KNOW-HOW // WALKING
EXPLORING MAPS & APPS
Time was, hikers just packed a paper map. Now your phone is your guide! Here, Marcus Leach selects some of the best apps for walking
NOT SO LONG ago, before the dawn of the internet, tablets and smartphones, paper maps were a part of everyday life. Every vehicle glove box would have a well-worn road atlas (and a tin of travel sweets!), every walker’s backpack held at least one dog-eared OS map, and many a child’s bedroom displayed a map of the world on the wall.
Maps have always held a special place in my heart. From as young as I can remember, to me, they have been synonymous with adventure, with exploring little pockets of the world, from weekends spent in the hills to far greater undertakings. They have always, as travel writer and explorer Rosita Forbes once memorably said, “represented the other side of the horizon where everything is possible”.
I remember with great fondness the nights we spent plotting our next adventure, the excitement for the journey ahead building up from the moment I heard the rustling of paper as the maps were unfolded and placed on the kitchen table. But that was then, and this is now. Times have changed, and where once we would sit around poring over traditional paper maps, today there are, as with most things in life, apps that make route planning easier than ever before, especially when it comes to walking and hiking.
But with so many apps out there, it can be tricky finding the right one, let alone learning how to use it. So, to make things easier and hopefully help more people get outdoors on their tours, we have reviewed our top five for you.
Komoot
In its own words, Komoot “allows you to find, plan and share adventures”, with the emphasis very much on sharing. It is driven by a rapidly expanding outdoor community, sharing their own recommendations, which appear on the map as little red dots – click on these and they expand out into more detailed information.