Best Outdoor Apps for Families
Many of us spend time outdoors to escape technology.
However, with the recent development of 1,000s of apps that specifically aim to enhance our outdoor experiences, our phones have become a valuable piece of gear when planning and packing for an adventure, especially when our kids come along.
In the spirit and inevitability of embracing technology outside, I have created a list of my favorite outdoor apps for families.
Apps for Camping
In 2013 my husband and I, along with our then four-year-old daughter, set off on an 8-month road trip across the country in our Volkswagen van. Back then only a handful of camping apps existed. Most of the apps offered very little details other than a crude tent icon on a map.
I can’t tell you how many times, after a long day of driving we found ourselves in the dark searching for place to camp, unsure how gnarly the road ahead was, whether a campsite would even be open, or if the spot we found was on private or public land. The stress of not knowing where we would land for the night, on top of a cranky kiddo forced us, on more than one occasion, into some pretty shady rest stops, RV parks, and Walmart parking lots.
The dads putting on a knot tying workshop at the campsite in Utah's Canyonlands.
Since then, several vagabond-friendly movements such as overlanding, van life, and working remotely have caught traction. This has led to an increase in camping apps, and the quality of content within those apps has skyrocketed. More than a dozen great camping apps now exist.
Here are my two favorites:
the dyrt
This is my absolute favorite camping app. It comes with robust filtering options that allow users to not only choose site type (tent, RV, dispersed, cabins, or even yurts), but also access type (drive-in, walk-in, hike-in), features (fires, water, toilets), and price (free or otherwise).
Find safe and unique places to camp using the Dyrt app.
Each camping location typically comes with a slew of site-specific information such as photos, amenities, contact info, and best of all, up-to-date reviews. The Dyrt features super crisp map base layers, and also offers topo, imagery, and jurisdictional boundaries (BLM, national forest, private, etc.).
Pros: Great for all types of camping, clean easy interface, lots of filtering options, large active community so reviews are up to date
Cons: Maps do not work offline (unless you update to the PRO version)
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free (with option to update to PRO)
iOverlander
This camping app comes in handy for dispersed car camping sites off the beaten path. In addition to the ~20,000 identified camping locations in the U.S., the app has an accumulation of years of road intel submitted by thousands of road trippers, overlanders, van lifers, and RVers.
The iOverlander app helps you plan out all the details of your next long road trip thanks to its interactive maps and reviews.
Along with camping locations and associated site intel (reviews, amenities, photos, wi-fi signal strength), iOverlander gives you access to other key camping and road data like locations of gas stations, propane refilling sites, water and dump stations, attractions, and showers and laundromats.
Pros: Tons of information, both U.S. and worldwide, works both online and offline
Cons: Mostly car camping locations, the interface is a bit clunky and not as slick and sexy as others
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Apps for Outdoor Adventures
Whether you’re visiting a new area and need recommendations on places to explore, or just want to discover something new in your hometown, I have included my favorite apps for choosing the perfect crag, trail, or park.
Adventure Projects
Adventure Projects, Inc., has created a series of apps that help you choose an objective, regardless of your sport.
MTB Project makes it easy to locate mountain biking trails near home and on the road with filters, photos, maps, and reviews.
Hiking Project, Mountain Project, MTB Project, National Park Trail Guide, Powder Project, and Trail Run Project each feature simple interfaces, great content, comprehensive photo galleries, and rating features to help you select an age-appropriate, skill-level appropriate adventure for you and your family.
Each of the Adventure Project apps work offline, as you can download maps and photos for use anywhere.
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Chimani
If you plan to visit a national park, download Chimani. It provides a wealth of park information for all 419 national parks, as well as many national forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and state parks. It recently released its first state-wide outdoor rec and travel guide - for Maine - with more to come in the future.
The Chimani app offers interactive maps of national parks that include helpful features like restrooms, campsites, trails, and even the best places in the park to view the sunrise and sunset.
When synced with your GPS location, Chimani helps guide you through your visit and even identifies park features through its viewport feature.
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
the dyrt
This previously mentioned outdoor app some cool features as part of its PRO upgrade. My favorite allows users to either manually create their own trip itinerary stringing together campgrounds along their route, or allows users to choose one of several recommended trip options based on their starting point and camping preferences.
Apps for Planning Outdoor Adventures
You have your adventure picked out, now it’s time to focus weather and packing. Thankfully, lots of outdoor apps exist to help you work out these details.
