What is the best AT map app and on what platform?

[rwhat]

What is the best AT map app and on what platform? It really needs to be user friendly too.

[Rocket Jones]

My paper map has never run out of battery power. ;)

[rwhat]

Thanks Rocket.

[Dahoyt]

Try Guthooks app. User friendly, you can use it even when you don't have service. Has water sources, camping, road access, detailed pictures of shelters, with general info, and awesome maps. And anyone can leave comments on each shelter, and add whatever comment you'd like.

[David Heller]

Guthook!
http://www.guthookhikes.com/
I have it for my Iphone as a back to the map. The GPS feature is great, lets you know where you are and how far you are from a point you select. The map is not always as accessible as the Iphone and Rocket does have a point.

[Peepsinc]

I have a map set with guild books for sale if interested. They cover the entire AT plus a few extras like Cades Cove(near clingmen Dome, where all the bear feed at the dump)...Pay'd over $300 new, I'd take $100 paypal for all.

[Peepsinc]

contact
[email protected]

[Havana]

I'll pile on for Guthook's app. Used it for section hikes and it was very good. That said, I do also carry copies of the guidebook pages for the section I'm on.

[Texaco]

Another +1 for the Guthook app. I paid the full $90 for it last March, but then learned that he had a combined thru-hike package for $45-50 or so. In the end I found it well worth my $90. Really opens up your view of the trail, water locations, elevation profiles, tent sites, etc that AWOL doesn't mention. Also has a comments section for notes of each landmark... "great water supply" "terrible shelter" "worth the side trail to the view" and stuff like that.

[Captain Bluebird]

Will Guthook app work with Android?

[GoldenBear]

> Will Guthook app work with Android?

They work fine on my Droid.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.highsierraattitude.athiker06

[Harrison Bergeron]

Guthook looks nice, but $90 for a phone app is a little rough. Maybe if I was a thru-hiker.

I tried about a half dozen of the Android apps that showed up toward the top of the "Google Play" list when I searched on "topo". The only one with a comprehensible user interface that I found useful was "Backcountry Navigator". It's free but if you spend the $12 for the upgrade, you can download the AT centerline and shelters "KML" files from the ATC web site and import them.

The biggest problem with any of them is downloading the topos you need. These guys just don't seem to get that you're not going to have phone service in a place where you need a topo to navigate. None of them I looked at would let you specify a list of USGS "quads", or (even better) specify a couple of waypoints and automatically download all the maps in between. Instead, you have to tediously "walk" the trail at every resolution with "cache for offline use" turned on. It took me hours to get all the Topo's for the 400 mile section I'm interested in.

But once you get it all downloaded, "Backcountry Navigator" is pretty good. At least I could figure it out, which is more that I can say for most of the others. Of course, after 30 years of programming computers for a living, I am probably suffering from brain damage. Your experience might be different.

[10-K]

MotionX-GPS is what I use for general GPS navigation but it's only available for the iPhone I believe. It'll import GPX files and puts a lot of useful information at your fingertips.

[Ruffdude]

Guthook's app for the AT is only $60 when you buy the entire route.

[Sarcasm the elf]

This is by far my favorite App to use while hiking :D:banana

http://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/slide-to-power-off-iphone.png