10 Free Apps To Plan Your Next Hiking, Camping, and Road Trip Adventure
Calling all outdoor enthusiasts! There are quite a few apps for outdoor trip planning that can be of great help to hikers, campers, and road trippers. That’s why we decided to share the FREE apps we use.
We honestly get so tired of paying for subscriptions on things we don’t actually need (can you relate?). We’re always looking for easy and free tools to help us plan our trips, and we wanted to share that knowledge with you.
How We Use These Apps
- For Navigation
- To Get Inspiration
- To Learn About an Area
Top Trip Planning Apps
1. AllTrails App
AllTrails has over 250,000 trails available to explore and is an awesome app for hiking.
When using AllTrails, search for trails by area, or search the app for a specific trail.
Community-shared trail reviews offer honest reviews, tips, and photos, making it one of the best trail apps. I love that you can save hikes while researching trails for future visits, too.
There is a free version to use as long as there is cell phone reception. When hiking with cell phone reception, hikers can follow the GPS map signified by the blue dot while using the app.
To download offline maps for use, a subscription is required. The subscription requires in app purchases. The subscription version allows the use of maps and GPS features when there is no cell reception.
AllTrails is really the best hiking app. It tends to have a wide variety of local trails, acts as a decent GPS, and is super easy to use.
2. The Hiking Project App
Created by REI, The Hiking Project App is one of the most popular hiking apps. You can get detailed information on over 250,000 trails.
Find a particular trail, get trail length details, a trail map, elevation gain, trail navigation, and tracking right at your fingertips.
The Hiking Project App is free of charge, even offline, making it another one of the best free hiking apps.
Be sure to bring a remote battery charger for your cell phone when hiking long distance trails, so the phone battery doesn’t die while you still need the map.
It is nice to have a phone GPS app when exploring the backcountry. A blue dot feature signals your GPS location when using the app.
We check both AllTrails and The Hiking Project to find hikes when we explore Oklahoma and Arkansas. Sometimes, the hikes are on one app but not the other. I think this is because we are going into really remote areas that don’t get much foot traffic.
3. Google Earth App
If you like seeing detailed topographic and satellite maps to plan where to hike, Google Earth offers a free version.
The app provides real-time reference points for more visual people. You’ll be able to see the roads to drive, nearby towns, mountains, canyons, or buildings close by.
It even lets you drop and save waypoints.
4. State Parks Apps
Check the state you are exploring to see if a state parks app is available. For example, living in Oklahoma, we use the Oklahoma State Parks App.
Local state park apps can provide map overviews, camping areas, trails, and more.
If you’re exploring Oklahoma, be sure to check out the Oklahoma State Parks App.
5. National Park Service App
If you’re visiting any of America’s National Parks, be sure to check out the information on the official National Park Service App, including hours of operation and location details.
The National Park Service App came out in 2020 and provides ample information to help folks plan their camping, hiking, and road trip adventures.
Search by state, area, a specific park, and more. There are interactive maps, information on tours, park amenities, and accessibility.
There are also options for offline use but the park(s) of choice needs to be downloaded ahead of time to use the offline feature.
6. Recreation.gov App
Find places to camp on federal lands with the Recreation.gov App. I love that you can reserve a camping spot ahead of time.
The app features campground maps, photos of campsites, cost per night, and amenities to make camping go smooth. I especially like that it shows if campgrounds have cell phone reception or not.
Living in Oklahoma, so many places we love to camp are right on lakes managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So, we use recreation.gov a lot to find camping spots right on the water.
Cell phone coverage is needed to use this app.
7. Campendium App – RV & Tent Camping
Campendium offers one of the most straightforward guides for finding free camping in the U.S. and Canada. And guess what — there is a free version (if you don’t mind ads).
Discover camping on BLM Land, in the national forests, and even Walmart parking lots.
8. Google Maps App
Google Maps is a must-have navigation app for any road trip. It gives easy directions, traffic updates, and estimated travel times.
We honestly never go anywhere without it, and as long as there is cell service, it is one of the most helpful apps for navigation.
9. The Weather Channel App
Being weather aware is so important for recreating outdoors.
The Weather Channel has a decent free app with radar and is pretty good for showing severe weather. This app provides the current forecast, 10-day forecast, and live doppler radar for free. It works as long as there is cell service.
Living in Oklahoma, we take severe weather warnings seriously.
10. State Tourism Apps
Is there a tourism board app for the state you are exploring? For example, in Oklahoma, TravelOK has an app for planning what to do, where to go, and what to see.
The TravelOK App offers mini road trip guides, places to eat, stay, and play. There is also a comprehensive map to explore by area and activity. For example, search for horseback riding, hiking routes, plan a backpacking trip, or mountain biking adventure.
Check to see if your state has a travel app.
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