
Planning a traverse of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness as part of Backpacking Light’s Wilderness Adventures program.
Trip Planning Resources
Here are some of our favorite trip planning resources. These are curated by our staff and include products we’ve personally used and recommend.
- Gaia GPS Software – online mapping, beautiful map layers, premium version, very nice user interface, powerful route planning features, GPS import/export, desktop and mobile versions, and regular updates. In addition to route planning, we use this for real-time navigation on a smartphone as well.
- Guthook Guides – trail resources for popular long-distance trails.
- Orbit – a smartphone app used to monitor satellite positions, which can help optimize your use of a satellite communicator or GPS device.
- Windy and Meteoblue – wind and weather forecasting.
Gear for Navigation and Trip Planning
- Garmin inReach Mini – the lightest and most reliable satellite communicator.
- Take our Garmin inReach Masterclass to learn how to use it effectively.
- Read our Garmin inReach Mini review.
- Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar Outdoor Watch – integrates with the Mini, offers tracking, fitness monitoring, altimeter & GPS, solar-power, and more.
Other Resources
- Navigating with turn-by-turn directions
- Podcast 005 | Navigation
- Navigation & GPS Smartphone Apps Reviews and Gear Guide
- Resources, Tools, and Processes for Planning Non-Technical Off-Trail Routes
What are your Favorites?
Share your favorite trip planning resources, books, gear, and more in the forums below!
DISCLOSURE (Updated November 7, 2019)
- Some (but not all) of the links on this page may be “affiliate” links. If you click on one of these links and visit one of our affiliate partners (usually a retailer site), and subsequently place an order with that retailer, we receive a small commission. These commissions help us provide authors with honoraria, fund our editorial projects, podcasts, instructional webinars, and more, and we appreciate it a lot! Thank you for supporting Backpacking Light!