Group Tests and Best Buys

Best Hiking Apps of 2025 | Tested and Reviewed

We’ve been testing hiking apps and these are the top picks from our gear testers, designed for navigation, route plotting and connecting with your hiking community.

A good hiking app makes all the difference nowadays. With rated and reviewed routes, highly detailed 3D maps, and top secret community insights; the right app can really make or break your hike.

Beyond this, a good navigational app can be incredibly handy for those times when you’ve taken a wrong turn on the trail, or have misread your map coordinates, and need to quickly get your bearings. And while paper maps are important – essential some might say – a GPS app can provide an extra sense of comfort and protection in this sense.

There are, however, a lot of navigational apps to choose from, and some of these, to put it delicately, aren’t very good. To save you falling into the trap of a dud, we’ve tested a whole bunch and pulled together a list of what we think are the best navigational apps available.

How to Choose a Hiking App for Navigation and Route Planning

Aside from route planning and navigating your way along hiking paths, navigational apps are also chock-a-block full of cool features to make your journeys that much smoother. These might include:

Terrain information
Mountain profiles
Elevation levels
Progress trackers
Weather forecasts
Voice navigation
Live tracking
Offline and saving functionalities
Community sharing
Points of interests along the route, and much more.

Depending on which features you think you’ll use the most, having these clever extras will be useful for some of us, but relatively useless for others.

Your choice of app will also inevitably depend on which outdoor activities you love the most and the whereabouts of each trip you make. For example, while PeakVisor mostly caters towards the mountaineering and snow sports communities, AllTrails tries to include as many different activities and types of user abilities as possible. Similarly, while Footpath Route Planner includes worldwide coverage, OS maps solely focuses on the UK.

In addition to this, if you’re going on a multi-week backpacking or bikepacking trip and are looking to cover multiple regions and areas, it’s not always handy to bring loads of physical OS maps with you, especially if you want to keep your pack weight down. So even if you’re a die-hard physical map lover, it might be worth checking out how much weight you could save by adding an app to your kit list.

(If you need help figuring out your kit list, check out our Outdoor 100 for the latest and greatest, tested and reviewed outdoor gear.)

The Experts

These apps were field tested by our staff writer Jazz Noble and our editor Will Renwick. Jazz is an England and Northern Ireland-based writer and photographer with a passion for hiking, cycling and more. Including The Cuilcagh Lakelands Global , Glenveagh National Park, and the Sperrins; her latest obsession is exploring the trails and waterways in the North of Ireland. Will, on the other hand, has been reviewing outdoor gear for outdoor magazines for over 10 years. He’s stood on a number of gear awards juries, including for the ISPO Awards, the OIA Awards and the Scandinavian Outdoor Awards and has hiked numerous long distance trails including the 870-mile Wales Coast Path, the Cambrian Way and the Camino de Santiago.

How They Were Tested

We field tested these apps on hikes within the UK’s national parks and in Ireland. Will and Jazz looked at the route planning in particular, but also the accuracy of terrain information, how useful the extra features actually are, how the coverage compares regionally, and much more. The focus during these tests has been on hiking and walking, with some sneaky cycling tests carried out by Jazz too.

Editor’s Note:

Despite having some pretty epic features, Fatmap is no longer available for use so we’ve removed it from our roundup. Word on the street is that Strava (the owners) deactivated it. Why? We don’t know. But we hope something similar pops up in its place. Either way, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled.

Our Team’s Favourite Apps for Hiking

Here’s our gear team’s pick of the best navigation apps for hiking. Each app has been fully tested by one of our experts and you’ll find a wide range of options to choose from.

Best Overall Hiking App: Komoot
Best Hiking App with OS Maps: OS Maps
Best Hiking App to use for Free: Outdooractive
Best Hiking App for Route Planning: AllTrails

Best Overall Hiking App

Komoot

Price: Basic: free, One region: £3.99, Region bundle: £8.99, The world: £29.99
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Easy to use, engaged community, large route archive
Best for: Easy route planning
Offline use: Yes (if subscribed). You may need to download the route first.

