Free App: Trimble Outdoors Backpacker Map Maker App for iPad

Going on a hike anytime soon? Trimbleand Backpacker magazine today released Backpacker Map Maker, a mapping and trip planning app for the Apple iPad. Now, from the touch-screen of an iPad, hikers and backpackers can find wild places, plot GPS points and plan their next adventure over seamless topographical maps. 

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:

 

Place search: Find popular peaks, campgrounds, trailheads, mountain passes, creeks, lakes and more from a list of more than 10 million places.

 

Dual maps: Turn on dual map mode and view two map types at once for more precise trip planning. For instance, view street maps to find access roads to the trailhead then fade to topo maps to check out the detailed topography.

 

Cloud-based trips: Save trips to a backpacker.com account and access them 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. 

Mark waypoints: Simply drag-and-drop GPS waypoints onto the map. Add notes too.

 

Ruler tool: Measure how far it is from the trailhead to your campsite to a mountain summit and beyond.

 

Digital compass: See a full-screen translucent compass overlaid on the maps.

 

GPS coordinates: Display 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. Backpacker publishes trail-based coordinates for nearly every destination article in the magazine.

 

Backpacker Map Maker for the Apple iPad and iPad2 is available for download now from the Apple App Store at: www.backpacker.com/mapmaker.