Hiking & Cycling Routes

For general-purpose offline maps and turn-by-turn driving, see Offline Maps & Nav. For underlying tile / routing infrastructure, see Maps & Geo. For sports / fitness logging beyond pure routing, see related fitness categories.

The "find a trail" market consolidated around AllTrails and Komoot in 2024-26, but each has rough edges and the FOSS alternatives are competitive for the route-following job.

Hiking-first

• ★ AllTrails — free + paid AllTrails+ (~$36/yr); huge crowdsourced trail database with reviews, photos, conditions. Free has ads + caps offline downloads to a small list. AllTrails+ is the only way to download offline maps and use Lifeline (live location to a contact).
• FarOut Guides (was Guthook) — paid per-trail (~$10–$60); ★ for thru-hiking (PCT, AT, CDT, Camino) — community-curated water sources, campsites, comments. Best-in-class for long-distance.
• Gaia GPS — paid Premium (~$40/yr) + free; ★ for backcountry layering — USGS topos, NOAA weather, satellite, public lands overlays.
• CalTopo — paid Pro (~$50/yr) + free web; ★ for trip planners — slope angles, weather overlays, custom maps you print and bring. SAR teams' favorite.
• Hiking Project — free (REI-owned); declining since 2023.
• OS Maps (Ordnance Survey) — paid (~£30/yr); ★ for UK hiking — definitive UK trail / bridleway data.
• MapOut — paid one-time (~$5 iOS); offline OSM with hand-drawn aesthetic.
• Avenza Maps — paid + free; load any georeferenced PDF / map; useful for park-issued trail maps.

Cycling-first

• ★ Komoot — paid per-region + free; ★ for route planning — surface-aware (paved/gravel/singletrack), hiking-friendly, EU-strong. Region purchases are one-time ($4 each) or "World" ($30 one-time).
• ★ Ride with GPS — paid Premium (~$80/yr) + free; ★ for cue-sheet navigation on a Garmin / Wahoo. Crisp cycling-specific routing.
• Strava routes — paid (~$80/yr); routing on top of heatmap data showing where other cyclists actually ride. Best discovery, weakest navigation.
• Cyclers — free + paid Pro; bike-routing app strong in Europe.
• Bikemap — paid + free; community route library.
• BRouter — free, FOSS routing engine; ★ for self-hosting cycle-routing with custom cost profiles. Web UI plus integrations into OsmAnd.

Routing engines (FOSS, self-hostable)

• ★ Valhalla — open-source, multi-modal (bike / hike / car), used by Tracestrack and others.
• GraphHopper — Java; the engine behind Komoot's early years; great cycle profiles.
• OSRM — fastest car routing; less great for foot/bike.
• BRouter — Java + Android; extremely customizable cycling routing.

GPX / route files

• GPX — universal route format; every app above imports it.
• FIT files — Garmin / Wahoo native; richer (sensors, laps).
• gpsbabel — convert between formats.
• GPX Studio (free web) — view / edit routes in a browser.

Practical rules (2026)

• Download maps before you go. All these apps stream by default; on a long ridge, you'll lose signal.
• Bring a backup. Phone failures (cold, wet, dropped) are the most common SAR-call cause; a paper map + compass costs nothing.
• Crowd-sourced trail conditions (AllTrails reviews, FarOut comments) are usually 1–14 days behind reality after weather events. Check NPS / forest-service alerts.
• Battery management: airplane mode + GPS-only is the long-life setup; an external battery in cold weather is non-negotiable.
• Privacy: Strava heatmaps have outed military bases; AllTrails check-ins reveal home addresses. Be deliberate about what you share publicly.

Pick this if…

• Default trail discovery, US: AllTrails (free is fine if you pre-route on Wi-Fi).
• Thru-hiking: FarOut Guides for the trail you're doing.
• Backcountry trip planning: CalTopo (web) + Gaia GPS (mobile).
• Default cycling routing, EU: Komoot.
• Cue-sheet on a Garmin / Wahoo: Ride with GPS.
• Self-host the routing engine: BRouter or Valhalla.
• UK walking: OS Maps.