Hiking With Gaia GPS For Beginners

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For those who are new to hiking using the Gaia GPS app (for iPhone or Android), this quick video will walk you through the basics of creating or loading a hike, using the hike to navigate, and then viewing your saved hike when you're done on the trail.
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[@marcoluoma3770]

Thank you very much for including what it looks like when you're following a track. Oddly, yours is the only video I found that includes this beginner information. Thanks again.

[@JJ-lx6sb]

This was a great intro video, thank you!

[@indianolaguitarman]

Wow, great job on this. Learning a lot from your channel. Thanks!

[@Hikingguy]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful.

[@conniestevemorrison9021]

Extremely helpful! Thank you!!!

[@kyungsoospicious1123]

Love the video! Super helpful, thank you.

[@MrGusOrlando]

Hey man - thank you so much for your content! I just moved to OC and so these videos hit both needs for me 1) super instructional and 2) I see all the hikes laid out for SoCal on your site. Man I am excited!!!! It's like having an expert personal guide for these hikes. Takes the guessing out of it

[@Hikingguy]

Great to hear and welcome to the OC - it's a great place for hiking, lots of local/county parks and not far from a few mountain ranges and deserts - have fun and see you out there

[@ImTheBlade65]

Outstanding! I'm both excited about this technology, and at the same time, a little concerned if I should begin selling my existing dedicated handheld GPS devices! 🤭

[@Rich32262]

Discount code still works. Thank you!

[@Counselor77]

Great video, there are a lot of features in Gaia and a lot to take in, so thanks for a great informative video.

[@papajon62]

Nice! I’m in the market for a GPS unit and this helps

[@glenellynrunner]

Well done, thanks.

[@ENGINESHOPJOE]

Thanks for this.

[@megeshom4820]

Thank you!

[@jkmwpc]

Thank you for sharing. This explains a lot! I've been hiking Western NC by the seat of my pants...and I think I need a GPS. This helps explain the interface to the phone.

[@jeromemorris2700]

Awesome! Thanks.

[@craigb1427]

Thank you

[@jimhowardbatey410]

Great video

[@tompfender8732]

Great video to explain in plain English what I've been fiddling around with GAIA for a year now. I still find some aspects incredibly frustrating, the folder organization is probably my biggest pet peeve. GAIA conventions fly in the face of normal computing organizational standards. I reached out to tech support with questions, but after a weeks wait there is still no answer. I keep vacillating on shucking GAIA and going to AllTrails, jury is still out. Videos like yours gives me hope I will someday understand this software.

[@Hikingguy]

Yea, I agree, the folder system is confusing and doesn't work well. I've deleted items by mistake when it wasn't clear that they were in a certain folder. Garmin Explore has the same issue with "collections" and I wish they just had a simpler setup. CalTopo does it well I think. It's very simple and it just works.

[@williampennjr.4448]

It would be great if they showed parking area's near the trails. Also, area's you can camp, not just campgrounds but dispersed camping as well would be cool It would be even more fantastic if they could let you know when a campsite is free. Some place don't charge any fees off season, but some do and its hard to know which.

[@clarkansas6590]

Good job

[@Vanderloo5]

I've been curious to see how to integrate gaia GPS with my garmin inreach mini2. I see some interesting stuff on your website that may help but if you have any resources I would appreciate seeing them. Thank You for the cool vids.

[@williamerosh4597]

Thanks!

[@Hikingguy]

BIG THANK YOU!!!

[@bertrosado1969]

Another great video presentation. I can't get enough from all the information you share. So when I turn the iPhone to Airplane mode and if I am not in the city and have no cell coverage, how does GAIA know where I am? If the phone is paired with Inreach or Zoleo, will it use Satellite data to tell me where I am real time? Will it show the progress on the screen? Thanks

[@therealmorganfreeman2875]

Quick question, after you create a route and set all the way points you want, to be able to use route offline do you still have to go to the download maps tab and download it then click on the recent downloaded to use offline?

[@rickguthrie7662]

I am a beginner. I bought an In Reach mini over a year ago. I can use it to notify family my current location. But, what a pain to try to sinc with my phone with my proposed route. My goal is: 1. to text on my phone rather than the Mini, 2. put my phone in airplane and view a downloaded map on earthmate. So Gaia looks pretty user friendly for a non-tech person like me. Is the following what I need to do: 1. Subscribe to Gaia, 2. Find my next hike in WA state, 3. set my course on the Gaia map or use one already established (for example hiking trail to the summit of Mt Townsend), 4. once the course/map is set on Gaia then download to my phone, 5. at the trailhead pull up my downloaded map in Gaia, 6 place my phone in Airplane mode, 7. sinc phone with In Reach mini, 8. start hike, 9. anyplace along hike I can view my position on my phone via Earthmate which has the Gaia map loaded. Do I need an app like Gaia in order to have a map that I track on Earthmate? Or am I supposed to find a map on Earthmate, set up a route, save it somewhere like on my computer and then download to my phone, etc. Your comments are appreciated.

[@smeeglesapprentice1468]

I'm just coming up to speed with Gaia and appreciate your videos. What do you think of Gaia in light of the large increase in the annual subscription fee?

[@Hikingguy]

If you spend a decent amount of time outside or planning trips, it's worth it. If you're just an occasional hiker, it's prob overkill.

[@33736]

Thank you for the video, when you turn your iPhone off, how do you have GPS capabilities?

