Trailforks app review: a trail database and management system for mountain bike enthusiasts 2021

Introduction

Every winter, as I stare out the window and wonder when Spring will arrive, my thoughts inevitably drift to the mountain bike trails I can look forward to navigating when spring finally does roll around.

The best iPhone apps for mountain biking

If, like me, you love to get out and ride your bike you’re probably aware that there are certain risks involved with this particular hobby – I’m not talking about proper safety equipment either. What I’m referring to is the risk involved when navigating a trail you’ve never been on before – you never know what’s coming up around the bend.

With the Trailforks app for iPhone you have access to hundreds of maps to trails with the most up-to-date information available.

If you find something that’s not on the map, then this mountain biking app gives you the option of suggesting a change which may or may not be approved.

This iPhone app for mountain biking makes navigating some of the more challenging trails just a little bit safer. The Trailforks is a free app and it’s compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Let's dig deeper into this app throughou our Trailforks app review to see if it's one of the best apps for mountain biking or hiking. 

Navigate the Mountain Trails

The Trailforks is an app with very few competitors – there are a few other navigation apps out there that do include the ability to create your own trails and save that information as you go. 

Best iphone and ipad apps

As far as apps with pre-existing databases specifically geared towards mountain bikers, there simply isn’t much out there. PathAway Pro is a great app for creating trail maps of the great outdoors, but it’s more of a general app and it doesn’t include pre-existing trails – you create the trail maps as you go.

If you want the best app for mountain bikers, with all of the latest trail information preloaded, Trailforks has no peers.

Most apps have some kind of flaws within them, but I really couldn’t find too many in this one. It does take a few seconds to load, but when you consider all the information that’s available within this app that’s to be expected.

There is a great introductory walk-through that explains how the app works and it highlights all of its key features. Another issue you might find a little annoying is that you do have to download the maps in your region, but this didn’t take very long at all.

There are no ads or in-app purchases to deal with either. The Trailforks app will require 21.7 MB of available space on your iOS device.

Recent updates have fixed al bugs and added new features like interactive land owner layer, update to heatmap, added search filter for ridelogs, updated map legend and much more. 

How It Works

Before you can begin to use the trail maps you’ll have to download some first. The great thing about this though, is that the app has a database of trails for regions right across the globe.

So if you’re travelling anywhere and you’re taking your bike with you, you can take a quick look through the database to see if they have maps of trails near where you travelling to – chances are they will.

Then all you have to do is tap on the region and the maps will download to your device, making them fully available to you off-line. Let’s face it, a lot of places you go with mountain bike trails will not have access to data and GPS making this type of service essential.

To access the maps for a trail you simply tap on the region you’re looking for and you’ll have access to a map of the entire region. In most cases, there will be dozens of trails to choose from – you can simply pinch to zoom in and out on a trail of your choice, and then tap on it to access the various maps to that trail.

Each trail map includes information about the length of the trail and how steep the ascents and descents are. By tapping on the menu icon in the top left corner you’ll also be able to access trail conditions and add your own additions to trails to request changes.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Includes trail maps for regions right across the globe
• You can submit your own suggestions for changes to the trail maps
• No ads are in-app purchases
• Information is fully available off-line
• You can download any region of trail maps with the simple tap of a button

Cons

• The app takes a while to load
• You have to download each region of trails individually
• The app occasionally crashes

Final Words

TrailForks is simply a must-have app for all mountain bike enthusiasts. This app includes trail maps for almost any region right across the globe. You can download any regions maps for free, and all maps are fully available off-line. If you’re planning your next mountain bike trip this is an app you simply must-have.