I love visiting our local State Parks in Pennsylvania, especially Ohiopyle. After taking a few of the guided hikes with park naturalists, I like to take trails off the beaten path. Everyone hikes along ferncliff and near cucumber falls but there are trails all throughout the park. I always get a park map and the kids end up stealing it.
Maybe I need to just use my phone. The PA DCNR just released a new app that helps you to navigate through the state parks. There are two versions one free and one paid. They both have trail maps, the abililty to make reservations at the campgrounds, event schedules, etc. Of course you could look those things up before you go, but if you are anything like me at all, you don't think about looking at if there are any events until you get there.
If you upgrade to the paid feature you get to use the GPS mapping features, there are GIS points of interest and I think my favorite is the friend finder feature that allows you to keep track of other people that you are hiking or biking with. I think these features would be really cool especially if you explore one of the state forests instead of the busy state parks. They would also be great if you have people hitting different trails due to "level of difficutly" or if some people head out on mountain bikes and others on foot.
If you do download the paid app, the proceeds go to the PA Parks and Forest Foundation to support the state facilities. I feel so fortunate to have these great places just a stones throw away from my backyard and this is a pretty easy way to support them!
No comments:
Post a Comment