I’m always climbing to reach you…
Have you ever thought of just disappearing into the trees for a while? When life gets busy, don’t forget to pause and take a breath. We all look for ways to keep us grounded, some take long walks, others unwind through yoga and many find peace in the slow, steady rhythm of a hike up the mountain. When the rest of the town, still fast asleep, you and maybe some friends all start your trek up the mountain. What makes it even better, is that you get to see the view with your hard work.
If you want to track your progress and explore trails as you hike, here’s a list of reliable apps that can guide you on your journey:
Strava
Once famous among runners and bikers, Strava now embraces hikers as well! The recently viral app Strava, has gained popularity to many runners in the social media space. With the new 2025 update, it now has a larger scale of features to use. Its route discovery uses AI to recommend hiking routes based on popular trails from its global community, their global heat maps also shows hikers where they have gone, assisting theme find well trodden or hidden paths depending on preference, but just be careful when you do so, with the flyover feature of the app, it shows you a replay of your trek up the mountain in a dynamic 3D map and share it with friends on social media.
PinasPeaks
It is a Philippine based hiking app that is designed to guide users track, document, and share their mountain climb even despite lacking internet signal. It was made by a Filipino for Filipinos. The app was created by Jeffret Valednor, and the app is popular among local mountaineers who want to log their climbs, upload photos and videos to preserve their memories from the trail. It also has a tracker to record your track on summits and achievements. With the ability to add new mountains or trails via google forms.
AllTrails
With casual hikers and seasoned hikers, the app offers access to over 450,00 curated trail maps worldwide and it includes detailed trail descriptions, elevation profiles, user photos, and reviews to help you choose the right path. With filters like trail difficulty, length or dog-friendliness makes it easy to personalize your adventure. While the free version covers the majority of the features, the Pro-upgrade unlocks offline maps, weather overlays, and wrong turn alerts, especially helpful in remote areas.
Gaia GPS
Those who like backcountry exploration and mountaineering, the app is an advanced tool that provides high-resolution topographic, satellite, and National Geographic map layers. It excels in route planning, elevation tracking, and off the grid navigation, especially with its offline map access that is only available after upgrading to premium. Gaia (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) also includes weather forecasts, sunrise to sunset data, and even hunting or trail overlays for specialized use. If you want precise, control and a broad toolkit in one app, then Gaia is the app for you.
PeakVisor
A mobile app that utilizes augmented reality and #d maps to identify nearby mountain peaks, display their names and elevations, provide other outdoor navigation tools. It’s designed to be a comprehensive tool for mountain exploration, offering features like peak identification, trail navigation, GPS tracking and more. The app also works offline, and its AR viewer turns into an educational experience, helping you connect with the geography around you in a visually dynamic way.
If you worry that the apps listed are paid, don’t worry, they offer free versions which still gives you access to basic features. Most have GPS tracking, waypoints, and activity feed available for free versions of the apps. So take on your mountaineering gears and tie up your shoes and use the apps on your journey. Happy Climbing!
