How to plan hikes & other outdoor adventures in Apple Maps with iOS 18

AppleInsider

Apple Maps in iOS 18 has been significantly upgraded, offering hikers and outdoor enthusiasts new ways to plan adventures. Here's how to prepare for a hike in Apple Maps.

Apple Maps offers hiking routes in iOS 18

The updates to iOS 18's Maps app make it an invaluable tool for planning hikes and outdoor activities. With detailed mapping, real-time data, and a wealth of user-generated content, Maps provides a comprehensive solution for outdoor enthusiasts.

Whether you're a seasoned hiker or a beginner, iOS 18 Maps ensures that your next adventure is well-planned and enjoyable. And since Apple added the ability to download maps offline with iOS 17, hikers can feel safe without an internet connection.

How to plan a hike for popular trailheads

You can create custom topographic hiking trail maps on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and access them on both your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Popular trailheads are accessible in Apple Maps

1. Open Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.


2. Search for a trail or national park. Select the Trailheads/Trail button and choose a trail.


3. Tap the Plan a Hike button, then tap on the map to set your route.


4. View distance and elevation, then choose options like Reverse, Out & Back, or Close Loop.


5. Save and name the route, then tap Done.

However, you might find that certain parks or hiking trails don't have the "Trailheads" button, or you want to create a walking route through a city. In that case, you can start a custom route.

How to plan a custom route in Apple Maps

1. In the default view in Apple Maps, find the Library section and tap underneath to choose Places, Guides, and Routes.


2. After selecting Routes, Create Route, you can tap the map to add a starting point, then tap other locations to visit.


3. You'll see the same options for Reverse, Out & Back, or Close Loop.


4. Finally, tap Save or Go and start the route when ready.

How to plan a custom route in Apple Maps

Apple Maps in iOS 18 enhances the hiking and outdoor planning experience with detailed topographical maps, real-time data, and user-generated content. These features ensure that both seasoned hikers and beginners can plan their adventures effectively and safely, even offline. Whether following popular trails or creating custom routes, iOS 18 Maps offers tools for a fun outing.



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WilliamM

Will this offer anything outside the USA?

frednerk

It’s a good question WilliamM. Here in Australia, most of the cycling trails are not shown. So its necessary to use Google Maps, Strava or Komoot etc to plan a ride.

jeffharris

I use AllTrails.
It WilliamM said:

Will this offer anything outside the USA?

I use AllTrails. It works internationally. 

It worked fine when I was on Terceira in the Açores and Tenerife in the Canary Islands last year.

beowulfschmidt

I hope there's similar functionality for biking.  In addition to roads, there are some trails suitable for bikes as well.

damn_its_hot

The thing that continues to disappoint me is the lack of ability to add waypoints (if I am using the correct term) e.g., ‘planning a trip from Houston to SF in 3 days— with side trips to the crater, Carlsbad Caverns; want to travel I10 W till I get to point where I can exit to each side trip, visit said places & then be able to turnaround to go back to I10. I would also include 2 overnight stays along the main route in say El Paso & Las Vegas. I don’t want to break this up into 5 or more trips. I want to travel along this route and check distances from current. Location to any of these points mentioned. Would be difficult if broken up into routes for each segment!’

Am I missing something or is this really only good for day trips?

Abusbey

There seems to be a serious problem related to planning and plotting custom hikes. If you go to plan a custom trail hike, you can only do so (for starting, via, and end points) on pathways that are in Apple's data base. So if you are in the boonies and there is no road or track in their data base you cannot plan a custom hike (or at least I have not been able to do so unless there was a pre-existing path or road showing up in Maps). So the trailhead and trails feature is nice for existing trails, but forget trying to plan your own trails if their paths/roads don't appear in Maps.

Abusbey

damn_its_hot said:

The thing that continues to disappoint me is the lack of ability to add waypoints (if I am using the correct term) e.g., ‘planning a trip from Houston to SF in 3 days— with side trips to the crater, Carlsbad Caverns; want to travel I10 W till I get to point where I can exit to each side trip, visit said places & then be able to turnaround to go back to I10. I would also include 2 overnight stays along the main route in say El Paso & Las Vegas. I don’t want to break this up into 5 or more trips. I want to travel along this route and check distances from current. Location to any of these points mentioned. Would be difficult if broken up into routes for each segment!’

Am I missing something or is this really only good for day trips?

Unless I misunderstood your comment, have you not tried using Add Stops in Maps? I plan trips with multiple via points (Stops) by defining points and then adding points/stops to the route (sometimes I have to drag the stops to the right order), but it seems to work fine and gives me complicated trips. I don't remember what the limit is on the number of stops you can have on a route.

lowededwookie

WilliamM said:

Will this offer anything outside the USA?

Not sure but here in New Plymouth, New Zealand we have around 100kms of walkways in the city, excluding Pukekura Park.

I just did a manual map of the Huatoki Walkway and it was awesome how it follows the walkways on the map. I expected to have to do a heap of points to get the contours right but I didn't. This is going to be an awesome update even for manual updates.

spacekid

I'd like to be able to do that with Apple Maps for car trips. Currently you have to add stops but if Apple Maps thinks that route is slower, it jumps back to some other route.

dymmas

Seasoned hikers, don’t rush to sell your Garmins yet… In custom routes in iOS 18 it’s not possible to upload a gps file from another mapping program. Also, importantly, there is no way to add a segment of a route that is off track, which means Maps is routing just using established trails. Perfectly reasonable for most walking / hiking plans, but not if you are used to very specific route creation tools offered by specialist apps / Garmin products.