Gaia GPS search helps you find parks, forests, trails, cities, and more.
As a new software engineer on the Gaia GPS team, my first big project was to revamp the search experience. I’m excited to share some of the improvements we’ve made that you can use today on the web, iOS, and Android.
Tactical Search Results
Find what you’re looking for quickly, whether it’s down the street or across the continent.
Search results are now sorted by how “notable” each place is. Gaia GPS determines notability using data such as:
- whether the place has a wikipedia page or website
- what type of place it is (national parks are more notable than regional parks)
- the population cities
- the height of mountains
When I search for Yosemite from my home town, I now see “Yosemite National Park” rather than “Yosemite Marsh.”
Select the Optimal Search Result
Each result now displays the name of the park, forest, or wilderness area it is within. When I search for “waterfall,” I have a better sense of where each one is and what else is nearby.
Tap on a result to be taken to the location on the map with additional information like ‘Popular Hikes’ and options to ‘Send to app’ or ‘Download’.
Additional Search Improvements
- You will no longer see duplicate search results for parks with multiple administrative zones.
- Navigate search results using the keyboard. Type your query, press the down key to select a place, then press the enter key to learn more about the result.
- Paste coordinates into the search field to jump to a specific spot on the map. Gaia GPS currently supports decimal latitude longitude, DMS latitude longitude, and UTM.
Gaia GPS welcomes feedback. Please contact support@gaiagps.com if you have ideas on how we can further improve search or other features.
