Author

Julien Friedland

Julien joined the Marketing Team in September 2019 to support Gaia GPS’s community management and user engagement. Previously, Julien worked as a snow reporter in Vermont and as an Account Manager at Verde Brand Communications in Boulder, Colorado. They're an avid traveler and recently returned from riding their bicycle from Medellin, Colombia to the southern tip of Chile. While they're not plugging away at work, you can find them navigating backcountry ski routes in Colorado and riding their bike offroad around the world.

Emergency ResponseGaia GPSNew Features

Wildfire and Air Quality Maps Now Available for Free on gaiagps.com and the Mobile App

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

In response to the wildfires ravaging the country, all active wildfire and air quality maps are now available for free on gaiagps.com. These maps allow you to track wildfires using heat-detected satellite data and information reported from people on-site at the fires. You can also view current and upcoming estimated levels of pollutants with Air Quality maps.

The now free maps include the Wildfire (satellite), Wildfire (current), Air Quality (current), and Air Quality (tomorrow). All four Wildfire and Air Quality maps are available on gaiagps.com and in the mobile app on iOS and Android.

Click here to view the free maps on gaiagps.com

Learn About Wildfire and Air Quality Maps

Wildfire (satellite) Map

The Wildfires heat-detection map on Gaia GPS sources satellite data from NASA to show where wildfires are currently burning worldwide. This map updates several times each day to give you up-to-date information from NASA’s MODIS and VIIRS satellites.

wildfires satellite heat-detection map of California

Wildfire (current) Map

View current wildfire conditions with data sourced and updated daily from USGS. Note that some fire boundaries will be out of date or incorrect, and recent fires may not have been added yet due to data being reported from the sites. Pair this map with the Wildfires (satellite) map for the most up to date information.

Current wildfire map showing large fire outside of Chico, California

Air Quality (current) and Air Quality (tomorrow) Maps

Use the Air Quality forecast maps to view current and next-day estimated levels of air pollutants anywhere in the United States. Sourced from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow program, Air Quality maps indicate pollutant levels of moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous conditions.

Air quality index map showing poor air quality in Oregon and Washington.
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FeaturedGaia GPSHow-ToNew Features

Import Routes, Waypoints, and Other Tracks With One Click

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Quickly upload tracks, routes, waypoints, and areas with one click on gaiagps.com/map. Now when you find a route or file from another website or source, you can import them directly to your Gaia GPS account. Expand your adventures by importing obscure off-road routes, new hikes, or recommended adventures.

With the new importer, you can drag and drop GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, and FIT files directly from your desktop. Upload up to 1,000 items at a time, then filter through and select individual items before importing. That way, you can create a new folder and fill it with only the information you need to explore.

How to Use the Import Sidebar

To use the importer:

  1. Visit gaiagps.com/map
  2. Drag and drop your file to the map, or manually select the upload button on the left sidebar to search through your files
  3. Now you can sort through the items in your file and deselect any that you do not want to import
  4. Once you’re finished, click the Save Item button to save to your Gaia GPS account.
  5. Now you can easily access your data on gaiagps.com or in the iOS or Android app.

For large uploads (files containing more than 100 items) you’ll be given the option to choose what type of data you want to import (ie. just tracks or waypoints, or both) to prevent importing large amounts of unwanted information. Any points uploaded, like a trailhead, parking location, campsite, or other waypoint, will appear as icons based on the title or notes associated with the point.

For more information on uploading and accessing your files visit the help center.

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A screenshot of the new mines and minerals resources map in Gaia GPS shows green, red, and purple mining symbols scattered around Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area.
Gaia GPSNew Maps

New Mines and Mineral Resources Map: Mines, Mills, and Deposits Sites

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Find over 300,000 mines, mills, and known mineral deposits with the new Mines and Mineral Resources map. Discover the history of old mining sites plus handy details about mine and mineral sites across the United States including Alaska, plus select regions around the world.

The USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), provides updated data for this new layer available to Premium users. The map displays icons indicating the development state of the mine: prospect, producer, plant, past producer, occurrence, or unknown. Claim boundaries in Alaska that indicate possession and right to develop and extract appear as yellow polygons.

A screenshot of the mines and minerals resources map shows yellow polygons denoting claim boundaries with possession and a right to develop in Alaska

To learn more about a mining, mills, or a deposit site, select the tools icon indicating a location on the map. Details include the name, primary commodity, and development state. After selecting the tool icon, click the information button in the pop up to learn even more through the USGS MRDS.

The Mines and Mineral Resource layer is available to Gaia GPS Premium users. To access the map, visit the layers menu, select “Feature/Weather Overlays,” and then select “Mines and Mineral Resources.”

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Gaia GPSNew FeaturesNew Maps

Find More Rivers, Lakes, and Wetlands with the New US Hydrography Map

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Find water sources, identify river crossings, and get a better picture of any landscape with the new US Hydrography map. This layer shows more rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands than any other map on Gaia GPS. Level up your favorite maps by pairing them with US hydrography for more precise and expanded coverage of bodies of water across the United States.

About US Hydrography Map

Crossing a raging river in the middle of a backpacking trip should never come as a surprise. With this new map, you can plan more effectively with data sourced from USGS National Hydrography Data Set.

The US Hydrography Map represents the water drainage network of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, with features such as rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, coastline, dams, and stream-gages. Community stewards and users update and maintain the data.

US Hydrography has a scale of 1:24,000 scale or 1:63,360 in Alaska, and reveals more details as you zoom in on the map. Click on water features to learn more about the type and size of the body of water.

How to Access the New Hydrography Map

Access and download the Hydrography Map with a Premium Membership. Download the map by visiting the layers menu and selecting “Features/Weather Overlays” then select US Hydrography to add the map layer. Download any map to your device before you head in the backcountry to view water sources while out of cell service range.

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Gaia GPSNew Maps

Access 45 Updated National Park Service Maps

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Gaia GPS offers an expansive collection of National Park Service maps for 45 national parks and recreation areas throughout the United States. Skip the paper map at the park entrance and view all park amenities, trailheads, and must-see stops right on your phone.

What’s Included on the NPS Visitor Maps

Sourced from the National Park Service, the NPS Visitor maps highlight all of the features you’ll want to have on hand when sightseeing and exploring national parks. Pick out where to stop along your route with labels for amenities, trails, roads, and natural features. Use the black square icons to identify campgrounds, picnic areas, restrooms, boat launches, ranger stations, and more.

Avoid issues that might disrupt your visit by scouring the map for details, like seasonal road closures and water availability. Zoom closer on the map to see inserts with expanded information on main attractions. That way, you never miss a geyser, waterfall, or scenic overlook.

Two iPhones displaying NPS Visitor map of Grand Teton National Park

About National Park Service Maps

The NPS Visitor maps are for general reference, orientation, and route-finding only. If you plan to travel into the backcountry, waterways, or other remote areas in the park, use supplemental maps. The NPS recommends US Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps, available on Gaia GPS, for more serious travel. Also, reference Gaia GPS’s recommended maps for hiking, backpacking, and offroading.

Access NPS Visitor Maps

These new maps are available to Gaia GPS users with a Premium subscription. To access them, open up the Gaia GPS app or website, click or tap the layers menu and select “Add Map Layers.” Select “United States” and then NPS Visitor. Try adding the layer to Gaia Topo for added information for exploration between parks. To find a specific park, type the name into the search bar on the main map.

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AdventuresAndroidGaia GPSiOS

Discover the Best Trails and Find Public Lands with Gaia Topo Updates

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Discover new trails and routes and find campsites off the beaten path with two new updates on Gaia Topo. The first update lets you plan ahead at home and save known hikes and other routes for the field on gaiagps.com. Additionally, now you can find national forests, state parks, national parks, and any other public lands quickly with new color-coded public land shading.

Each new improvement on Gaia Topo makes this map a better one-stop shop for all of your planning and traveling needs.