If you’ve been following Outdoors Magic with a close eye, you’ll know we’re big fans of Komoot. It really is one of the easiest and handiest navigational apps out there. With worldwide route coverage, there are thousands of options to choose from, as well as a multitude of different outdoor activities. You can even pick your experience level and the app will plot a route catered to your needs.

Though you won’t get the same level of detail as an OS map, the graphics and topographical details are definitely good enough to get you where you need to go. Considering it only costs a one-off payment of £29.99 to unlock the entire app, it’s probably one of the most affordable options too. However, some premium features may incur extra fees.

Our favourite aspect is definitely the community factor. You can connect with users all around the world and see what the locals recommend in each region. All you have to do is click on the ‘routes’ section, search a location, click on the little hiker emoticons dotted around the maps, and see what the people have to say.

For example, as part of my tests, last weekend I went on a hike in the South Downs. To pick my route, I just looked up the area in the app, discovered a beautiful ‘tree tunnel’ recommended by 57 hikers, and picked my walk based on that! Despite some intensely cold weather, it was a great day out with a visit to Halnaker windmill on the way.

I actually also used komoot to export a King Alfred’s Way GPX route onto a Garmin cycle computer a few years back. This was genuinely probably the simplest experience I’ve had fiddling around with GPX imports and exports. And that’s saying something.

Other cool features include: photos to help you visualise your journey, voice navigation, turn-by-turn directions, live tracking, terrain options, downloadable maps for offline use, customisable courses and many more.

Rating: 5/5

Best Hiking App with OS Mapping

OS Maps

Price: Basic: free, Premium: £34.99 annually (or £6.99 monthly)
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Useful for UK users
Best for: Cartophiles
Offline use: Yes

Ordnance Survey has been making maps since 1791 and is the home of British mapping. Having begun their venture into the app world in 2013, OS Maps has made significant advancements since then, including 3D rendering technologies, and an augmented reality feature to help you visualise the trails, landscapes, and points of interests ahead.

As expected from OS, these maps contain unparalleled levels of detail and information, and are excellent for UK adventuring. There’s mapping available in OS Explorer 1:25k and OS Landranger 1:50k, as well as authored routes from BBC Countryfile, Country Walking, and Mountain Biking UK among others.

With the premium subscription, you’ll have the option to share, favourite, download, export and print different maps. This gives you a nice level of versatility, especially if you want both your physical and digital mapping routes to match exactly.

OM Editor Will Renwick is a recent convert to OS Maps. He says he was previously reliant upon a combination of komoot for desktop planning and Topo GPS for on-the-trail nav but has now switched to OS. “I think the early editions of the app put me off it but I decided to try it again to see if it would help with a guidebook I’m writing. It seems all the glitches have gone and it’s now super user-friendly and convenient – I love the fact you get 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps and also the feature that ‘snaps’ the route to the paths when you’re plotting. After trying the free trial, I happily paid for a full year’s sub.”

Rating: 4/5

Best Hiking App to use for Free

Outdooractive

Price: Basic: free, Pro: £26.99 p/y, Pro+: £53.99 p/y
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Lets users share a tracker beacon, augmented reality
Best for: Advanced mapping and GPS
Offline use: Yes (for Pro and Pro+ subscribers)

Previously known as Viewranger, Outdooractive has an incredibly advanced GPS system used by hikers and search-and-rescue teams alike. It uses standard topographical maps, with the option to integrate OS mapping too.

There’s worldwide coverage and a high-resolution display at all zoom levels thanks to state-of-the-art vector technologies, and all maps can be downloaded from offline use with the Pro subscription.

The ’BuddyBeacon’ is one of our favourite features and is a real-time location sharing capacity for friends, family or other adventurers on the same route. This is awesome not just because it’s cool to track your friends’ adventures from the comfort of your couch, but also from a safety point of view. It’ll make it much easier for people to check in on you or find you should you ever get lost and should ease your mind a bit if you’re new to long-distance adventures.

