A day on the hill, planned from the phone
A day hike goes wrong in a small number of predictable ways: the route was longer or steeper than it looked, the weather on the ridge was not the weather in the car park, the signal vanished exactly where the path split, or the light ran out an hour before the walk did. A phone can guard against all four, provided the maps, the forecast and the route were put on it before you left the house.
The jobs on the day, and which kind of app does each
| Job on the day | Kind of app | Works with no signal |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing a route that suits the group | Route planner with a trail database | Planning, no; following a saved route, usually |
| Reading how steep the ground is | Topographic map with contour lines | Yes, once the area is downloaded |
| Staying on the path at a junction | Offline map showing your GPS position | Yes |
| Knowing the wind and cloud on the tops | Mountain or model based forecast | No, check it before you go |
| Knowing when the light goes | Sun times in a sensor toolkit | Yes |
| Telling someone exactly where you are | Location sharing or a precise address | Needs some signal, or a text |
| Dealing with a twisted ankle or a cut | First aid guide stored on the phone | Yes |
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What to install
The friendliest route planner. Choose walking, set the start and it builds a route on real paths with distance, climb and an estimated time. Offline maps beyond the first region are paid, so check what your account includes before relying on it.
Millions of trails recorded by people who walked them, with photographs along the way. Good for finding what locals actually walk; following a trail with off route alerts is part of the paid tier.
Strong in the Alps and much of Europe, with routes published by tourist boards and parks alongside user trails, which tends to mean better descriptions of the awkward sections.
Hiking routes and tracking from an Austrian outdoor site, at its best for walks in the Alps and the countries around them.
For Britain, the Ordnance Survey maps walkers have navigated by for generations. The detailed 1:25,000 layer is the subscription part, and the part worth paying for.
Layered topographic maps, popular in North America, with offline downloads for the backcountry. The useful features sit behind a subscription.
Mapy.com, the Czech map that became a favourite well beyond the Czech Republic. Its outdoor style shows marked trails and relief clearly, and it downloads for offline use.
Open data maps with contour lines, hill shading and hiking route overlays. Dense to learn, and more detail than any other free map.
Free, open source and without advertising. Lighter than the previous app, shows footpaths well, and works entirely offline once a country is downloaded.
For people who want every option: many map sources, track recording, waypoints and navigation along an imported route file.
Names every summit on the horizon from where you stand, and works offline. Not essential, and the app people keep open longest at the top.
An open source toolkit using only the phone sensors: compass, altitude, sunset time and a backtrack that retraces your steps to the car. Needs no connection at all.
Detailed forecasts with hour by hour charts of wind, cloud and rain. On a hill, the hour the rain arrives matters more than whether it rains.
Wind, gusts and cloud on a map, from several forecast models. If the wind on the ridge is strong enough to push you off balance, you learn it here rather than up there.
Gives every three metre square a three word address that is easy to read out over a poor line. Many emergency services accept it; reading out your coordinates works just as well.
The Red Cross first aid app, with step by step guidance stored on the phone. Read the sprains, bleeding and hypothermia sections before you need them.
Getting to the trailhead, and sharing your live location with someone at home for the length of the walk.
Turns the recorded track into a short 3D flyover video. Pure pleasure rather than safety, and a good way to remember the day.
The night before
- Pick a route shorter than you think you can do Estimated times assume a fit walker who does not stop. Add a third for photographs, lunch and the slowest member of the group.
- Download the map, the route and a wide area around it Include the valleys on either side. A path closed by a landslip or a flooded ford means leaving the planned line.
- Check the forecast for the summit, not the town Temperature falls by roughly six or seven degrees for every thousand metres of height, before wind chill. A mild morning in the valley can be a cold afternoon on top.
- Note sunset and set a turnaround time Decide the time you will turn back wherever you are. It is far easier to decide at the kitchen table than beside a cairn with the summit in view.
- Tell someone the route and when you expect to be back Share the planned route and a time after which they should call for help. That one message is what starts a search in the right valley.
Keeping the phone alive until the car
GPS positioning uses modest power. What empties a battery on a hill is the screen, and a phone searching endlessly for a signal that is not there. Aeroplane mode stops the searching while GPS keeps working on most phones, so navigation carries on and the battery lasts far longer.
- Your position on a downloaded map
- Distance walked and height gained
- Sunset time and the forecast you saved
- Photographs of the junctions you passed
- A battery pack and a short cable
- A paper map and a compass in serious terrain
- A head torch, because the phone torch drains the navigation
- A whistle, a warm layer and more water than seems necessary
Route planned, map downloaded, summit forecast checked, turnaround time set and someone at home told. Then switch to aeroplane mode and enjoy the walk.
Frequently asked questions
Does GPS work without mobile signal?
Yes. The phone receives satellite signals directly, with no network involved. What needs a connection is the map, which is why it has to be downloaded first.
Which app is best for finding routes?
It depends on the country. A planner with a large user base works almost everywhere, but a national mapping agency or regional outdoor app is often better where one exists, because its maps and routes come from people who survey the ground.
How do I tell rescuers where I am?
Call the emergency number, then give coordinates, a grid reference or a three word address. Most offline map apps show coordinates when you tap your position, so practise finding them once at home.
Is an app enough, or do I need a paper map?
On a well marked valley walk, a downloaded map and a charged phone are plenty. In mountains, moorland or anywhere you could lose the path in cloud, carry paper and a compass as well, because phones break, get wet and go flat.
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