How to Use Tech to Scout for New (Socially Distant) Places to Hike
By Carissa Beckwith, HYP Recreation Chair
Spring has sprung, and unfortunately, so has the need for social distancing. If you are anything like me, you want to be outside—both to enjoy the beautiful weather and to escape the cabin fever induced by living AND working in your house. So how can you find new places to go hike? Using technology to scout for places is a great place to start. Below, I’ve listed a few common options. To be clear, I’m not giving away my favorite places to go exploring. I’m helping you find your own!
THE PAY-FOR-IT STUFF
OnX
Price: $29.99 per year for one state
OnX prides itself on being the best tool for hunters. I’d also say it’s the best tool for outdoor exploring. OnX is an app full of maps with different layers. There are layers for public and private lands (great for avoiding trespassing), layers for hiking trails with color-coded difficulty and mileage (great for planning backpacking trips), layers for burn areas (great for scoping out potential morel-picking places), and many, many other options. The app allows you to download areas of the map before you leave, so that you always have a high-res option on hand while you are in the outdoors. You can also track yourself (so you can never get lost, especially if you aren’t on a trail), add waypoints (so you can return to places), add photos (so you can document things!), and measure distance (so you know how far you still have to go before getting back to the car).
AllTrails
Free basic subscription. Pro is $29.99 per year.
AllTrails is a great app for finding and following hikes. You can easily search an area around Helena and come up with a few viable hikes. If you find a trail you like, AllTrails provides you with a short description, access to other people’s reviews, the length of the trail, and the approximate elevation gain. Sometimes, there are photos and recordings available—so you can “see” what the trail is like before you actually hike it.
If you are looking to go exploring on a well-traveled trail that likely has a parking area and signage, AllTrails is a great option. If you are looking to hike on no trail, or on a less commonly used trail, OnX is the best option.
THE FREE STUFF
Trailforks
I don’t mountain bike, but Trailforks is a great database of information even for hikers like me. Trailforks is like a free version of AllTrails where most of the reviews and trails are from mountain bikers. The trails are also usage-driven, meaning that (like AllTrails), you can see how popular a trail is by how many reviews and recordings are associated with it. You can view trails on their webmap by difficulty, status, condition, popularity, etc. Browsing Trailforks is how I first found out about Copper City, which is a beautiful place in the spring.
Hiking Project
https://www.hikingproject.com/
Hiking Project has lots of trails mapped for Montana. There are a handful listed around Helena—but this guide is really best for doing large-scale scouting statewide. Want to see the main trails in the Big Belts? They’ve got them mapped. Want to see the main routes through the Bob? Those are on there too. Want to see all the routes in the Scratchgravels? Sorry, you’re out of luck—but they do have a few of the main routes.
Hike Wild Montana
The Montana Wilderness Association manages this online map and hiking guide. It’s a great tool, and a wonderful place to find out-of-the way places to explore. Unlike a lot of the other options out there, Hike Wild Montana allows you to sort trails by trail features. Want to find a hike to a lake? There are tons of options. How about a hike to a lake that has a waterfall through an old growth forest? You can find those too!
Trail descriptions also provide a “Getting Here” description. If you are at all concerned about the drivability of getting to the trailhead, read this section. Especially if you are going out east to an area notorious for gumbo on the roads.
Montana State Parks Trail Planner
https://mtfwp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=194b310772f24391b4adfc635b43ede2
If you are a Montana resident, you probably bought a license plate that gives you free access to Montana’s State Parks. Take advantage of that access! State parks have tons of hikes. I spent a whole weekend hiking through Sluice Boxes last summer, and it was beautiful.
This web map has a green dot for each state park. Zoom in (a lot) and that park’s hiking trails will show up on the map, along with trailheads. Click on an icon, and you’ll be able to find information on facilities, parking, and trailhead elevation. Tower Rock state park, on your way to Great Falls, is a fantastic one to check out.
Helena Open Lands Map & Helena Trails Map
https://helenamontanamaps.org/Html5Viewer/?viewer=trails
https://pplt.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=287f5dd37d2b4b21bbf219bb9a048214
The South Hills have some of the nearest and dearest trails to Helena. These two webmaps showcase the breadth of hikes available out your backdoor. Some hikes in the Scratchgravels and the Elkhorns are included. Expand your hiking horizons and try a new trail—there’s tons of them out there.
Happy (safe, social distant) hiking!