Anyone who has hiked long enough knows how popular the hiking app AllTrails is in the hiking community. There are many reasons for this.
AllTrails helps you find the best trails nearby, see reviews of those trails, and track your location while you’re hiking. As useful as the free version is, there are many benefits to purchasing the Pro version of the app.
In this article, you’ll learn about everything you get when you pay for AllTrails Pro so you can decide if it’s worth it for you.
Note: Upgrading to AllTrails Pro costs $29.99/year, or you can pay $99.99 for a lifetime subscription.
Table of Contents
1. Download Offline Maps
One of the main reasons most outdoor adventurers buy AllTrails Pro is to download offline maps.
This means you can explore trails outside of any cellular network. All you have to do is select the little down arrow icon next to the map name to download the trail map to your phone.
This will open a Map layer window where you can choose the type of map you want to download. Then, when you open AllTrails, it will access your local copy of the map and display your location as a blue dot.
As long as your phone’s battery doesn’t die, you’ll never lose again!
2. Access to AllTrails Navigator
When you have AllTrails Pro, you will notice a small arrow icon with the word Directional under the trail title on the trail tag.
A handy feature called Navigator allows you to track your activity while on the go.
When you select the Navigation app, it opens a map that looks like Google Maps. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in the type of activities you intend to do on the trail, such as hiking, mountain biking, running, and more.
Then you will see a green color Begin button appears under the map. Select this option to start your activity and AllTrails will track time, distance, altitude and more depending on the action you selected.
You can save these activities to your account and view them later.
3. Use the Hotline to Keep Yourself Safe
Going out into the wilderness is usually pretty safe, but you never know what can happen in the wild. A best practice for hiking enthusiasts is to always keep your family or best friends in the know whenever you’re out in the wilderness. This is especially true if you are deviating from the grid.
To launch Hotlineselect the little gray icon on the right Begin inside button Navigator.
This will open a Line form with all your locations and plans (like when you started and plan to finish your hike) preloaded.
Use Edit link to add yours Contact Safety (email addresses of family and friends). Then, further down the form, you can fill in a message that you want to send to your safety contacts, so they know why your AllTrails app is sending them the message. Details about your outdoor adventures.
Key Lifeline features include:
- Send status updates with just a tap of a button so your contacts can track your Progress.
- Navigation will immediately notify you if you accidentally start to go off course.
- Lifeline will automatically alert your safety contacts if you don’t complete your activity by the time it’s supposed to end. It even sends them your last known location.
If you ever get lost, even if your phone loses battery, knowing your last known location will greatly improve the chances that search and rescue teams can find you.
4. See real-time details of trail conditions
There are many reasons why you might decide not to embark on a planned hike. If there’s a storm coming, AllTrails Weather the overlay will show you this before it arrives. If it’s a severe weather day and local air quality or pollution levels are bad, AllTrails provides a Air quality or Light pollution overlay so you can see if the air is clean enough for a healthy hike.
There’s even a Pollen overlays so you can see if trail conditions might be exacerbating your allergies.
Overlays are simply map layers that will appear on your trail map. To enable any of these overlays in AllTrails Pro, simply tap the two overlapping box icons to the right of your road map.
Select any overlay (Pro or Non-Pro) that you want to see on your map. Then, when you select the back arrow at the top of the screen, you’ll see those map layers appear on your road map.
You can remove any overlay by tapping the same icon, then tapping the selected overlay and leaving the light on.
5. Print versions of your map on paper
You can select the Print/PDF link below the trail name to print a paper copy of the trail on any trail.
Before printing, you can set the scale, orientation, gridlines, print layout, and the type of map you want to print.
You can also access AllTrails Pro printing as you view the trail map. Just select the little printer icon in the upper right corner of the map.
You can send a printout to your printer to create a paper copy or save as a PDF. If you save a PDF file, you can transfer it to your phone to create a backup of your trail if the AllTrails app crashes. Or you can send a PDF to a friend so you both can take a copy of the map with you on the go.
6. No more ads
Ads on the free version of AllTrails can be quite annoying. So you’ll be happy to know that when you upgrade to AllTrails Pro, all ads are gone.
You don’t have to worry about ads popping up while you’re trying to find a new hiking trail or when you’re looking at your map.
The ad-free experience of using the app is a great one. It allows you to focus on what interests you without distractions.
Best of all, 1% of each subscription will be donated to non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting the planet.
Should you upgrade to AllTrails Pro?
Whether or not you upgrade to AllTrails Pro is a personal decision. However, if you spend a lot of time traveling in remote places with poor cellular signal, the Pro version of AllTrails will pay for itself. You can travel wherever you like without worrying about whether you can access maps or detailed information about your route.
Plus, with Navigator to track your activities and Hotline to keep you safe when you’re away from home, there’s more than enough reason to upgrade.
If you only occasionally hike or spend time outdoors, the Pro version might not be worth it. But if you are an adventurous person, you cannot go wrong with such a small investment.
