Hikers recently rescued from an extremely challenging trail in B.C. had planned their trip using Google Maps, prompting a warning about the perils of relying on that platform in the backcountry.
I hike a lot and use Organic Maps, which is a front end for OpenStreetMaps. Far more detail available on OSM, plus you actually get to choose what’s on display, rather than Google arbitrarily deciding that a road/track/landmark aren’t important enough to mention.
Fwiw most people I’ve seen recommend switching from Organic Maps to CoMaps. The latter is a fork of the former, made because OM was being run in a very untransparent way, including (but far from limited to) the discreet use of closed-source code.
Perfect example of Google maps issue, is that we did Grampians on the weekend here in Australia. And, it still had a road/track which had been completely deleted (probably long ago). And it wasn’t on any other maps… There was a rusted sign that had been long removed and sawed off sitting where the route clearly used to be, but no sign of route anymore
These days, most people tend to just use AllTrails or Avenza because they’re convenient. For Thru hiking (really long hikes), people tend to use products (apparently) like Captopo which better facilitate planning, tagging on long hikes and time calculations (I am hoping to do a thru hike soon).
In practice though, stolen untested routes used in Alltrails present their own problems though, as, the Alltrails team don’t actually check if the routes are safe or correct. I suspect they just steal them from other sources. But, for most people, its great as its convenient
OpenTopo/Openstreetmaps are commonly used as the source for a lot of mapping systems though, as it tends to be up to date and accurate in most places. (i use it on my garmin etrex 32x as a backup). I was also advised to use Strava Heatmaps on a hike I am planning to do to find water in certain locations, however, I use GPX Map viewer Pro, and use people I trust for routes if possible (or make my own).
Google Maps is great for roads, but, the data simply isn’t that accurate for anything else. And, there is no good way to report bad hiking routes. With OSM and other things, they can be fairly easily fixed
Instead of Google Maps, Lions Bay SAR provided a list of free and paid hiking apps it recommends, including AllTrails, Granite, and Gaia GPS—which can be used as part of the process of properly researching and preparing for a hike or a trip into the backcountry
What would the real hiking community use?
A paper USGS topological map.
Nope. It’s Lions Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Most likely maps based on Natural Resources Canada data.
I hike a lot and use Organic Maps, which is a front end for OpenStreetMaps. Far more detail available on OSM, plus you actually get to choose what’s on display, rather than Google arbitrarily deciding that a road/track/landmark aren’t important enough to mention.
Fwiw most people I’ve seen recommend switching from Organic Maps to CoMaps. The latter is a fork of the former, made because OM was being run in a very untransparent way, including (but far from limited to) the discreet use of closed-source code.
It’s one Map. OpenStreetMap
Perfect example of Google maps issue, is that we did Grampians on the weekend here in Australia. And, it still had a road/track which had been completely deleted (probably long ago). And it wasn’t on any other maps… There was a rusted sign that had been long removed and sawed off sitting where the route clearly used to be, but no sign of route anymore
These days, most people tend to just use AllTrails or Avenza because they’re convenient. For Thru hiking (really long hikes), people tend to use products (apparently) like Captopo which better facilitate planning, tagging on long hikes and time calculations (I am hoping to do a thru hike soon).
In practice though, stolen untested routes used in Alltrails present their own problems though, as, the Alltrails team don’t actually check if the routes are safe or correct. I suspect they just steal them from other sources. But, for most people, its great as its convenient
OpenTopo/Openstreetmaps are commonly used as the source for a lot of mapping systems though, as it tends to be up to date and accurate in most places. (i use it on my garmin etrex 32x as a backup). I was also advised to use Strava Heatmaps on a hike I am planning to do to find water in certain locations, however, I use GPX Map viewer Pro, and use people I trust for routes if possible (or make my own).
Google Maps is great for roads, but, the data simply isn’t that accurate for anything else. And, there is no good way to report bad hiking routes. With OSM and other things, they can be fairly easily fixed
FTFA
Gaia GPS has turned to garbage when they were bought by Outdoors. Use their app at your peril.