this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
6 points (100.0% liked)

AskACanadian

714 readers
1 users here now

A place to ask Canadians questions and get answers. The most obvious questions would be about Canada, but you can ask about pretty much anything; news, current events, society, etc

I don't intend this as an AMA format, but can entertain some. Rules:

  1. Be civil and act in good faith.
  2. No trolling.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hello Canadians

Me and my partner will spend two weeks in the Rocky Mountains (southern BC). What is the best app for looking up trails? I saw that the national parks provide some information but besides that there doesn't seem to be some kind of official hiking map. My fear is that there will be a lot of people on the well-known trails in the national parks.

top 6 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] BroBot9000@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Don’t use an app specifically for stuff like this. It’s a privacy nightmare.

https://www.vancouvertrails.com/regions/

https://bcparks.ca/plan-your-trip/maps/

Many websites out there with lots of trails listed. Local stores will also sell physical maps with trails marked around here.

Don’t fear the well known trails, they are maintained and made for the general public. People going off map and making a mess is disrespectful

[–] sasquash@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thx, the second link is exactly what I was looking for. Guess I missed that one somehow. We are not planning to go off map. We are experienced hikers. Not gonna take any risk in foreign territory, mostly likely without signal.

[–] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago

Proper contour maps of your specific hike region will have excellent battery life, and the signal of paper to face can't be beat.

Makes a great souvenir afterwards too.

Paper contour maps are the best.

[–] KMAMURI@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Canadian mountain town survivor here. Ask a bunch of locals. The folks who work in the shops of the towns you are in, waitresses, bartenders, the person at the local outdoor gear store. I've been to some amazing places by asking people who live in the closest town when I was exploring the mountains. Each park (fed and provincial) will have trails as well. These will often be well used.

BC has loads of off the beaten path camping spots run by the forest service outside the parks as well. Many are free to use. They often are down logging service roads (if you choose this route to get to beautiful empty places be aware of road requirements on the haul roads and whether they are active or not). Check at the local forestry office for a map of all these places or directions to some of the best.

So many nowwhere's to disappear to in BC. Have fun.

[–] sasquash@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 weeks ago

sounds awsome, we will definitely gonna ask the locals and look for a map. thx a lot.

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

Alltrails is a great worldwide app.