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 Test) lie 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 ultimate hiking trail maps of Harriman State Park for years. Unrivaled in detail and accuracy, the set of two maps, one for the northern section of Harriman State Park and the other for the southern section, is an essential piece of trail equipment for both the casual hiker and the passerby. night. Made of durable and tough spun olefin, Harriman State Park maps are also nearly indestructible; They won’t fall apart after endless wrinkling, folding and tucking into a backpack.
But sometimes, even with the best map, it is possible to get lost.
As a frequent hiker on the Appalachian Trail and Harriman State Park, on many occasions I have come across hikers who were on the right track but didn’t know where their next turn was. Or how far they were from the parking lot. Or if they were going in the right direction.
Even with the Trail Conference maps, they still couldn’t pin down their location on the trail.
Objective, as of 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, the Trail Conference maps (within the Avenza app) will pinpoint where you are on the Harriman Park 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 button (Store) 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 location where you would like to search for a trail map) in the search bar.
- Purchase the map (Harriman’s set currently costs $ 5.99).
- Once loaded, you can use the arrow in the lower left corner to show you exactly where you are on the trail map (although you will 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” roadmap at home, not even with your iPhone. A paper map will never fall and break, or fail after getting wet, or lose battery power; it is really light and resistant to breakage.
On the other hand, you can use the built-in app tools to measure your trail, see how far you are from a destination, and plot your photos on the map. The app also has a built-in compass (although, again: you have to rely on more than a digital compass for navigation).