With the Pro+ subscription, you can also check current and projected weather reports from around the world. This came in handy a few months ago when I was testing OutdoorActive on a hike around the North of Ireland. I was basically trying to decide which part of Fermanagh to hike in based on how bad the weather was compared with the different terrain on each hike. If you’ve ever been, you’ll know what I mean when I say the weather is changeable… Anyhoo, the northern part had a more intense forecast of rain with sludgier looking paths, so I opted for the slightly – I stress, slightly – drier option towards the south with a less water-logged trail.

Overall, I’d say this is a more specialised app than most of the others on this list. In this sense, it could be a bit overkill for some hikers so it’s worth considering what features you’ll actually use, and whether this warrants the price for you.

Rating: 5/5

Best Hiking App to use for Route Planning

AllTrails

Price: Basic: free, Pro: £35.99 annually
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: Easy route planning, 3D trail option
Best for: Activity and experience level options
Offline use: Yes (for AllTrails+ members)

AllTrails is one of the most inclusive options here, with dog-friendly, kid-friendly and wheelchair-friendly routes, to name a few. There’s over 200,000 trails to choose from, all verified by experts and reviewed by members across the world.

You’ll have access to road, satellite and topographical maps – though not with the level of detail as an OS map – as well as map overlays including time, distance, top speed, air quality, weather forecasts, pollen counts and light pollution levels. GPS directions to help you get to the trailhead are also included.

AllTrails have additionally planted 10,000 trees so far, and donate 1% of their profits to environmental initiatives worldwide. Just like Outdooractive, you can also assign safety contacts who’ll know your plan and can track your progress along the way.

After testing it on some trails around the Surrey Hills, I found that the user experience was quite similar to Komoot in terms of easy route planning and community input. In particular, I found the ‘attractions’ filter very useful, especially the ‘wildflower’ and the ‘pub walk’ options. In case you didn’t already know, we’re pretty fond of pub walks here at Outdoors Magic…

I remember trying AllTrails a few years ago and it seemed slightly more useful outside of the UK. It’s nice to see that this is no longer the case though, with tons of options across Britain and Ireland to choose from.

Rating: 4/5

Topo GPS

Price: £2.49 per 256 km² tile, or £24.99 per year for a subscription (OS mapping)
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Useful for UK users, very simple and quick access to OS
Best for: On-the-go nav
Offline use: Yes

This gives users topographical map tiles worldwide, the ability to upload and follow GPX routes and pinpoint your exact location on a map, even when offline. Paying UK users can access 1:25,000 OS maps (at a reasonable price).

OM editor Will Renwick has been a long term user of the app, most notably using it to complete a 500-mile fastpacking expedition. “I love the fact that the mapping loads really quickly as soon as you open up the app – and it locates you quickly too,” says Will. “It also uses up the whole of your phone screen so you can see lots of detail. I don’t really use this for route plotting or for following a pre-planned route as there are other apps that are better for that. But I regularly use it when I want to quickly get my bearings or when I’m sat in my tent observing the lay of the land ahead of me. I love that I can put my phone in airplane and still get full use of this, and without fearing that it’s going to churn through my battery. The main downside to Topo, however, is that there’s no website you can plot routes on. Instead you have to download the app onto your PC/Mac.”

Read more: shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Rating: 3/5

Strava

Price: Basic: free, Premium: £8.99 p/m or £54.99 p/y, family plans available
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Personalised fitness tracking, competition incentives
Best for: Multi-activity use
Offline use: Yes (if the routes are pre-downloaded)

Though perhaps more popular among runners and cyclists, I still think Strava makes for a good hiking app. In particular, I think it’s great if you’re the kind of walker who’s big on analysing your hike timings and things like your overall elevation and how well you did compared to others who did the same route. Basically, it’s great if you’re a statistics nerd like me. I also like that you can easily switch between activities. Though I love a good hike, I’m also a big cyclist so having an all-rounder app where I can log all of my info in one place is extremely handy.

Like most of these apps, there’s a great community aspect to it as well. As well as joining ‘clubs’ that provide you with loads of routes to try out, you can also follow your mates, send messages and celebrate each other’s achievements. It’s a bit like social media account at this point so take from that what you will!

