Is the iPad really durable enough to go on long hikes? The folks at Backpacker magazine and Trimble Outdoors apparently think so, as they have announced the release of Backpacker Map Maker, a mapping and trip planning app for the Apple iPad. From the touch-screen tablet computer hikers and backpackers can find wild places, plot GPS points and plan their next adventure over seamless topographical maps.
“Our readers absolutely love maps. As avid backcountry explorers and GPS users, they like to view, create and annotate their topos, and with Map Maker, they can now harness the beauty and power of their tablets to experience maps in an extraordinary and dynamic way,” said Jonathan Dorn, editor-in-chief of Backpacker, and vice president, AIM Outdoor Group. “Map Maker is a portable, practical tool for hikers, a great way to relive their adventures, and the perfect complement to GPS Trails, our smartphone navigation app for in-the-field use.”
Backpacker Map Maker begins with best-in-class maps for hikers in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to aerial, hybrid, street and terrain maps, the app provides access to more than 68,000 USGS topo maps stitched together and enhanced by MyTopo. The app has a full-line of other features for the hiker, including a place search to find popular peaks, campgrounds, trailheads, mountain passes, creeks, lakes and more from a list of more than 10 million places; dual map mode that provides view of two map types at once for more precise trip planning; and cloud-based trips, which can be saved to a backpacker.com account and accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. Hikers can also plan trips in Map Maker and then open and navigate in the Backpacker GPS Trails app, an in-field navigation app for iPhone and Android.
The app further lets users drag-and-drop GPS waypoints onto the map, add notes, as well as utilize a ruler tool to measure how far it is from the trailhead to a campsite to a mountain summit and beyond. There is a digital compass that can accessed as a full-screen translucent compass overlaid on the maps, while the GPS coordinates provides display of latitude/longitude coordinates in three formats: DD, DDM and DMS, or view coordinates in UTM, the metric-based coordinate system preferred by the U.S. military and Backpacker editors.
The Backpacker Map Maker app for the Apple iPad and iPad2 is available for download now from the Apple App Store. Best of all you’ll never have to worry about having to fold it up.
Apple App Store: Backpacker Map Maker App
Backpacker Magazine
Trimble Outdoors
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