There are two types of electronic devices you can use to augment a map and compass for hiking navigation: dedicated GPS Handhelds or Smartphone Navigation apps that use the GPS reception technology built into Smartphones and can be used even if you are out of cell phone service range or your phone is in airplane mode. Both can display a map with your current location, plan, display, or share routes with others, and create a track depicting your hike so you can backtrack or share it with others.
The biggest differences between a dedicated GPS Handheld and a Smartphone are durability and battery life. GPS Handhelds have a longer battery, are rugged, and are waterproof or water-resistant. They’re often single-purpose (although some higher-end models have satellite messaging) and can only be used for navigating, compared to a Smartphone, which can be used as a phone or camera and run other applications like plant, flower, or mountain profile identification apps. But Smartphones have smaller batteries than GPS handheld devices; they’re often not waterproof and are much more fragile. Still, they’re sufficient for most day hiking and even backpacking trips, provided you reinforce them with a phone case and screen cover and bring along a battery pack, which many hikers do.
Another big difference between GPS Handhelds and Smartphone Navigation Apps is the maps they use, their quality, and how frequently they’re updated. GPS receivers usually have one built-in topographic map that depicts landscape features, trails, and roads but are seldom updated. In comparison, Smartphone navigation apps come with many maps, including sports-specific ones, that are frequently updated. While app users must download portions of these maps before using them when disconnected from cell phone service, the fact that they are included with the app for free and updated frequently makes them a desirable alternative to using a GPS handheld device. This and the convenience of having one device that can serve multiple purposes explains why Smartphone Navigation Apps have largely replaced dedicated GPS receiver use among most hikers and backpackers.
Recommended GPS Handheld Receivers
Garmin dominates the GPS Handheld market and sells a wide range of devices, from budget battery-powered models to high-end devices with rechargeable batteries that can last hundreds of hours and connect to multiple GPS satellites for higher accuracy. Here are the models we recommend across different price points.
- The Garmin GPS 67i has an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery with 180 hours of battery life in standard mode and up to 840 hours in expedition mode. It has a crisp colored display and connects to multiple GPS satellites for increased accuracy. In addition to being waterproof, it includes satellite messaging and the ability to send out SOS signals in an emergency.
- The Garmin Montana 700i has an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery with an 18-hour battery life. It has a large, high-resolution colored display, includes satellite messaging, and can send out SOS signals in an emergency.
- The Garmin eTrex 32 is powered by 2 AA batteries that last up to 25 hrs. before needing replacement. It has a colored display with easy-to-push buttons and a built-in compass and barometric altimeter.
GPS Handheld and Navigation App Shortcomings
For all their benefits, GPS receivers and Smartphone Navigation apps do not replace the need to carry a paper map and compass. While it is true that they can run out of power or break, the main reason you want to carry a map, preferably a waterproof version, is that it’s likely to be the most accurate representation of the trail system available. Map publishers regularly check and update physical maps, especially ones specific to a particular region or park. The same can’t be said of the maps that come with GPS handheld receivers or Smartphone navigation apps, especially those that come with out-of-date maps or crowdsourced data that include misnamed trails or unmaintained “herd” trails, list incorrect elevations and mileages, or omit important land features like waters sources.
It’s also common for GPS Handheld receivers and Smartphone Navigation Apps to underestimate or overestimate the distance or elevation gain that you’ve hiked or climbed if you use one to track your route as you hike it. This occurs because the devices only connect to the satellite periodically rather than continuously, which introduces mathematical errors in the metric they tabulate.
GPS Handheld and Navigation App Benefits
Why are GPS-enabled devices so popular if they can’t be relied on? They have a few important benefits that waterproof maps don’t. First, they can tell you exactly where you are on a topographic map and your elevation, give or take a hundred feet or so. This is useful if you have an up-to-date topographic paper map because it can help you locate yourself along the trail you’ve been hiking. Plus, they can help you backtrack to the beginning of your hike if you’ve tracked your progress, which can be helpful if you’ve taken a complicated route or forgotten where you parked your car. Many people also like to share their tracks with others or compile metrics about their hikes such as speed or distance hiked, which are facilitated by using a GPS-enabled device or application.
Despite these benefits, people can successfully hike without a GPS-enabled device, using a map to “stay found” by noting their location at trail junctions or major landmarks while using a compass to confirm they are headed in the right direction. If you’re a beginner hiker, we recommend perfecting these skills before adding a dedicated GPS or Smartphone Navigation App to your trail navigation toolkit. In our view, the two skill sets complement each other, helping to increase the certainty in which you can locate yourself along a trail, particularly in low visibility conditions or on more remote trails that are not as well blazed or maintained.
Recommended Smartphone Navigation Apps
Many different Smartphone Navigation Apps are available today, but here’s a list of the most popular ones.
Alltrails is a Smartphone app for finding popular hikes in a specific area, reading user reviews about them, and following routes other users have recorded. You can also download topographic maps of the routes for offline use when you don’t have a cell phone signal. The trail names and routes are crowdsourced and often not fact-checked, so it’s important to check the routes using a reputable paper map of the trails so they match the trail signs you’ll encounter when hiking as they’ve been known to differ. While the user reviews provided in Alltrails are dated, it’s important to realize that the trail conditions may change seasonally and that the experience level of the authors can vary considerably.
Avenza Maps is a Smartphone app that displays GPS-enabled versions of curated paper maps from map publishers that are updated regularly and can be purchased through the app. These are downloaded and can be used with cell phone access or offline. Avenza Maps is also the standard app used by government agencies including the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS), the United States Forest Service (USFS), and others for distributing maps that are regularly updated and free for public use.
FarOut Guides is also known as “Guthook”, the trail name of the original app author Ryan Lynn. FarOut publishes maps of many long-distance hiking trails. These routes are curated for accuracy by hikers employed by FarOut Guides or by the trail organizations responsible for maintaining the trails. Each trail is purchased separately and downloaded to the app. The trails have accurate trailhead, shelter, campsite, and water source information displayed on a topographic map or as an elevation profile.
GaiaGPS is a general-purpose navigation app that lets you create routes, record tracks, and compile statistics you can share with others, including other navigation apps. It contains numerous maps that you can use singly or layer on top of one other to highlight different landscape features. The included maps are not curated for completeness and may include inaccurate or out-of-date crowdsourced or historical map data. One of the chief benefits of using GaiaGPS is that it includes topographic maps for very large regions to plan out alternate or novel routes. These can used with cell phone access or downloaded to a Smartphone for offline use. GaiaGPS can also be accessed through a web-based interface, which provides online tools for planning new routes or discovering ones published by other users.
OnX Backcountry lets you create routes, record tracks, post public trip reports, and compile statistics you can share with others. It contains numerous maps and data layers that can be superimposed to highlight different landscape features. The included maps are not curated for accuracy or completeness. OnX Backcountry includes topographic maps for very large regions to plan your routes. These can used with cell phone access or downloaded to a Smartphone for offline use. OnX Hunt and OnX Offroad are similar, with enhanced maps for hunting and offroading, including land ownership boundaries and vegetation cover.
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