Rating: 4/5

Relive

Price: Basic: free, Relive Plus: £6.99 p/m or £38.00 p/y
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: Multi-activity use, 3D videos of your routes
Best for: Novice walkers
Offline use: Yes

Though not the most technical in terms of mapping, Relive is a solid app if you’re out and about and want to see what hikes other users have been checking out in the area. It’s a bit like komoot in this way, though there’s the option to enter ‘challenges’ with yourself, your friends, or other users on Relive.

There seems to be a lot of routes to explore worldwide here, with a useful amount of photos to give you an idea of what each trail might look like. During my tests, I also liked how you can see how many times a route has been navigated so you can judge for yourself whether or not it’s worth the endeavour.

The main selling point about this app is the fun videos it creates based on the activities you do. It basically uses the information from your recording to create a 3D, aerial view of your activity, showing you how far you travelled in an utterly unique way. Forgive me if I’m not explaining it very well, but it’s a pretty cool feature for a navigation app. You then have the option to share this video wherever you like.

Handily, it’s compatible with most third-party devices and systems such as Garmin, Polar, Apple Health etc.

Rating: 3/5

Wikiloc

Price: Basic: free, then £1.99 for 3 months, or £3.99 for 12 months
Available on: iOS, Android and Web
Key attributes: Simple user interface, live tracking
Best for: Travelling beyond the UK
Offline use: Yes (if downloaded)

To be honest, I’m a bit late to the game with this one. I only recently stumbled across Wikiloc so my testing is still underway but so far, I like what I see.

Including OpenStreet, OpenTopo and satellite views, there’s a solid array of map types to choose from. The live tracking is also very easy to navigate and I was impressed with the wide range of countries and activities to peruse. During our tests, one of my favourite features turned out to be the way-marking that can be added onto your route. It makes it really easy to see where each point of interest is, including places to stop for provisions along the way.

It’s also pretty nice to know that 1% of your purchase goes directly to 1% for the Planet, a global network of businesses, nonprofits and individuals working together for a healthy planet.

Rating: 3/5

Gaia GPS

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Price: Basic: free, Premium: £34.99 annually
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: Good worldwide coverage, advanced planning
Best for: Multi-map options
Offline use: Yes (if subscribed)

Named after the Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia GPS is pretty darn good for navigating in the great outdoors. With historic and classic print maps to explore, NatGeo trails to choose from, and topographical, road and satellite options; there’s a lot to work with here.

You can track your pace, distance and elevation whilst also viewing private and public lands, roads off the beaten track and campsites, amongst other things. There’s also an immense amount of data available about your location – professionals such as firefighters and mountain guides have even been known to use the app.

Related: Best Campsites In The UK

The basic subscription package will give you all the features except the ability to access the map catalogue in its entirety or the option to mass-download maps for offline use.

Rating: 3/5

Spyglass

Price: $5.99 app purchase then $2.99 p/m
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: High tech compass, clever use of augmented reality
Best for: Visual innovations and technical features
Offline use: Yes

Spyglass is without a doubt one of the most visually impressive apps on this list. It’s also incredibly unique in its technical and navigational feature options – it serves as binoculars, a hi-tech compass, a gyrocompass, a GPS receiver, a waypoint tracker, a speedometer, an altimeter, a sun, moon and star finder, a gyro horizon, a rangefinder, a coordinate converter, a sextant, an inclinometer, an angular calculator and a camera. And that list isn’t even exhaustive.

The app operates in 3D using an augmented reality to display real-time object positions, information and directions overlaid on top of the map. These augmented reality GPS technologies track exactly where you are using your surroundings and the data from your device.

The option to navigate by the stars is also definitely in a league of its own.

Rating: 3/5

Footpath Route Planner

Price: Basic: free, Single route: £1.99, Footpath Elite: £21.49 annually
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: Very easy to use
Best for: Ease-of-use and fast planning
Offline use: Yes

The Footpath Route Planner app literally maps routes using your finger. You tap the draw button and trace the outlines of a map with your finger. The app will then ‘snap to map’ and choose the best trail and road options according to your outline. You can also zoom in and customise specific segments further if you have points of interests (or pubs) you wish to stop at on the way.