[@Hikingguy]

the GPS runs when the screen is off but if you power down the phone nothing runs

[@stevejonas6333]

Thanks so much for the video. I have a question for you on using the Gaia app on my iPhone. If I am out of cell phone coverage, can the app still let me know where I am on a map and get me back to my car when I am going off trail hiking? Appreciate any advice you have.

[@Hikingguy]

You need a premium account and then you need to download maps for offline use. The GPS will work no matter what, it's just the offline maps that require a subscription.

[@jorgemeza4062]

Great! I normally use All Trails which is somewhat similar. Have you had some experience with All Trails?

[@Hikingguy]

Yes but I have some issues with AllTrails, especially when I turn it back on and have to start at the home screen (not the hike screen). Will have a video on AllTrails at some point too. It's def way better now than it was a few years ago.

[@VivianInTheOC]

Great job! I would also love it if you did a similar video about AllTrails👍

[@markrine]

I'm curious if the watch app for gaia has been updated with better usability with the apple watch series 7 that I just ordered?

[@Hikingguy]

I don't think the GPS chipset changed from the AW6 to the AW7, but I have one ordered, coming in Nov, and will do a test when I get it. Stay tuned...

[@williampennjr.4448]

how come their search is so limited? When I type in the "Appalachian Trail" it only gives two location choices. When I try to type in a street name that's connected to the Appalachian trail like Dennytown road, I get nothing.

[@nutthrower4415]

My left side bar does not look like that, is there a reason? Thanks

[@WillW7WRP]

What do you recommend on trail without cell service, Gaia or Caltopo? My Gaia subscription expires in days and it has increased the price and am wondering if Caltopo is better.

[@Hikingguy]

The interface and app overall for Gaia GPS works much better on mobile for me and I still use it all the time. Probably time for me to do an updated video on some of these apps though.

[@hollernathan]

Hi, I’m trying to find your video on using the track back feature on Gaia gps, can’t find any advice on following the track back to car. On Garmin I just reverse copy the track. Thank you.

[@Hikingguy]

It's not turn-by-turn, but if you enable track recording, you will be able to see it on the map and then follow it back by referring to the map.

[@springrain8373]

When you create your route, do you need to do it on your computer? Can you do it on your phone? I found it is not so easy to do this on the phone. I just started using this, found harder to use than all trails.

[@Hikingguy]

You can do it on phone or computer

[@halabujioutdoors]

Thank you! I don't use desktop Gaia, so I must be missing out some good functions.

[@Hikingguy]

I find the desktop much easier for planning. I do all the research and leg work on the computer where I can move fast / switch tabs, and then just send to the phone.

[@DaystarHiker]

It's a subscription service now.

[@MattBubriski]

Do you have a workflow for finding hikes in gaia and exporting gpx to upload to Garmin?

[@Hikingguy]

Download the GPX from Gaia on the computer, then upload to Garmin Explore website, then sync my Explore app on the phone with the website and then the device. The whole Garmin ecosystem is pretty clunky and should work more like Gaia.

[@MattBubriski]

Thanks! I wish it was easier to find local hikes right in Garmin Connect.

[@Hikingguy]

@@MattBubriski Yea, I wish they would have bought AllTrails, which would have solved he community component. They bought a product called Active Captain for their marine products, which solved a similar issue. Maybe it will happen, who knows?

[@user-ne5zi7rr5f]

Does this app work if need to get back to a campsite after getting dropped off at a trail? Scenario would be pinning my campsite somehow, getting dropped off and then finding my way back to my camper. Even if you lose the trail can it show which way I need to go by where my pinned campsite is? Thank you!

[@Hikingguy]

Yes, just drop a waypoint and use an offline map to navigate to it

[@user-ne5zi7rr5f]

Thank so much for responding!@@Hikingguy

[@tannerterry8300]

Does recording your hike use noticeably more battery life?

[@Hikingguy]

Yup

[@robertareuben6454]

I need a backtrack or if I’m lost

[@Hikingguy]

The track you've created is shown on screen so it's easy to backtrack.

[@henthoi1267]

Can it record in the background or after the screen is turn off?

[@Hikingguy]

Yup!

[@henthoi1267]

Recording in the background records only in a straight line. So it would be better if it can record the actual track even if we close the screen and put it inside my pocket and walk

[@evhvariac2]

I tried a simple track this morning and find it drains the iPhone battery FAST. Do you experience this? Thx

[@Hikingguy]

Make sure airplane mode is on - if you are out of cell range and it keeps trying to find a signal, the battery goes fast

[@bddellow]

@@Hikingguy If you have it in airplane mode and record the hike does it last all day hiking through the back country? I realize that this could vary a bit but in general?

[@Hikingguy]

@@bddellow Yup I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and running all day works with plenty to spare

[@savage22bolt32]

Interesting about airplane mode. I did notice my Samsung battery was losing juice quicker than normal.

[@theMekanik]

First!!! 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻

[@taesssi]

I know I'm late to the video. I have a question about the app. does it also include closures or restricted areas? For example we have a national monument here and one of the mountains in it, is closed off to the public (permanently). Would the app show that on one of it's maps?

[@Hikingguy]

Usually not, you have to check the park website unfortunatley

[@kevinkant6817]

I only hike in the nude, you should make videos on the nude hiking season

[@miamivicefanatic9736]

If this is really a tutorial for beginners, you need to tell us the URL for the Gaia website.