Hiking Project provides and extensive library of hiking trails that are downloadable for offline use. Best of all, there is no paid subscription. Hiking Project is completely free, so you won’t be bothered by requests to upgrade. With the Hiking Project app you can locate trails throughout the United States and see information about trail difficulty, location, and distance. Trail routes are also displayed so you can have confidence you’re following the correct trail.
Offline Maps
When connected to the internet, or mobile data, both satellite and terrain style base maps are available. In the Hiking Project app you can download trail information for individual states. Downloaded trails are accessible even when there is not internet or data collection. Downloading trail information lets you take Hiking Project into the backcountry and use it for you off-grid navigation. The downloaded maps are small in file size so you can easily store multiple states on your device. However, base maps are not automatically downloaded. There is not a reliable way to download Hiking Project’s base maps, but one work around is described in the next paragraph.
Offline base maps can be obtained by zooming to an area you want to hike before you close the app. The base map will be stored in the app’s cached memory and should be available for you when you lose data coverage.
Location Tracking
Hiking project makes it easy to track your hikes. Simply hit the record button, and your movements will be recorded. When you’re finished with your hike you can save the route you followed for future reference, or delete it. If saved, the route is saved to your device and synced to your Hiking Project account so that you have both online and offline access.
Tracking is the only way you can record data. There are no options to add waypoints or other points of interest.
Conclusion
The Hiking Project app has accurate information on a huge number of trails. Trails can be downloaded for offline use, and you can track your movements to revisit your favorite hikes again. It’s completely free with no paid subscriptions, which is a refreshing change of pace. The app is lacking in some of the offline capabilities with no reliable way to download base maps. There is also no functionality to record waypoints. Overall, the free Hiking Project app is a better value than the free tiers of most freemium offerings. This is a great navigation app to start with for free, but you will need to upgrade to a paid service for more functionality. For a free app, Hiking Project gets four stars. If were a paid app it would get two stars.