Find Routes Near Your Campsite or Any Point of Interest on gaiagps.com

New nearby route suggestions make it easy to find hikes, offroading routes, bike trails, or other public tracks close to the places you want to visit. While you plan on gaiagps.com, select a trail, campsite, or any natural feature to see a quick list of nearby routes.

How to Use Nearby Route Suggestions

Start by selecting a trailhead, campsite, viewpoint or natural feature, to see nearby routes. A list of routes will appear, including the distance and difficulty rating of each route so you can quickly assess which ones fit your needs. The list includes routes within 500 meters of the selected point of interest and 1000 meters of selected trails. While you browse the list of routes, hover over them to see the tracks appear on the map.

Once you find a route you’d like to explore, you can either select the route name to view even more details or quickly save it by clicking the green “plus” button. If you want to save multiple routes, click the “plus” buttons for all your favorites. Unsave any route by clicking the red “-” button. Find all of your saved routes in the saved folder on your iOS or Android device.

Nearby route suggestions are now available on gaiagps.com. To access your saved routes open the Gaia GPS app on your iOS or Android device, and visit the saved folder. Download any saved route to your device for the field with a Premium membership.

Identify Public Lands With New Map Shading

New color-coded public land ownership on Gaia Topo helps you discover areas to hike, camp, and explore. Now you can identify all of America’s public lands by designated colors on the map. Use this new feature to seek out campsites on BLM land (yellow) or National Forest land (light green), view nearby state parks (red), or safely travel through any public land across the United States.

Color designations appear for National Forests, National Parks/Recreation Areas, State Parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Wildlife Areas, Marine Protection Areas, Wilderness/Wilderness Study Areas and Other Parks/Protected areas. You can find each designation under the Gaia Topo map legend by clicking the layer on gaiagps.com or tapping the “i” icon on the lower righthand corner of your map on iOS and Android.

Map legend for Gaia Topo showing color-coded public lands

With fast map downloads that take up a small amount of space, Gaia Topo is easy to save and take with you on the road. Download National Parks and State Parks in seconds or entire states in minutes, and always have the information you need about the wild spaces you plan to visit.

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AndroidApp UpdatesGaia GPS

Android 2020.5: Faster Deletion and Smoother Planning

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

The latest Android 2020.5 release includes a number of usability updates, making actions in the app more efficient and visuals more detailed. A refreshed stats bar and a number of fixes, like better deletion, add up to a smoother experience when using your Android device. After listening to your feedback, we’re excited to deliver Android 2020.5.

Update to version 2020.5 in the Play Store. Open the Play Store and check Gaia GPS has updated on your phone.

Save Time with Improved Deletion

After deleting an item, move on to your next task or close out of the app completely while the app works to delete the item. You’ll no longer have to wait for your item to delete or wonder if it deleted. Just tap delete and move on to your next task.

Completely Customize Your Stats Bar

The recently improved Stats Bar gives you the power to completely customize your map home screen. With a cleaner design and more versatility, the stats bar lets you decide exactly what trip details you want to see when you pull up the app. Choose from elevation, current speed, moving speed, average speed, ascent, sunrise/sunset, and more.

Quickly Find Campsites and Trails

Android users now have access to ‘tap to zoom’ so you can quickly zoom in on a recreation area of interest. Tap any group of amenities on Gaia Topo and discover campsites, trails, viewpoints, and other places you don’t want to miss.

View More Details for Your Saved Items and National Parks

Detail pages for saved items and national parks include more information with updated visuals. National parks and forests now display boundary lines so you can easily see where the parks begin and end. The newly designed waypoints and track detail pages provide more detail about the item, including coordinate points, elevation, and a view of your current map layer.

Android display of Yosemite National Park on Gaia GPS

Next Up for Gaia GPS on Android

Coming soon, Android users will be able to draw and measure areas on the map, by creating polygons. The polygon tool allows you to outline and save irregular shaped items on the map, and measure the perimeter. For example, you could trace the park boundaries pictured above and save the map data from just Yosemite National Park.

