[D.F.L.]

I'm wondering what mapping apps folks may find to be best for exploring new terrain and laying out trail. It seems like the ability to add notes and photos to waypoints could be useful... because I forget things.

Maybe they all already do that. I'm a cavemen, and wouldn't know. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[tjhspapa]

OnX Hunt has all of the features you mentioned as well as the ability to see property lines and property owner information. You can mark waypoints, make notes, and take photos. It can also track your position when you’re walking a trail or flagged line. This information can be exported and loaded into GIS software (like QGIS, ArcGIS, or even Google Earth) for planning and layout.

ESRI has a suite of apps that integrate with ArcGIS that you might find useful. Collector is an app that many land managers use for identifying maintenance needs on trails. It also allows you to mark waypoints, make notes, take pictures, and export the information.

I also want to mention that every picture you take with your phone includes GPS coordinates in the metadata.
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[drjos]

OnX Hunt has all of the features you mentioned as well as the ability to see property lines and property owner information. You can mark waypoints, make notes, and take photos. It can also track your position when you’re walking a trail or flagged line. This information can be exported and loaded into GIS software (like QGIS, ArcGIS, or even Google Earth) for planning and layout.

ESRI has a suite of apps that integrate with ArcGIS that you might find useful. Collector is an app that many land managers use for identifying maintenance needs on trails. It also allows you to mark waypoints, make notes, take pictures, and export the information.

I also want to mention that every picture you take with your phone includes GPS coordinates in the metadata.
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On X is really interesting. It immediately answered a question about who owns the land that there is a disputed trail on. Thanks!

 

[D.F.L.]

Thank you, 'Papa. Those are great suggestions, and I will look into all of them. OnX is actually about 6 blocks from me. Small world. Thanks again!

 

[tjhspapa]

Thank you, 'Papa. Those are great suggestions, and I will look into all of them. OnX is actually about 6 blocks from me. Small world. Thanks again!

Happy to help!

 

[Harold]

On X is really interesting. It immediately answered a question about who owns the land that there is a disputed trail on. Thanks!

FYI, no mapping app shows precisely the correct property boundaries. Even the county GIS records are only "kinda close" to the actual. The property records are all done using a different format that is truly not easily converted to GPS coordinates. You have to pay a surveyor to come out and survey the corners to get exact. When you're talking about boundaries of public lands, it's entirely possible that they've actually never been surveyed before.

I'm actually not sure where OnX gets their property boundaries. Could be county GIS records, but could be somewhere else for all I know.

If a private landowner thinks they're going to dispute whether a trail is located on their property or the land manager's property, they'd better show up to that dispute with a survey for their land. Otherwise, they're pissing into the wind.

 

[drjos]

FYI, no mapping app shows precisely the correct property boundaries. Even the county GIS records are only "kinda close" to the actual. The property records are all done using a different format that is truly not easily converted to GPS coordinates. You have to pay a surveyor to come out and survey the corners to get exact. When you're talking about boundaries of public lands, it's entirely possible that they've actually never been surveyed before.

I'm actually not sure where OnX gets their property boundaries. Could be county GIS records, but could be somewhere else for all I know.

If a private landowner thinks they're going to dispute whether a trail is located on their property or the land manager's property, they'd better show up to that dispute with a survey for their land. Otherwise, they're pissing into the wind.

Ya, I get that. But the data provided at least shows that what is claimed to be HSA property is not marked as such while other areas nearby clearly are. At least it's a bit of data to chat with the city about.

 

[Harold]

Ya, I get that. But the data provided at least shows that what is claimed to be HSA property is not marked as such while other areas nearby clearly are. At least it's a bit of data to chat with the city about.

you might be surprised how far off some of that data is. if there's a boundary shown even remotely nearby, you know one exists and you should be concerned.

it's for this reason, at least in part, when I've done new trail development in a park, the land manager has laid out clear instructions that the trail should be a minimum of a specified distance from the apparent property boundary.

 

[HypNoTic]

We use GAIA Pro for general exploration but if we have time, I generate accurate maps in QGIS and use Avanza on the phone. Being able to pick which layer to show in the field is awesome.

Just keep in mind that most phone have a very relative precision (typically 7-12m) while a GNSS Garmin (64x, 66s, etc) have 2-3m in the wood. The next step is a semi-pro unit, like the EOS Arrow100 or the Trimble Catalyst. Both offer sub-meter precision.

 

[wolfmw]

I also use Gaia to track/plan/navigate hiking/biking/etc and it does all the things you want. (I have a Pro subscription though, so not sure what is/isn't available with the free version. It's like $30/yr, well worth it to me)

As mentioned, limited by phone GPS precision but I find Gaia does better than some other apps, and it's not too battery intensive. Easy to upload info and access later from a computer to edit, export in various formats, etc.

I think Gaia has been bought up by Outside (that also bought Pinkbike/Trailforks)? But so far no changes I've noticed

ETA: OnX seems pretty similar, and might have better info on land boundaries.

 

[D.F.L.]

Thanks so much for all the great advice!

 

[ridenfool]

A free Android app I've been getting good use of is Geo Tracker.
It offers quite a bit of flexibility for references and has been very accurate for building tracks for upload to MTBProject and Trailforks.

Also, a PC app called Viking has been easy to learn (compared to something like Garmin BaseCamp) and has enough flexibility to polish up gpx files before sending them off to the Interwebz.

I'll often get a track of a new flagged route with Geo Tracker, then use Viking to draw in more trail in empty space. Then, export the markup gpx back to the phone and use it on Geo Tracker to tie more ribbons into unused space.