Weather apps like Weather Underground help you plan your adventures, and make real-time adjustments to keep your family safe while you play outdoors.
Weather Underground
Nothing will ruin a day outdoors as quickly as finding yourself unprepared for the weather. Having a reliable outdoor app with both extended and hourly forecasts is key. Bonus points if your weather app has a radar function that allows a more local and long-term look into conditions.
Pros: All the data breakouts a weather-nerd could ever want
Cons: Does not work offline
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Google Sheets
Having a go-to list of gear for each type of adventure is something I never felt inspired to create. It wasn’t until I forgot the coffee, or the noodles, or the lighter for the umpteenth time that I conceded my muscle memory had transitioned to mom-brain.
In addition to a camping gear list, I also have on hand individual packing lists, meal packing lists, cost lists, and general notes.
I personally use Google Sheets for all our planning and packing, thanks to its simplicity, input flexibility, and sharing and editability among others in your group. I have tried other packing apps, but they feel too rigid, and most people already know how to use the Google interface.
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Apps for Outdoor Safety
When I moved back to the Southwest I spent a majority of my days outdoors in remote areas. During the week I worked in the field, and on the weekends I camped or rafted with my family outside of cell service.
Even though I had taken multiple first-aid and outdoor survival courses, I never felt confident that in an emergency I could magically conjure up the curriculum and leap to action. Nor did I feel like lugging along the course manuals in my pack alongside the rest of my gear.
Family and friends making their way through rapids on the Green River. It’s super important to be prepared for anything when taking kids on the river. In addition to taking basic first aid and wilderness survival courses, we always have an app ready to guide us through emergency situations.
It took a rafting trip with six kids, which included multiple horrendous lightning storms and a close call with a rattlesnake, for me to do some research on apps for outdoor safety.
First Aid – American Red Cross
There are many first-aid apps out there, but I like the simplicity and comprehensiveness of this particular app. Right off the bat, the main page gives the top 15 life threatening scenarios (allergies, asthma attack, bleeding, etc.) putting you one click away from step-by-step instructions with photos and diagrams along with a comprehensive list of FAQ for follow-up care.
In addition to downloading the app, we also recommend carrying a solid first aid kit at all times, such as those made by Adventure Medical Kits.
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Offline Survival Manual
This very thorough outdoor app mimics a basic survival field manual. It covers everything from how to build shelter, find/filter water, start a fire, forage for food, identify animal racks, and ford a stream. No joke, the list goes on and on.
Thankfully, I have never had to put the suggested survival techniques to actual practice. We have used it to help direct fun in-camp activities for the kids like teaching them how to build a shelter or how to find north without using a compass.
Device: Android
Cost: Free
I hear SAS Survival Guide is another good option available in iOS ($5.99)
Cairn
This outdoor app offers realtime location tracking and will send overdue notices to the contacts of your choice. Cairn also combines your speed, and trail distance and elevation change into an algorithm to provide you with an ETA on the thousands of trails it has in its system.
Cairn helps you find cell service with maps of crowdsourced information of where others have found service near you.
Cairn also features crowdsourced information on where other users have found cell service in a particular area, something I know I could have used several time on solo adventures when I took longer to enjoy my surroundings than planned.
Device: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Apps for Keeping Your Kids Entertained at Camp
Nature-inspired apps can be a great way to teach kids (and parents) more about their outdoor surroundings. Some of the apps I like to bring out during camping downtime or hiking lulls include:
Seek
This outdoor app helps you identify different plants and animals in nature. You simply take a photo of the plant, bug, fungi, or animal in question, and the app matches the critter against millions of cataloged species accounts.
Seek makes it easy to answer the millions of questions your kids throw at you on trail by helping you identify plants, animals, fungi, and bugs.
When it finds a match, the Seek app shares the species information with the user. This app gets kids excited about the living creatures around them.
Devices: iOs & Android
Cost: Free
Skygazing apps
Apps like SkyView or Sky Guild allow the users to point their phone toward the starry sky and the app will identify all sorts of cool celestial features such as planets, satellites, and constellations.
Device: iOS (Sky Guild) and Android (SkyView)
Cost: Varies
When we have downtime at camp, we use outdoor apps like the Offline Survival Manual to practice different skills like knot tying
This outdoor app has several cool features to help kill a time at camp with the kids while teaching them something new. You can practice the survival scenarios and skills at camp, like how to start a fire or collect water.
This Offline Survival Manual also contains a list of different knots to practice with step-by-step instructions and uses for each one.
