Gaia GPS
  • 7-Day Free Trial Gaia GPS Premium
  • Out and Back Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Grizzly Bear 399, the Most Famous Bears…

      May 19, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Everything You Need to Know About Satellite Communicators

      December 1, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Avoid Another Deadly Avalanche Season

      January 21, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Avalanche Safety with Snow Science Expert Bruce Tremper

      November 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Planning a Thru-Hike Next Year? Here’s What You…

      October 21, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      A Definitive Guide to the Best Camp Coffee

      September 30, 2021

  • Offroad Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Cook Marco Hernandez’s Mouthwatering Camp Meals

      January 25, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Monique Song: How a City Girl Became the…

      April 7, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      TrailRecon Explains How to Become an Overlander Overnight

      March 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Stay Married on a Long-Distance Adventure

      February 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Go From ‘Desk to Glory’ in…

      January 12, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • Adventures
    • User Stories
  • Activities
    • Backcountry Skiing
    • Boating
    • Emergency Response
    • Fishing
    • Offroading
  • New Features
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to…

      April 20, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Book Campsites Right From Gaia GPS

      February 23, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Our Favorite New Maps and Features

      December 23, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      OpenSnow Weather Now Available at-a-Tap on the Map

      November 9, 2022

      Backcountry Skiing

      Find the Deepest, Lightest Powder with the Snow…

      November 8, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      New Edit Tools: Creating Your Own Routes Just…

      September 1, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Top 10 Ways to Use Waypoints

      August 30, 2022

  • New Maps
    • Gaia GPS

      See the World More Clearly with New Gaia…

      May 18, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia Classic: The Only Map You’ll Ever Need?

      May 4, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Why NatGeo Trails Illustrated are America’s Favorite Maps

      February 9, 2023

      Backcountry Skiing

      New! Find Backcountry Skiing in Gaia Winter Map

      January 11, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Our Favorite New Maps and Features

      December 23, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Spy Avalanche Terrain with Higher Res Slope Angle…

      December 14, 2022

      Backcountry Skiing

      Find the Deepest, Lightest Powder with the Snow…

      November 8, 2022

  • Home
Gaia GPS
  • 7-Day Free Trial Gaia GPS Premium
  • Out and Back Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Grizzly Bear 399, the Most Famous Bears…

      May 19, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Everything You Need to Know About Satellite Communicators

      December 1, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Avoid Another Deadly Avalanche Season

      January 21, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Avalanche Safety with Snow Science Expert Bruce Tremper

      November 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Planning a Thru-Hike Next Year? Here’s What You…

      October 21, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      A Definitive Guide to the Best Camp Coffee

      September 30, 2021

  • Offroad Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Cook Marco Hernandez’s Mouthwatering Camp Meals

      January 25, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Monique Song: How a City Girl Became the…

      April 7, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      TrailRecon Explains How to Become an Overlander Overnight

      March 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Stay Married on a Long-Distance Adventure

      February 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Go From ‘Desk to Glory’ in…

      January 12, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • Adventures
    • User Stories
  • Activities
    • Backcountry Skiing
    • Boating
    • Emergency Response
    • Fishing
    • Offroading
  • New Features
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to…

      April 20, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Book Campsites Right From Gaia GPS

      February 23, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Our Favorite New Maps and Features

      December 23, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      OpenSnow Weather Now Available at-a-Tap on the Map

      November 9, 2022

      Backcountry Skiing

      Find the Deepest, Lightest Powder with the Snow…

      November 8, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      New Edit Tools: Creating Your Own Routes Just…

      September 1, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Top 10 Ways to Use Waypoints

      August 30, 2022

  • New Maps
    • Gaia GPS

      See the World More Clearly with New Gaia…

      May 18, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia Classic: The Only Map You’ll Ever Need?

      May 4, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Why NatGeo Trails Illustrated are America’s Favorite Maps

      February 9, 2023

      Backcountry Skiing

      New! Find Backcountry Skiing in Gaia Winter Map

      January 11, 2023

      Gaia GPS

      Our Favorite New Maps and Features

      December 23, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Spy Avalanche Terrain with Higher Res Slope Angle…

      December 14, 2022

      Backcountry Skiing

      Find the Deepest, Lightest Powder with the Snow…

      November 8, 2022

  • Home

Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to Map

by Abby Levene April 20, 2023
by Abby Levene April 20, 2023

A totally new way to map is now available for all users! Meet map packs.

With over 300 maps, our deep map catalog is one of our greatest assets. And yet we offer so many maps, it can be hard to even discover them all — much less learn how to use them all. To put the best maps in your hands, right now, we’ve totally redesigned our mapping interface. 

Turn on map packs and get the best map presets curated by the Gaia GPS team. Whether you’re visiting a national park with your family, backpacking a long trail, or skiing in the backcountry, just tap the map pack crafted specifically for your adventure. Or create your own map pack so you can always have your favorite map combinations at your fingertips. 

And don’t worry, you can still use our maps exactly as you always have, if you prefer. 

What are Map Packs?

Map packs instantaneously put the best maps in your hands in one tap. No fuss. No digging into the depths of your memory to remember the exact map combinations you like for each activity.

