10 Of The Best Apps For Hikers & Runners

Fancy embarking on an adventure in the great outdoors? If you are an avid hiker or runner there are plenty of apps out there that can help make life easier. We’ve decided to put together 10 of the best we can find, to help ensure you get the most out of your next adventure, wherever it may take you.

Mountain Collector

Want to have a visual map of all the peaks nearby waiting to be climbed? This easy to use the app for hiking shows mountain climbers where the nearest mountains are, their location, routes and basic stats. If you have a few mountains in mind you can add them to your chosen location on one single map, so you have everything in one place. You can directly access information about the mountains, check out walking routes and any other information you need to know regarding accessing the mountains. After you have visited you can tick it off and keep it on your map as a record of all the routes you have completed. This is a real bonus, think of it as your own personal mountain scratch map!

Spyglass

Spyglass offers you an impressive complete GPS toolkit, which includes tracking features that have an incredible augmented reality picture making this the most visually impressive app we have included. But it’s not just good visuals, it also has a heads-up display, includes a compass with map overlays, a gyrocompass, speedometer, altimeter, astronomy finder, a sextant, an angular calculator, inclinometer and more.

All Trails

This app focuses on trails in North America. It features over 50,000 trails and is one of the most popular hiking apps boasting 3.5 million downloads. There is a free and paid version, with the free version allowing you to make up your own walking trails with GPS tracking, images, and text, you can also share them or save them to your account. If you want to pay for a membership version, you will be able to have a partnership with National Geographic Maps and will be able to edit your maps and print them off.

View Ranger

If you need help to plan your hikes, then View Ranger is the app for you. It allows you to navigate, record and share your hiking adventures with others. It has such an advanced GPS system it is even being used by some search and rescue teams! If you are based in the UK, you can also purchase high-quality maps for over 20 countries, they will be stored on your phone and are accessible even when you are offline.

Peak Finder

Have you just climbed an impressive mountain without knowing its name? Well, never again thanks to Peak Finder. Simply hold up your phone camera to the peak and you will learn all about it and its landscape. This app will also function offline so will always be at your fingertips.

Map My Hike

This app allows you to track your hikes, including the destination, the length, and the trail. You can also input your food to track your nutrition and see how many calories you have burnt. The app can be synced to a Fitbit or Apple watch so you can connect on the go. If you want to pay for the premium option, it also allows you to track your heart rake and gives personal fitness training plans.

Strava

This is the ideal app for any avid runner or mountain biker. This fitness app features handy social features and a leaderboard so you can challenge and compete with your friends. You can track your running speed, your distance and your progress, it also gives you challenges and achievements to target the further you progress. It’s also completely free! You can download this app on both the Apple and Android store, and you can use it with your Apple Watch.

What 3 Words

This is a safety app that will come in handy if you ever find yourself lost or injured in the wilderness. It works without a signal or internet. Every geographic coordinate location in the world is divided into three words, if you are lost and manage to contact help, you then tell them these three words so that the rescue team can discover your location. It is often used by emergency services and has helped save countless lives.

Weather Live

When you are out exploring the elements, it is essential to have a travel app and weather live is arguably one of the best. This app features a customized layout that allows you to search for live weather scenes that showcase the real weather conditions out there. You also have access to meteorological data, wind direction and speed, humidity, pressure and visibility, precipitation and even cloud and rain maps. If you are based in the USA it will also feature a handy weather radar which allows you to directly see what bad weather may be coming your way.

First Aid by Red Cross

You never know when you might get into trouble out there, so it’s important to be prepared for any eventually. This app from the Red Cross is tailored to your region. It provides you with pre-loaded instant information on how to tackle any everyday emergency including step by step advice, videos, and diagrams. It’s better to be safe than be sorry.

Written by Sarah McCann, Blog Editor at MyBaggage.com a luggage shipping service designed to take the time and stress out of traveling.