Designed for any activity (even the SUP) in any country, you can share your adventures with your friends and also overlay your route line on top of your photos for memorable visuals.

The elite version will unlock turn-by-turn navigation, premium maps (with details such as cycle lanes and avalanche slope shading), organisation features, activity analysis and exporting and saving abilities. Your first five saved routes, however, will be free.

Rating: 3/5

Maps 3D Pro

Price: £3.99 with in-app purchases
Available on: iOS
Key attributes: 3D viewer
Best for: 3D Visualisation
Offline use: Yes (if pre-loaded)

Maps 3D Pro is for the adventurer who prefers to be able to visually see terrain rather than just drawings, basic graphics or map coordinates.

With the topography all demonstrated in 3D, it allows you to visualise and inspect sections of hikes, so you can see the right line to take up a hill, perhaps, or search for possible wild camping locations away from the trails. You can also view distant landmarks, contour lines, water sources, towns, points of interest and the like. These routes can be stored, used offline and shared with your family and friends.

It’s worth noting that this is the only app on this list that’s exclusively available with iOS systems.

Rating: 4/5

PeakVisor

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Price: Basic: free, Pro: $23.99 annually
Available on: iOS and Android
Key attributes: Clever use of augmented reality, high level of detail
Best for: Mountain hiking and winter sports
Offline use: Yes, if pre-downloaded

As you might have guessed, PeakVisor is the best app for mountainous terrain and is said to ‘make you a superhero of outdoor navigation’. It has a very cool design and identifies mountains using your camera and device data. The app will then tell you where you are based on recognition of these peaks, giving you information about the surrounding areas including elevation levels, trails, summits, passes, viewpoints and much more.

Due to the level of detail PeakVisor provides on mountains, it’s also incredibly handy for skiing trips when you want to identity what’s around you or find specific ski resorts, mountain lifts, ski runs and the like.

On another note – this app is actually really fun to mess around with when you’re at home too. You can inspire adventures and identify mountains hundreds of miles away from the comfort of your own bed.

Rating: 3/5

Non-Hiking Outdoor Apps We Liked

Hiking and route-planning aside, here’s a little list of some useful (and fun) outdoorsy apps we’ve also been using at the moment.

What3Words
Geocaching
Cairn
Knots 3D
First aid by British Red Cross
AuroraWatch
Surfline

Why We Love Hiking Apps

Take my most recent trip to Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons National Park), for example. Now I’ve been to Wales quite a few times in my life, but I’m by no means an expert. Most of the time I’ll either visit somewhere I’m recommended by a friend, or I’ll do some research online and hope for the best. This time, however, I found myself dogsitting in an old rectory house just outside of Abergavenny (don’t ask).

Anyhow, I thought I’d try out a hiking app for a change, so I hopped on Komoot and had a browse of the local hiker’s recommendations. I pretty much clicked on one of the nearby ‘hiking highlights’, thought the pictures looked nice, and just went for it.

To my surprise, despite an intense downpour halfway through, it turned out to be my favourite hike in Wales so far. Specifically, it was a loop in the Craig Y Cilau Nature Reserve circling Eglwys Faen, a cave on Llangattock mountain. Including a mixture of muddy paths and steep ascents; the loop takes you alongside limestone escarpments, towards Eglwys Faen, and then back along moss-laden paths.

There’s even parts of the cave that you can walk straight into (see picture below, ignore facial expression). Note: there’s also parts of the cave that you shouldn’t enter without trained caving professionals.

What is the point of all this, I hear you ask…Well, the moral of the story is that I’d never have found this walk without using a hiking app. I’m sure it’s no secret to a local, or someone who’s actually from Wales. But to me, it felt like a hidden gem. Since then, I check the community recommendations on my hiking apps pretty much everywhere I go. You really never know what you’re going to find.

Main Photo: Outdooractive