Traditionally, Gaia GPS works by choosing a base map, which you can use on its own. Or you can layer additional maps and overlays on top of it. The most classic example is selecting Gaia Topo, our proprietary map designed in-house, as your base map. You can use Gaia Topo all on its own. Or you can use Gaia Topo as a base map and put weather overlays, cell coverage maps, wildfire maps, or any other map or overlay on top of it. We call this “map layering.”

Map packs does all of this layering for you, saving you time and brain power. Our team has curated the most useful map combinations and meticulously selected just the right opacity for each layer in the pack.

Whether you’re overlanding, stargazing, or just want to check the weather for the weekend, select the map pack perfectly curated for your needs. For example, rather than individually selecting Gaia Winter with Slope Angle, Avalanche Forecast, SNOTEL, and Snow Depth when you go backcountry skiing. Just choose the Backcountry Skiing map pack and you’re good to go, with each map layered to just the right opacity so that you can access the info you need to ski smartly and safely. 

So, if you choose to use map packs, all you have to do is select the map pack you would like, whether that be for wildfires, weather, cell coverage, you name it. And voila, the map shows you all the info you need. In short, map packs give you the maps you want, hassle free.

How to Activate Map Packs 

If you’re an iOS user, you may remember we rolled out this beta feature last year. We’re pleased to report map packs are now available on Android as well. To try map packs out: tap “Settings” (bottom right corner of the app) → “Map Controls” → toggle on “Map Packs (beta).”

Once you turn on map packs, you’ll notice that changing the map sources displayed on your screen looks different. To change maps:

  • Click the map icon on the bottom left corner of the map.
  • From here, you can peruse our curated collection of map packs by scrolling through the list or searching for a specific map or activity.

You can also build your own map pack:

  • Tap “Build a New Map Pack”
  • Select the layers you want
  • Change the opacity and order in which the maps are layered.
  • Add a memorable title and a description, if you like.
  • Tap “Done.”

Want to check the weather, the snow depth, or the air quality? You can also add overlays in one tap, pre-set to the opacity we’ve deemed most useful.

You’ll notice this same map icon on the bottom left corner is now where you can toggle on and off saved waypoints, tracks, routes, and areas.

A Note About Syncing

As a beta feature, map packs currently do not sync from one device to another. In addition, you will lose your map pack data if you uninstall and reinstall the app, or clear the app data in Settings.

Unlock all Map Packs with Premium

Access the best map packs for every activity like overlanding, hiking, and bikepacking by upgrading to Gaia GPS Premium. Premium also gets you weather forecasts, air quality maps, slope angle shading, and every other feature available in the app.

Please Share Your Feedback!

We’re continuously improving map packs. We know this beta feature isn’t perfect, and we would love your help to make it better. Help us make using our maps as easy as possible by leaving us some feedback. What do you love about map packs? What do you hate? How can map packs (and using maps in general) better help you get outside on your adventures?

Share your feedback with us by contacting our Support team. You can also Tweet at us or post on Reddit… 

Gaia GPSmap packsmaps
0
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Abby Levene

Abby Levene is a writer, editor, and podcast producer for Gaia GPS. She's also a professional endurance athlete based in Boulder, Colorado. In her free time you can find her sweating in the mountains by foot, bike, and skis, or at home painting or curled up with a book.

previous post
Backcountry Discovery Routes Now Integrated with Gaia GPS: Get the Best Off-Pavement Routes with the Leading Navigation Experience
next post
9 Expert Driving Tips For Your Next Overlanding Trip

You may also like

Meet Grizzly Bear 399, the Most Famous Bears...

May 19, 2023

See the World More Clearly with New Gaia...

May 18, 2023

Gaia Classic: The Only Map You’ll Ever Need?

May 4, 2023

9 Expert Driving Tips For Your Next Overlanding...

April 20, 2023

Backcountry Discovery Routes Now Integrated with Gaia GPS:...

April 4, 2023

The Secret to Getting Young Urbanites Outdoors? ‘Mappiness’

March 23, 2023

Find Snow-Free Trails with the Snow Depth Map

March 9, 2023

How to Read Topographic Maps

February 24, 2023

Book Campsites Right From Gaia GPS

February 23, 2023

Why NatGeo Trails Illustrated are America’s Favorite Maps

February 9, 2023

Categories

  • Adventures
  • Android
  • App Comparisons
  • App Updates
  • Backcountry Skiing
  • Boating
  • Company News
  • Emergency Response
  • Featured
  • Fishing
  • Gaia GPS
  • Gaia GPS Offroad Podcast
  • GaiaCloud
  • Hikes
  • How-To
  • Hunting
  • iOS
  • New Features
  • New Maps
  • Newsletter
  • Offroading
  • Out and Back Podcast
  • User Profiles

Recent Posts

  • Meet Grizzly Bear 399, the Most Famous Bears in the World
  • See the World More Clearly with New Gaia Black and White Map
  • Gaia Classic: The Only Map You’ll Ever Need?
  • 9 Expert Driving Tips For Your Next Overlanding Trip
  • Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to Map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • RSS

@2022 - All Right Reserved. Gaia GPS


Back To Top