A good trail map can make the difference between a fun time outdoors and getting lost in the woods. While most people make these maps by marking up a hard copy of an already existing map, the internet has made available some more innovative ways of mapping out a hike.

Many people do not realize all the potential pitfalls of using an old map to plan out a trail. First, the map may be out of date because of changes that have been made to the trails themselves. Many hikes take place on state property where the grounds are subject to any number of regulatory or geographical changes. A hard copy map will obviously not make this information available in the most up to date form, and relying on it could end up being a waste of time and money.

On the other hand, there are a number of websites online that not only provide maps to all sorts of geographical locations around the globe, but they also provide the user with a number of useful tools to mark up the map. For instance, many of these websites provide drawing tools that can be used to spot points of interest along the planned route. Additionally, some sites provide path-finding algorithms that will take the user-created route as an input and spit out a more efficient trail. This allows the user to easily hit each landmark along the hike while spending the least amount of time in potentially uninteresting or dangerous locations.

In addition to featuring useful markup tools, most of these sites will provide specialized printing options. Features like printing zoomed-in and zoomed-out views of certain parts of the trail, information boxes about specific landmarks, and even scale measurements are all commonly offered. However, many of the more advanced features will only be available to paying users.

Regardless of which website or tool is used to generate a trail map, the final product will be a must have on any hike, especially when specialized information is needed that would not be provided by a hard copy. Some people will go as far as to bring a network enabled device along during the hike. This option is advised only if the hardware is covered with a weather-proof material. No one wants an expensive piece of equipment ruined by a sudden and unexpected rain or errant splash of mud!

Electronically generated maps are a sound alternative to a hard copy for the tech-savvy hiker. Updated information, useful markup tools, and advanced printing options can potentially save time and money, making any trail far more pleasant to navigate.