … Wait. Where’s the map? Did you mean to turn left back there? What direction is the campsite anyway? Is it starting to get dark? Don’t lose yourself out there.

Every outdoor explorer needs AllTrails on their phone. The app catalogs over 75,000 trails across the United States and Canada, with handy filters to search trails by skill level, accessibility, or dog-friendliness.

Designed for backpackers, Gaia offers topographical and satellite maps for any kind of outdoor adventure. Whether you’re on a day hike, a mountain biking trip, a hunting excursion, or deep in the backcountry, the app is built to get you where you’re going safely and with as much information as possible.

The topographic maps made by the United States Geological Survey are the gold standard for finding your way through rugged terrain. Topo Maps+ digitizes those maps for over 500,000 trails.

The offline mapping data on Google Maps won’t work for the serious backpacker, but a cheapskate on a leisurely hike, there are worse options. Enable the topographic map layer to see more detail in the areas between landmarks, then download the map of your hiking area for offline viewing.

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