I’m a sucker for maps.
City maps, geologic maps, road maps, typographic maps. You name it. There is something magical about them that triggers my imagination and lets me dream about adventures in amazing places.
In recent years a whole new generation of digital maps has revolutionized the map market.
The digitale maps offer new smart features, e.g. user interaction, trip recommendations and automatic updates that make planning and implementation of trips a lot easier than prior to the digitalization. On top of that, they don’t take up much space.
These features make the digital maps perfect for hiking. The question is which app to pick?
You find a wide range of map services on the market that offer the above smart features. And it may be difficult to find an app that suits your needs. It surely was for me. So I was happy that a friend of mine recommended the ViewRanger app to me.
Here is why I love the ViewRanger app:
I find inspiration for new hikes
One of the great things about ViewRanger is that you can use the app as a source of inspiration for your hikes.
Hikers all over the world record their hikes along with other useful information such as distance, speed, duration and altitude using this app. In this way a huge pool of hikes is built for you to use.
A search function lets you search for the hikes and thus use the app as a source of inspiration.
Whenever I want to explore a new hiking area I enter the name of the specific area in the search function. The app then returns a number of hiking suggestions for the specific area. All I have to do is do a little bit of research and pick the one I find most interesting.
Lets me download hikes
Once I have found the desired hike the app allows me to download it to my smartphone.
And I’m ready to go!
ViewRanger guides me to the track, and I can use it as a navigator to find my way. And the great thing about this is that it doesn’t even require a phone signal. This means that I can hike all over the world without being dependent on a phone signal.
Below you find the ViewRanger map from one of my hikes in the Silkeborg lake district, Denmarks outdoor capital:
I can follow other hikers
Apart from the search and download function I enjoy using the follow function that lets me connect with specific hikers on ViewRanger.
I follow my friends’ activities and enjoy seeing their photos and the areas, they have explored.
I can create my own adventure
ViewRanger comes with very detailed maps that visualize hiking trails in the outdoors. This makes it easy to plan my own adventures.
All I have to do is plot the route on my device.
Routes are made up of a series of waypoints, each one being a marker on the map. To make the route easier to follow, I can give each waypoint a name, number or symbol and add a description or even an image to it.
When I’m done I can save it on the smartphone.
More fun and quality
The ViewRanger app has indeed added more fun and quality to my hiking activities. I use the app as a source of inspiration and lets the app guide me on the trails.
If you are interested in learning more about the ViewRanger app why don’t you give it a try? From your download center you can download the app to your SmartPhone and quickly create your own profile. It’s very easy.
Or you can find more information on the Viewranger website.
Happy hiking 🙂