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AdventuresCompany NewsGaia GPS

Gaia GPS Welcomes Five New Team Members

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

We’re excited to welcome five new team members to Gaia GPS. Arriving with expertise in marketing, software engineering, and operations, this crew rounds out a team of 27 fully remote employees, spread across 16 states.

With this new round of hires, comes another dose of inspiring stories including both professional accomplishments and outdoor feats. Read on to hear about their experiences thru-hiking thousands of miles, rafting unfamiliar waters, hiking rim-to-rim-to-rim, and solo adventuring.

If you’re interested in future positions at Gaia GPS, we encourage you to sign up for our job alerts.

Jon selfie in the mountains

Jonathan Cohn

Digital Marketing Specialist

Wildest Outdoor Adventure: Rafting through the Grand Canyon with friends was a special adventure. When the trip began at the beginning of December, I had minimal whitewater experience. Three and a half weeks and 280 miles later, I felt at home behind the oars and off-balanced without sand in my hair.

Proudest professional accomplishment: In my first marketing role, I went from being just hired to leading and mentoring a team of seven other marketers in just over two years. Getting to pass down the systems and tricks I had learned was definitely a highlight.

Favorite trail snack: Sweet Cajun Fire Trail Mix has been with me on so many great days. However, I’ve been struggling to find it recently, so I’ll go with my number two – Sour Gummy Worms.


Sasha Heinen

Software Engineer

Sasha sitting on the rim overlooking a canyon

Wildest Outdoor Adventure: Most recently I completed a rim-to-rim-to-rim on the Bass trail system in the Grand Canyon, which doesn’t have a bridge to cross the Colorado River. In the course of the three-day trip, I was paddling across the Colorado, bushwhacking while being sleeted on, and post-holing in two feet of snow on the north rim.

Proudest professional accomplishment: Leading a team to build and ship native iOS and Android mobile applications using cross-platform components written in Rust.

Favorite trail snack: Avocado with key lime and hot sauce, crackers with cheese and jam, or Fritos.

Mary Cochenour

Content Manager

Mary selfie in front of a river

Wildest Outdoor Adventure: My wildest outdoor adventure happened on a three-day wilderness kayak trip on California’s Deer Creek. The water was fast with nonstop class IV and V action. The biggest scare came when an old cowboy appeared out of the shadows at our first night’s camp and pointed a rifle at our faces. We weren’t trespassing, but we put our hands up and begged for mercy. Eventually, the cowboy let us stay and I’ll never forget how happy I was to see our cars at the take-out.

Proudest professional accomplishment: Some of my proudest professional accomplishments have come from my experience as a backpacking guide, helping my clients realize their backcountry goals. Sometimes, it’s teaching more advanced backpackers how to navigate off-trail and other times it’s helping a brand new backpacker learn to shave their pack weight.

Favorite trail snack: Instant miso soup as an appetizer to dinner. So salty good.

Tom Kletzker

Office Manager

Tom with his dog hiking in Colorado

Wildest Outdoor Adventure: I solo hiked across southern Utah from Zion National Park to Arches National Park, including the Maze in Canyonlands National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I had never experienced that length of solitude to that degree before. My favorite memories were the petroglyphs on the canyon walls that dated anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 years old.

Proudest professional accomplishment: I created an impact investment fund that helped stabilize economies in developing countries. We designed the fund to reinvest a majority of the profits back into a developing country’s need for water sanitation plants, green energy, hospitals, and other smaller investments.

Favorite trail snack: My wife bakes amazing bread so I’ll pack some of that along with some homemade jelly (jalapeño jelly is the boom) and some cheese.

Courtney Fiala

Software Engineer

Courtney grabbing a tube of apple sauce while hiking.

Wildest outdoor adventure: Towards the end of my Appalachian Trail thru-hike, we hiked one day like a marathon: 26.2 miles while only eating food from apple sauce squeeze tubes. At the “finish line,” I scarfed down a bag of spicy Bugles and a soda then immediately realized it didn’t agree with my nearly empty stomach. We spent most of the evening sitting on a highway bridge waving to cars and letting my stomach settle before heading to camp.

