Most of the time I keep my cell phone turned off when we’re on a camping trip, but there are a few apps that I like to use.
Try them out; they’re all free!
Waze is a navagation app with turn by turn directions. It will help you avoid traffic and speed traps on the way to your campsite.
Google’s Field Trip will notify you when you’re near interesting landmarks, historic buildings and great places to eat. It’s perfect for any road trip!
Chimani’s apps are a great companion for a visit to a National Park. They have apps for Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains and more. Each app contains tons of features including photos, interactive maps, audio tours, sunrise/sunset times and even ranger events.
Gorillacam allows you to shoot time delay photos, stop motion video, but my favorite feature is it’s photo timer. I can just prop my iPhone up on the branch of a tree and snap a photo of Billy and I.
I use Instagram as my personal field guide. It helps me remember the names of plants I encounter. I snap a photo of the plant, identify it and post it to my Instagram account. You can follow me here.
Microsoft’s Photosynth allows you to take amazing panoramic photos and share them with your friends.
Coleman’s Classic Camping Cookbook & Meal Planner
This camping cookbook lets you search by cooking method, meal or ingredients. It has all the classic camping recipes.
Sky View Free is really helpful for identifying stars and constellations. It uses the iPhone’s camera and overlay’s the names of the stars.
Also check out SkyView Satellite guide. It’s free for a limited time and lets you track satellites, the International Space Station and more.
This cute, simple app will help you find your headlamp after dark. (hint: it’s packed in the deepest, darkest depths of the trunk of your car)
Yahoo! Weather is easy to use and it has all the information I need: current temp, 5/10 day forecast, detailed forecast, weather radar map, chance of rain and sunrise/sunset times. Thanks to images from flickr, it’s beautiful as well.
If you like camping at KOA campgrounds, there’s a free KOA Finder app:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/koa-finder-free/id775167338?mt=8
I also love Commander Compass LIte. It works great when offline, assuming that you pre-download maps that you need. It also have many useful features, such as marking waypoints, saving spots, measuring your speed and distance to the target, sharing locations with friends and much more.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/commander-compass-lite/id340268949?mt=8&at=11lLc7&ct=c