Years ago we would depend on physical maps and a compass to plot routes and figure out trails.

If you were old school in nature, you’d love this primitive idea of back to basics and using what has always been used before.

However, you got to admit that depending on physical maps as your sole means of navigation can be problematic, as you may be left stranded without any means of reliable navigation if your phone runs out of battery.

In today’s day and age, there’s a gamut of apps that runs across a variety of different systems, some are crowd-sourced data and some are exploratory routes based on GPS location that give you a range of access to trails you have never thought is made for hiking.

I’ll share with you the best hiking apps that can be used across any hiking trails that have known to be the topmost favourites regardless of whether you’re an iOS or Android user.

In 2024, the best hiking apps if you need to have one:

In short, if you need to zero-down on the best hiking apps, here are the best ones to have on your list.

Best Free Hiking App: Organic Maps & Hiiker
Best Beginner-friendly Hiking Map: AllTrails
For More Features: Gaia GPS
For cycling & hiking: Komoot

What Features To Look For In Hiking Apps?

If you want a complete walkthrough in wilderness navigation, it would be good to know some of the key elements that you should be looking for in hiking apps

GPS Tracking & Navigation: This is the most important aspect and the bare minimum that any hiking apps should provide. Without GPS tracking, you wouldn’t know where your starting point and endpoint is.
Offline maps: This is a key feature especially when data is not available in the mountains and you’d want that offline and downloadable feature so you can save the maps for reference.
Topographic features: Topographic features are actually a pretty cool feature and allows you to plan your routes, travel time and also display three-dimensional views of mountains, valleys and rivers.
Vital stats: Information such as duration, total distance, ascent, descent and your highest and lowest point are all important info that these apps should cover at the very most.

My go-to and recommended one has always been AllTrails!

The Best Hiking Apps For Trails

1. AllTrails (Absolutely recommended!)

This is the holy grail of hiking apps. AllTrails have 200,000 trails with trail info, maps, detailed reviews, and photos curated by millions of hikers, campers, and nature lovers. The best part of the app is that the service allows users to access a database of trail maps, which includes crowdsourced reviews and images.

Some of their key features include maps, descriptions, difficulty level and useful attributes such as whether the trail is dog-friendly, family-friendly as well as weather forecast.

AllTrails is an amazing tool to plan your hikes and gives you the confidence to discover and hike trails that you would have never attempted otherwise.

The app is free for basic level features and the PRO version is priced at $29.99 per year which comes with features like offline maps, 3D viewing map and notification if you have lost your way.

Best for backcountry hikes
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free & Paid (($29.99/year)

2. Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS app is one of the most robust maps system built for hikers. If you love plotting routes and dealing with backpacking map layers as opposed to the free version on most apps, then this serves as an all-rounder on its own.

You can also create your own tracks, leave reviews, and contribute to the community-sourced hike database. What’s great you can view your route using comprehensive topo maps and backpacking map layers, plus up-to-date weather forecast overlays.

The great thing about it is its intelligent routing tools to plan trips, mark campsites and points of interest, and measure distance, altitude, and elevation change.

It is also the preferred map used by many outdoor professionals in the industry. Guides can mark routes, campsites, and water sources, and share hard-to-find approaches and descents which makes it highly incomparable to other apps out there.

The free version is as basic as it gets - you won't be able to download maps for offline use. With the paid version, you can download a worldwide catalogue of topo, road, and satellite maps.

Best for serious technical hikers
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free & Paid ($39.99/year)

3. HiiKER

Lately I have discovered a new hiking app and it is called Hiiker — I was impressed by how easy it was to load a GPX file and use it.

If you are planning for a last minute hiking trip, this is the best Hiking app that’s free and easy to use.

HiiKER helps you to find 1000s of the best backpacking and hiking adventures, with reviews, photos, and great places to stay.

You can also plan a trail pretty easily and allows for great navigation route without all the belts and whistles

Best for newbie hikers who want to load their GPX files
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

4. OsmAnd — Maps & GPS Offline

The most comprehensive mapping system that is submitted by users for people who need access to wide range of trails that works in the back country and also on the road.

If you’re a little bit technical, OsmAnd may work for you. The interface is a bit daunting and takes a bit of practice or research to understand, but the online documentation for OSMAnd is wonderful and after that the learning curve it's an incredibly powerful tool.

Best for people well-versed with maps
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

5. Komoot

If you’re looking for versatility, Komoot takes an inch further in the outdoors adventure app market by allowing people to plan out your ride, run or hikes. The app has a nicely laid out elements where you can track your story and pin it as “highlights” and build your personal adventure log for others to see.

The fact that you can sync it with other devices on your route is also a win! Komoot automatically syncs your routes, tracks and photos across all devices, including your smartphone, desktop, tablet and Android Wear.

Best for route sharing and “social” features
Works with iOS, Android, web, Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, Wahoo, Garmin
Price: Free & Paid ($29.99 one time fee)

6. Windy Maps

This is perhaps one of the best free hiking apps out there for people who don’t really want to spend a lot of money. Windy Maps advantage is that it works great offline. Just download a map of your country or a region to your phone.

An inseparable part of the app is the function My Maps, where you can save your places and routes in folders according to your trips. It was officially a weather app and now also offering the convenience of maps for outdoor lovers.

Best for easy offline hiking maps
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

7. Organic Maps (Maps.Me for hikers essentially)

This is one of the best free hiking maps out there that was recently released — Organic Maps is a community-developed, privacy-focused and offline navigation app.

