I love getting lost in Harriman State Park in Orange and Rockland counties, New York, but I hate getting lost. More than 200 miles of winding hiking trails (including 16 miles of the Appalachian Trial) are found within its 46,000 acres, and Harriman is notorious for leading hikers astray unless they’ve brought The Maps.
The New York – New Jersey Trails Conference has been making the definitive Harriman State Park hiking trail maps for years. Unrivaled for detail and accuracy, the set of two maps, one for the northern section of Harriman State Park and one for the southern section, is an essential piece of trail gear for both the casual hiker and the trailblazer. night. Made of tough, durable spunbond olefin, Harriman State Park maps are also nearly indestructible; They won’t fall apart after endless wrinkling, folding, and stuffing into a backpack.
But sometimes, even with the best map, it’s possible to get lost.
As a frequent hiker on the Appalachian Trail and Harriman State Park, I have on many occasions come across hikers who were on the right trail, but didn’t know where their next turn was. Or how far from the parking lot they were. Or if they were going in the right direction.
Even with the Trail Conference maps, they still couldn’t pinpoint their location on the trail.
Objective, since last year, you can use your iPhone and a simple app to download the Trail Conference maps. Then, in the same way that your car’s GPS tells you where you are on the road, Trail Conference maps (within the Avenza app) will tell you precisely where you are on Harriman Park’s trails.
That is how:
- From your iPhone or Ipad app store, enter Avenza Pdf Maps in the search bar and download the free app.
- Click the shopping cart (Shop) button at the bottom of the screen.
- From within the app, use the “store” button to navigate to where you will select your map.
- Enter the term “Harriman State Park” (or any other place you’d like to search for a trail map) in the search bar.
- Buy the map (the Harriman game is currently $5.99).
- Once it’s loaded, you can use the arrow in the bottom left corner to show you exactly where you are on the trail map (although you’ll need to be physically present in the area the map covers).
Digital maps cost considerably less than traditional maps, but keep in mind that you should never leave your “paper” trail map at home, even with your iPhone. A paper map will never fall off and break, fail after getting wet, or lose battery power; It is really light and tear resistant.
On the other hand, you can use the app’s built-in tools to measure your route, to see how far you are from a destination, to plot your photos on the map. The app also has a built-in compass (although, again: you have to rely on more than just a digital compass for navigation).