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Hiking is a great hobby for everyone who loves walks. You can enjoy picturesque landscapes, breathe freely, and work out well. There are plenty of benefits of hiking, especially if you use good software to make your journey safe and exciting. 

So let’s thank modern technologies for having a better experience with hiking. With the achievements of desktop application development services, we are able to find the best places, the safest routes, the most fantastic views, etc. There are many benefits of using hiking apps, just choose the best for you. 

What is the best hiking software 

The perfect options for every individual depend on his or her needs. There are great solutions for sharing unique trails, navigating in certain locations, selecting the perfect routes, etc. As a result, there are different types of hiking software. 

Let’s find out the main advantages and disadvantages of such appreciation. It will help you to pick up the most suitable software and enjoy its benefits to develop the best experience in hiking. 

Google Maps

Yes, you may already know that software. And you may have been using it for a while. But be sure you don’t know all the useful opportunities of this great application. 

Compared to many other hiking apps free, Google Maps offers us an opportunity to download maps offline. Thanks to doing this beforehand, you’ll be sure of tracking your location without issues even if there would be no proper Internet connection. 

AllTrails

This application is in high demand, and there is no need to explain why. More than 20 million users have downloaded and installed it. AllTrails suits its title: that software includes more than 100,000 trails and makes users easily find the best trails in the world. 

The app ranges trails by different indexes. Among them are user ratings, complexity, length, duration, elevation rate, and so on. There is also an opportunity to track options by specific tags, for instance, trails for dog owners, etc. 

AllTrails is a free trail app. But if you want to have extended tools you may like to try a professional version. It costs $29.99 per year. 

Hiking project 

This app is the perfect free alternative to AllTrails. It includes pretty similar features and can be a great inspiration. Just select hikes by criterion you like. It could be a region, particularities, popularity, etc. 

If you want to find out extra information about the exact hike you should read the details in the description. Thanks to analyzing its particularities beforehand, you can imagine what awaits you on your future trip. 

Seek by iNaturalist

How many interesting plants are outside, especially when nature surrounds you! It would be great to have not only offline trail maps but also a full encyclopedia of flora and fauna. Now you can have it! Thanks to developers from the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographics, we have an opportunity to detect any plant just by taking a photo of it. 

This application can identify animals and plans, find information, and provide you with it. Just make a photo with your camera, add your location, and this software will give you all the answers. 

Gaia GPS

If you want to use the proper navigation tool then this is the perfect match. Gaia GPS is a well-known application for newbies and experienced hiking lovers. 

This software belongs to the best hiking apps because it has plenty of useful features. For instance, you can search for new trails, build your route, analyze your statistics. Besides these must-have opportunities, it also tells a current forecast, helps to find the nearest camping, and so on. 

Gaia GPS is free software. You can enjoy its most requested features for free. But if you need extended features like offline maps, mountain biking maps, etc. you really need a professional version. It requires a $39.99 fee and definitely costs every cent. 

National Park Service App

This is an absolutely free trail map app with versatile features. If you love walking in parks and want to enjoy hiking everywhere then you need it. The National Park Service App contains information about 423 units including 63 American national parks. 

Here is what you can find on this application:

– the perfect hikes in these parks with distance and duration time;

– interesting tours for tourists;

– good places to stay, etc. 

It’s a great opportunity to explore the exact park before you visit it in real life. With extra tools like offline maps, you can deal with any challenge. 

SkyView Lite

Hiking isn’t only about trails. For all those people who adore the sky and stars, here is the best app ever. SkyView does what you expect and even more. It is created to make a night sky more exciting and informative by identifying stars and planets. 

SkyView Lite is based on a high-quality compass that is capable of detecting astronomical objects. With GPS technology, it can identify stars and planets in several seconds. Besides identification, this software also includes very useful and unique features. For instance, you can set notifications for special events like a meteor shower. 

You can download the Lite version for free. If you want to get useful extensions like a widget for smartphones then purchase a full version. It costs just a $1.99 fee (one-time only). 

All the mentioned above hiking tracker apps are available for Apple devices and Android-based gadgets. Feel free to select those applications you like and improve your hiking experience!