The app features no location tracking and no data collection. You can install the Organic Maps, download maps, throw away your SIM card, and go for a weeklong trip on a single battery charge without any byte sent to the network.

It uses extremely accurate data from the OpenStreetMap community. It has turn by turn voice navigation that supports walking, cycling, driving, and public transportation networks in various regions.

The fact that there is an element of travel in the app, this is great for those who want to plan city hikes and also use it for city riding and navigation as well.

Best for urban hikers
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

8. Cairn

If safety was a huge issue for you when you’re out hiking on your solo adventures, Cairn can actually be a lifesaver! It is built for the worried hiker in mind who wants that added peace of mind.

Cairn automatically alerts your safety circle if you’re overdue and communicates important details, like where you’re headed and when you intend to return. You’ll also know your estimate time arrival — their proprietary algorithm uses your speed, trail distance and elevation change to calculate your ETA.

It also is super user-friendly without too much going on. You can easily share your plans with loved ones, find spots with cell coverage, download offline topo maps, stats on your route, and record your hiking trail.

Best for the cautious hiker and solo hiker!
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free & Paid ($26.99/year)

Other Notable and Useful Hiking Apps

9. PeakVisor

Not all maps are made for navigation, there are some who inspire you to see more than one million peaks at one go. PeakVisor is easily the superhero of outdoor navigation tools out there — by putting state-of-the-art 3D maps and mountain identification magic wand in your hand.

PeakVisor uses your phone’s camera and augmented reality (AR) technology to display names and elevation of nearby peaks. Cutting edge technology with high-precision terrain modeling allows simple, yet effective insight into the landscape of the mountains.

Before going on your trips, you can even use the teleport feature to see the layout of the area. You can see relatively detailed images that give you a good idea of how your path will look from each position, so it’s useful for backcountry treks where the trails are not readily available.

Internet connection is not a prerequisite for the PeakVisor app. All the data is downloadable and ready for use no matter where you are or what altitude you might be at.

Best for the avid mountaineers
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free & Paid ($29.99/year)

10. Hiking Project

You’re visiting a new country and you have no idea what trails are around. The Hiking Project works intuitively in your favour and helps you find new trails when you're visiting an area for the first time.

It works as a guidebook without the clunky map-heavy settings in other apps. Worked to the thoroughness of a printed map, Hiking Project offers full GPS route info, elevation profiles, interactive features, photos, and more.

Created by and for hikers and runners, its detailed trail guides (full of photos, terrain data, and offline maps) to help you get the most out of familiar paths.

Best for the visual hikers
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

11. SpyGlass

A modern-day compass combined with a GPS navigation system, SpyGlass is one of those slick apps that intertwines maps with an augmented reality digital compass.

Packed with features to the brim, it also serves as binoculars, heads-up display, hi-tech compass with offline maps, gyrocompass, GPS receiver, waypoint tracker, speedometer, altimeter, Sun, Moon and Polaris star finder, gyro horizon, rangefinder, sextant, inclinometer, angular calculator and camera (phew! that’s a lot for an app!)

Now the cool thing about it is that you can even track positions of stars, Sun and Moon with arc second precision – and use them as a reference to calibrate compass for maximum accuracy.

Best for the geeky hiker who wants a compass!
Works with iOS, Android
Price: Free & Paid ($5.99/year)

12. Guthook Guides

If you’re a thru-hiker and on an expedition to go on a long-distance trail you know you need all your basics sorted and that goes beyond getting from point A to B.

Being able to plan out your day with accurate up to date information makes it possible to push all the way until dark and not worry about water or a flat spot to camp. There’s proper waypoint data plotted on the main trail, approach trails, and side trails. You can also find out all your water sources, shelters, camp sites, road crossings, trailheads, viewpoints, peaks, and much more.

If you need to know town details including accommodation, restaurants, resupply, laundry, other services, historical sites, this app figures all of that for you.

Best for thru-hikers!
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free & Paid (trail maps cost start at $8.99 per section)

13. iNaturalist

Imagine a social network for naturalist and aspiring plant parent — that’s iNaturalist for you! There are many times when I have no idea what plant species I am looking at when on-trail. iNaturalist breaks it down for you and helps you identify the plants and animals around you.

What's more, by recording and sharing your observations, you'll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. The app is also a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.

You can even follow projects comprised of smaller communities and fellow citizen scientists passionate about a particular place and/or species.

Best for naturalists!
Works with iOS, Android, web
Price: Free

14. Night Sky

Camped above the stars and you find yourself wondering what are those constellations and what’s beyond in the horizon. The Night Sky app is like a planetarium in your pocket which makes it easy to discover the wonders of space whenever you’re hiking.

Day or night, just aim your device skyward to see a live 3D map of the heavens, complete with beautifully illustrated constellations, stars, planets, and satellites. A special night mode helps you read the map in the dark, while integrated weather reports show the best times for stargazing. You can even have notifications alert you to future astronomical events.

Best for stargazers and night hikers!
Works with iOS
Price: Free & Paid ($29.99/year)

Share with me the comments below which hiking apps you’ve explored and worked best for you on trails.

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Here are the best paid and free hiking apps that can be used across any hiking trails regardless of whether you’re an iOS or Android user.

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14 Best Hiking Apps For Trails in 2024 (Free & Paid)