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You鈥檙e on an adventure having the time of your life, until all of a sudden you鈥檙e lost. You can鈥檛 find the trail, and you don鈥檛 have cell service. Whether you鈥檙e skiing in a whiteout, hiking at night, or biking on new trails, we鈥檝e all experienced that moment of panic. That鈥檚 a large reason why Gaia GPS was born.
The backcountry navigation app has a feature to save you from hours of frantically trying to retrace your steps in vein. In fact, you can find out where you are in seconds, even when you can鈥檛 get a cell signal. All you have to do is pull out your phone, open Gaia GPS, and locate yourself on the map. Here鈥檚 how to do it.
Plan Ahead鈥擠ownload Maps for Offline Use
In order to locate yourself on the map, there is one catch. You must have your maps downloaded for offline use. Thankfully, is easy to do. You just need a聽. Then you can download maps for the entire region that you鈥檙e traveling to, or even an .
Pro tip: Before you leave the trailhead, start so you leave a bread-crumb trail of your steps right on the map. That way you can always retrace your steps and find your way back.
Locate Yourself on the Map
Lost and have no clue where you are? You can find yourself on the map in seconds thanks to the . Simply open the Gaia GPS app, and tap the circular icon with the four compass points in the very center of the top toolbar in the app. The arrow icon (called the 鈥淢ap Arrow鈥) now shows your exact position on the map. Zoom in or out and pan around the map to get a better sense of your bearings.
Pro tip: You can quickly see how far away you are from the trail or the trailhead. Simply tap your desired destination on the map, and a drawer will pop up on the bottom of the screen showing the distance to it.
Navigate Your Way Back
Once you鈥檝e located where you are on the map, you can use Gaia GPS to find your way back to familiar ground. If you are recording your tracks, hold your phone out in front of you and turn your body until the map arrow points in the direction of your breadcrumb trail. Start walking along your recorded track and your arrow should move right along with you.
If you鈥檙e not recording your tracks, don鈥檛 despair. Examine the map to find the trail, trailhead, or a particular feature on the map you鈥檇 like to reach. Once you鈥檝e pinpointed your destination, you can even onto the map for easy reference. Using the map arrow as a guide, work your way back.
Even when your phone is completely offline and in airplane mode, you can locate yourself on the map, create routes, create and edit waypoints to mark important spots like campsites and water sources, and record tracks and follow them back. You’ll never be lost again.
Gaia GPS is a part of 国产吃瓜黑料 Inc., the same company that owns 国产吃瓜黑料. to stay found on the trail, even without cell service.听