Gaia GPS

Many have already seen this through facebook, however I am finally getting around to making my blog post about it. I see many asks about if a map is available on Gaia, Maprika, All Trails etc. and many are not or are private and you have to get an email link sent to you or it be shared to you by others who already have it downloaded. Maprika recently offically stopped working for us Iphone users and so now camps that had their map on there, are no longer used by many.

I ended up using Gaia GPS on a trip that I took down to Idle Nook in AR and absolutley LOVED that app!! It is so user friendly, free download and use and it once pulled up, if you lose serivce out on the trail, the map still works! The compass on Gaia is super sensitive, unlike Maprika where you would have to ride down the trail a little ways to make sure you are going in the right direction, Gaia's compass moves with the direction you tilt your phone in. When you have arrived at a junction, simply turn your phone whatever way you need to go and it will point you in the right direction!

With the ease of this map and using it all weekend long at Idle Nook with no issues, I decided to try and map out some of the local places i am near back at home. Sportsmans lake is the largest closest place to me and for some can be tricky especially in the areas out past South Bee Creek (SBC) where markers are few and far between. While sportsman's has a paper map, and I made a digital map from that, I started mapping out Sportsmans on Gaia.

We camped here over Veteran's Day weekend and got 22 miles mapped out. The map has a link which i shared to my husband to test it out and work out any kinks. It worked fantastically. We rode 1 & 2 all the way to SBC and I had started tracking across SBC but we were running out of daylight and trail tape ribbon as well (trying to replace missing ribbons along existing trail) so it didn't all get mapped out. The next day we rode 4,5,6 & 7. All of that got mapped out and is ready to go. All that lasts are the small intertwiny trails on the 1 & 2 side which are 1a, 1b, 1c CW, 2a, 2b, 2c, outlaw trail, cliff trail, and rocky road (i believe that is what it is called) which outlaw and rocky road are not named or shown on the paper map but are physcially there.

I had originally planned to go back the following weeked to get the rest of the trails mapped out but i had a horse come up lame, then it rained, and then we had thanksgiving weekend with more bad weather so I have yet to make it back out there yet. However when I do make it back out, I will add the new trails to the exsisting folder and then it will show up on the map automatically.

The link to the map is located on facebook along with on the sportsmans lake page here on my website. Simply click on the link (located at the bottom of the sportsmans lake page) and this will open you up to the map. To save the map, click the mobile icon on the left of the screen and this will prompt you to the app store. Open the existing app or download and open the app. If you do not have the app already it will prompt you to create an account (this is free but there is a paid version but you do not have to pay to use/save the map) If you have the app already it will open right up. Once the map is pulled up, click save and then you can access it any time through Gaia and it will be located in the "saved file" which is found at the bottom of the screen.

Some settings that are good to have turned on are found here-

Settings->Map Controls-> Smaller Waypoint Markers (really a preference) and Waypoint Labels (found on same screen).

I hope to, if allowed, to make maps for other surrounding places like prague, tbid (though it is a small place), Bell cow, possibly Lake Carl Blackwell etc. However It would be ideal for actual trail ambassadors or those maintaining to make the map if desired. This would just make it easy for if a storm blows through or normal wear and tear on markers that you would still be able to find your way around especially on those larger places.

Sportsmans Lake is super easy to get around and for the most part is very well marked- but we have some cleaning up to do, as this has started from our new co-ambassadors already. I love this little camp and cannot wait for it to come to life again!

Happy Trails