Proudest professional accomplishment: I wrote a prototype software system from the ground up that uses neural nets and an RF receiver to determine if anyone is flying a drone in the area. The finished version will be used to protect people in urban areas.

Favorite trail snack: Knorr Spanish rice with two packets of hot sauce and a squeeze of tomato paste split into a couple tortillas.

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image of groups of amenity icons on Gaia Topo
Gaia GPSHikesNew Features

Discover Recreation Amenities with New Symbol Groups on Gaia Topo

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

Get a snapshot of the amenities in any recreation area with new symbol groups on Gaia Topo. Now you can view hotspots, including campsites, viewpoints, trailheads, and more in symbol groups, without zooming deeper on the map. Styled after popular outdoor recreation maps, Gaia Topo is the first global topo map to display point of interest symbol groups.

Before and after view of new symbol groups on Gaia Topo

As you scour the map on a broader scale, notice groups of icons displaying essential amenities. For example, campsites, lodging, restrooms, food, and gas symbols appear in clusters, indicating developed recreation areas. This makes it easy to identify the best places to set up camp or stop for a resupply. Alternatively, if you’d rather avoid crowds, plan to steer clear of the developed areas, as indicated by the map.

The point of interest groups provide a clear picture of what amenities exist while zoomed out on the map. Once you identify an area of interest, zoom in closer to see smaller groupings of amenities, or individual amenities by zooming more.

On gaiagps.com, you can click on any symbol group to automatically zoom closer and reveal other subgroups of amenities. Continue to click subgroups to fully expand all points of interest. The same function, ‘tap’ to zoom, is coming soon for iOS and Android.

Zoom in closer to explore different amenities in recreation areas.

To view symbol groups while you plan, set Gaia Topo as your base map on your Gaia GPS iOS or Android app or on gaiagps.com. Available to all users, Gaia Topo continues to provide the best tools for planning trips of every nature.

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Gaia GPSNew Features

Find Your Saved Items on the Map with a New Sidebar

by Julien Friedland
written by Julien Friedland

A new tool on gaiagps.com allows you to jump to any of your saved items on the map. Similar to the Gaia GPS mobile apps, all of your saved tracks, routes, waypoints, and areas now live in an organized sidebar. Additionally, you can now hide any saved item on your map and find it in the sidebar as well.

Search, Filter, and Sort Saved Items

Now you can skip zooming and scrolling across the map to find a route or waypoint. Click the “folder” icon located along the left edge of the screen, find your item in the sidebar, and click to jump right to the item’s location. There are a few ways you can find your item by using the search, filter, and sort tools.

The search bar allows you to type in keywords to pull up a saved item instantly.

If you’d rather browse a list of saved items, use the filter and sort tools.

The filter tool allows you to control what items are shown in the sidebar by type (route, track, waypoint, or area) and visibility (shown or hidden on the map). Only want to see your tracks in the sidebar? Simply hide all other items by unchecking their boxes in the dropdown list.

Computer screen displaying saved items toolbar with filter tool open

Change the order of your items using the sort tool. This allows you to reorder your list of saved items based on time created, time updated, or title in either ascending or descending order.

Computer screen displaying saved items toolbar with sort tool open

Hide Waypoints, Tracks, and Routes on the Map

With the new saved items folder, you can also hide items on the map for cleaner map viewing. Preparing for an upcoming trip, printing a map, or have a plethora of waypoints dotting your screen? Use this to declutter your map or organize your data however you like.

To hide an item, first select it on the map and click the “more” button, and click “hide item”. Then, use the filter tool to show all of your “Hidden” items in the saved items sidebar or search for a specific hidden item by name.

You can also control item visibility from the sidebar using the eye icon. Hover over an item in the saved items sidebar and click the eye icon to toggle visibility.

Access the Saved Items Sidebar

Access the Saved Items sidebar by visiting the main map on gaiagps.com and selecting the “folder” icon on the left side of the screen. From here you can use all of the features mentioned in this article to search, filter, sort and hide your saved items.

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