AllTrails is a popular walking and hiking app that lets you find routes all over the world
If you’re a fan of walking and hiking, it’s likely you’ve come across AllTrails. This app, available on iPhone and Android, has over 90 million users globally and compiles thousands of trail maps along with user reviews from around the world.
This allows you to land in a new location and instantly discover a well-trodden path to explore, complete with useful images and reviews from fellow rambling enthusiasts. Whether you’re embracing the digital age in the great outdoors or clinging to your worn Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, you might be pondering if the popular AllTrails app is worth the download.
This is because, while there is a complimentary version, the company also provides Plus and Peak subscriptions at £35.99 and £79.99 per annum, respectively. The significant price leap from Plus to Peak grants purchasers four additional features: community heatmaps, the capability to construct routes within the app, customise AllTrails routes in the app, and a recent addition that can identify plants.
While not every rambler will desire these features, it’s worth contemplating the Plus subscription as the comprehensive free version of AllTrails, known as Base, only permits users to save trails, compile lists of trails, and navigate to stay on course, reports the Express.
I regard myself as a casual walker and hiker. Having been in the Cubs and cadets during my childhood and teenage years, I’ve had plenty of experience with compasses and maps.
AllTrails Plus membership
AllTrails offers a year of its AllTrails Plus membership for £35.99 per year. Available on desktop, iPhone and Android, it unlocks smart features for those looking to get more into the great outdoors.
Moreover, having a dog meant frequent trips to the woods. However, my 20s weren’t exactly filled with outdoor adventures, making me the ideal user for AllTrails: individuals who wish to spend more time outdoors but aren’t seasoned hikers equipped with gear from their Everest expeditions.
This makes it generally appealing to most people, although those at an advanced level may find it too basic. It also falls short in showcasing off-the-beaten-path routes in developing countries.
But for UK hikers, it’s spot on, encouraging you to venture outdoors more without being condescending or overwhelming. Opting for Plus, which requires an upfront annual payment equivalent to £2.99 per month, grants access to offline map downloads, which I found essential when using AllTrails.
Even on walks where the signal was mostly good, the app performed much faster when not dependent on a constant data connection to display the map. The GPS operates without a signal, so with an offline map downloaded, my exact location on the map remains entirely accurate even without reception.
It also allows me to create and edit custom routes, which is how routes end up on AllTrails in the first place. AllTrails assures that it verifies routes before they appear in the app for others to use, which greatly enhances trust in the reliability of the information.
With over half a million curated trails worldwide, that’s reassuring to know. Also, members can create and edit on desktop, while only Peak members can do so in the mobile app.
The fundamental experience of using AllTrails involves finding a hiking route in the app and then pressing the start button. This opens a top-down map view of the route and your location, allowing you to navigate as you would with a traditional paper map or Google Maps.
After using AllTrails for a short while, you’ll understand why it surpasses Google Maps for navigation. Google’s app may seem like having the entire world mapped in your pocket for free, but its design aims to get you from your current location to your destination as quickly as possible, with a few adverts for local businesses thrown in for good measure.
If you find yourself in a charming English village and fancy a circular 10km walk encompassing the surrounding rolling hills and points of interest, Google won’t be much help. However, there’s a good chance someone has uploaded a suitable route on AllTrails to meet your needs.
However, AllTrails’ maps may lack the detail found in Google Maps or OS maps. The latter has incredible detail, showcasing both natural and manmade features in the area.
AllTrails maps are significantly more simplified, focusing on roads, paths and elevation. There is an official OS Maps app for iPhone and Android with similar features and subscription (also £35.99 per year) but as it’s OS, it’s UK only.
With AllTrails, ramblers can select routes based on their approximate starting points scattered around the map of the area they’re in (or planning to visit). You can also filter by area, distance, and other variables, such as difficulty rating, to pinpoint the walks you’re most likely to want to undertake.
Clicking on the Explore tab at the bottom reveals nearby trails, while the For You tab offers a more personalised selection of route suggestions. This includes some original editorial from AllTrails featuring lists of routes in distant locations, as well as routes closer to home based on your previous app activity.
When you walk and complete a route, it is saved to your profile, which helps inform these suggestions. With the Plus membership activated during a stroll, I received off-route alerts, both on my iPhone and connected Apple Watch.
This was incredibly useful as it alerted me if I deviated from the route’s path, meaning I didn’t have to constantly check my phone throughout the hike – something I certainly didn’t want to do while trying to savour the great outdoors. Indeed, one of the benefits of pairing an Apple Watch with AllTrails is the ability to keep your phone tucked away while having the map and off-route alerts conveniently on your wrist.
This feature is also available for Android users sporting a WearOS smartwatch, such as a Google Pixel Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch, with the AllTrails app installed. AllTrails further allows you to send routes to Garmin and Coros sports watches. I put this to the test on the latter and it functions brilliantly – I can even initiate the route from the watch, which then automatically uploads to my AllTrails account post-walk, eliminating the need to use my phone while out and about.
Additional Plus perks encompass 3D maps, which I personally chose not to utilise, though a Live Share option for real-time activity tracking so loved ones can monitor your location on a trail is excellent for safety purposes. The standout aspect of AllTrails is that it does just enough to set you up for a fantastic walk, but then makes a point of leaving you to it.
Given that it’s continuously using your phone’s GPS when you’re out exploring, you might want to think about bringing a power bank along. For anyone keen to embrace the great outdoors but unsure where to begin, AllTrails could provide the confidence needed to venture out and tackle a trail.
That’s likely worth £2.99 per month for anyone eager to take up walking and, crucially, maintain their interest in it.