The nitty-gritty: With a free membership, you can search for hiking trails using a name, city, or park and then filter your results based on difficulty level and length. What it’s good for: Finding and researching all possible paths through a park.

I didn’t use the NPS app on my trip to Big Bend National Park-but if I had, I could have avoided a two-hour wait at a trailhead when important roads were blocked off for construction. The NPS app gives real-time updates on conditions within the park-such as road closures, long entry lines, weather advisory warnings, and whether you need a reservation to enter-allowing you to find all the pertinent information you need to know before heading to or traveling throughout the park. You can get as involved with the app as you’d like, whether you want to keep detailed lists of the overlooks and points of interest you want to see or you just need to check the park hours and entry fees. Easy to use and free to download, the NPS app (which you can also use offline as long as you download content beforehand) offers interactive maps of each park, self-guided tours curated by park rangers, and news and current events, along with lists of amenities (such as food services, restrooms, and gift shops). The nitty-gritty: All of my trip planning begins with this handy app released in 2021 by the National Park Service. What it’s good for: Information about every single national park site across the country-including national parks, monuments, and historical sites. The app: National Park Service ( iOS and Android) Here are the apps that can help you plan your own adventures. Whether I’m searching for campsites, organizing a packed itinerary, or navigating long hikes safely, I’ve found these apps extremely useful in pulling off my national park trips. I’ve hiked up mountains for stunning 360-degree vistas, ventured underground to explore cave systems, and wandered through slot canyons in the desert heat-and to do it all successfully, I’ve relied on a few trusted apps. In 2021, I visited 14 national parks spanning from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between.

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