Once upon a time, you went camping to shrug off the modern
comforts of technology and spend a couple days re-connecting with your wild
heritage. But these days, most of us need to be reachable for personal or
professional reasons 24/7. So, since you’re bringing your phone along anyway,
you might as well let it provide you with a little 21st century
assistance as you journey back into the heart of the natural world. 3 useful smartphone
apps for your next foray into the scenic beyond are:
Allstays’
Camp & RV App
This little wonder will set you back $9.99, but considering
how pricey some of the hardcopy campground archives can be, you’ll quickly
realize the cost benefit. The Allstays app lets you find and research
campgrounds all across the country, perfect for the trip navigator to use when
scouting out your evening resting place. You can filter your results for a wide
variety of options beyond the standard tent or RV searches, and it even lets
you know about any low bridges along the route to the campground’s check in,
perfect for those with a towering Class A who don’t want to scrape their roof
on a graffiti-caked underpass.
National
Parks App, by National Geographic
National Geographic’s app provides you with a
thoroughly-detailed and interactive guide for dozens of national parks in the
United States. It’ll cost you $1.99 per guide, but again, compare that cost to
a floppy brochure available at the park’s entrance and you’ll quickly realize
your savings. This app is particularly effective for diverse, far-reaching
parks like Yosemite, where what you can see and do varies wildly depending on
the time of year you visit. You’ll never get lost, or be at a loss for what to
do next.
AllTrails
Hiking & Mountain Biking App
If you’re looking for a daylong trek or biking trail to
spice up your camping trip, this app from AllTrails gives you access to a
network of user-uploaded info and images about thousands of trails across the
country. This is the resource to have if you’re looking for advice and
expertise about local favorites that might not get a mention in a larger
archive. And since it can be yours at no
charge, there’s really no reason to not download this app.
If you’re a traditionalist who still spends a week in the
woods without a modern day gadget of any kind, then I salute you. But if you
need to be plugged-in anyway because of work or family responsibilities, you
might as well take advantage of the many apps and tools that the smartphone can
offer you to improve your time in the great outdoors.
Author bio:
John is a tech writer and blogger who names Yosemite as his
favorite park of all time. He writes for gadget
insurer Protect Your Bubble, a leading insurer of smartphones, tablets,
handheld electronics, and everything else that you might lose in the woods.
