FREE APPS YOU NEED TO DOWNLOAD FOR YOUR NEXT ROADTRIP
I just returned home from a week and a half on the road by myself and let me tell ya, I already miss the open road. There’s something about going days on end without a shower, pitching a tent every night, the smell of campfires and that feeling of having time off and away from the rest of the world while you’re on the road. There’s no better feeling, I think we can all agree. But one thing that can get super hard is planning all of it: where to stay / camp, the best route to take for your trip, what hikes to do in a different state. A lot of work goes into making a roadtrip happen unless you like to be spontaneous and see where the wind takes you. So I want to share with you the most helpful apps I’ve found to download for FREE on your iPhone (Not sure about Android) to make your trip a bit easier!
One thing to note: I’m not sure if these apps are available in all countries other than the USA. But if you are looking for apps to use out of country and would like a blog post about it let me know as I found great ones for Thailand, Iceland and Ireland that were helpful!
But for now let’s get into the best USA roadtrip apps!
Roadtrippers:
Roadtrippers is probably the best app for an all in one basically! If you haven’t heard of it: it’s not only an app you can download on your phone but it’s desktop friendly as well! This helpful app plans your whole route after you add your pinpoints on the map, it’s a great source on finding already planned out itineraries, finding more stops to add along your own roadtrip route, tells you how many miles your trip should be, how much you roughly will be spending on gas. etc.. It’s definetly the all inclusive app to have and the best part is it’s still FREE to download. Yes, there’s more you can do if you pay for it but honestly it’s already such a helpful app to have or use online when needing help so I wouldn’t personally pay for more!
Google Maps:
Obviously you need to have directions on hand easily when cruising through a town you’ve never been. I’m a firm believer that Google Maps is better than the Apple Maps for plenty of reasons so download it if you don’t already have it while I tell you why I love it so much. The best feature is easily that you can download any area of the map offline for FREE; you know we’ve all been there when you accidentally exit out of maps on your phone or you lost service and now you’re looking around with no idea where to go - well you’re covered now. You must be connected to Wifi to download a map offline so make sure you do this beforehand! Also I love Google Maps because you can add multiple stops on a route, so if you have your whole day of places planned out you can punch them all in at once and see how much driving time you’re about to endure.
Want to know more about why I think Google Drive / Google Maps is secretly the best for planning your roadtrips? I’m thinking of writing a blog post on why - let me know in the comments if you’d be interested! Explaining how to plan your full trip just using this one helpful app, tips/tricks you probably didn’t know about Google maps and more.
ioverlander:
Alright iOverlander easily takes the winner as best app out there, the one I swear by religiously and the one I use most on my road trips. iOverlander is your answer on where to find free camping ANYWHERE. Once you download the app it’s as easy as just hitting the map and seeing everything nearby you or you can search where you’re headed if you zoom into that area. Not only is it the best to find free camping but it has basically everything else you would need when on the road: grocery stores, laundry mats, banks, showers, paid camping, security / border checkpoints, fee areas. If you want to turn off any of these while searching around on here just go up to the right hand corner and filter it out. This has been a life changer since I found it last year! Mostly all the free camping spots are left with reviews from other campers and when they were there last, photos, the exact coordinates to each location and if it’s still open or not. I used this when traveling through both Iceland and Ireland as well so I do know for sure this app can be used in other countries! You’re welcome in advance.
One thing to note though: With free camping means no public facilities usually such as garbages and bathrooms so always please pack in what you pack out! This is the most important thing on keeping all these wild camping places alive is by keeping them clean. Let’s do that together!
Campendium:
Campendium is another great app to find camping options! Not only does it have free ones that you can filter search for but also rv parks, public camping, parking areas ors dump stations. Plus you can add what amenities you’re looking for if you really want to get down to business and find the perfect one!
This a great option to have if you can’t find anything on the other camping apps.
Boondocking:
Boondocking is basically the same as iOverlander but it’s not used as much meaning there’s not as many places on the map. But I did want to put it on here just so you have all the options when it does come to finding somewhere to sleep at night when on the road!
Booking.com:
What about the nights you’re exhausted and don’t want to find free camping, you just want a nice cozy bed and a real shower? Booking is my personal favorite and I know that there’s so many other options such as Agoda, Priceline and Expedia - I sometimes use those as well too. But Booking I’ve found is always spot on with their prices online I’ve never shown up to a hotel and had to pay more where I have with other third parties, if anything I always pay less since you can compare prices!
USA Reststops:
Whos’s tried finding a quick rest area for those nights you’re just driving the long freeway / highway to somewhere and it feels like nothing will pop up? This app tells you when a rest area is nearby, shows you a map of them if you want to plan ahead and it even goes as far as telling you how many spots there are and if there’s picnic tables and so on.
It’s definelty became one of my favorites - especially because sometimes Google Maps doesn’t show you all the rest areas there are.
AllTrails:
I’m sure you’ve heard of Alltrails before because it’s one of the best places to find hikes or short trails in any area! I love this one because it gives you how long the trail is out and back, what the level of difficulty is, reviews from other hikers, recent photos of the trail and also gives you directions on how to get to the trailhead, plus even will track your mileage while on the trail. I use this both before my roadtrips when planning and also when I’m just in a beautiful area, passing by but want to get out for a short walk. What’s nice if I don’t have time for one of those longer hikes but I still would like to do it eventually you can save it for later instead of writing it down or trying to remember the name of it!
This is one of the more used apps in my Travel folder on my phone.
WTA - washington trails association:
(When in WA)
If I love living in Washington for one reason it’s got to be the abundance hiking trails.. I’ve definietly done my fair share of bushwhacking and rock climbing to hike the more unknown trails here and the best resource to find those places most people have forgotten about? Washington Trails Association - Also known as Trailblazer for the app. I use this website / app like it’s the daily newspaper - I absolutely LOVE everything about WTA. You can find hikes by narrowing down your search to what area you want to be in or what you want to see, this is the best place to find trip reports as everyone is always posting on here, also some scenic drives and short walking trails are included.
It’s basically just like AllTrails but a little bit more in depth and also with more options I feel like but again it is only for when visiting Washington.
Don’t ask me why not every state has something like this - unless they do? Does your state have it’s own website or app for hiking / walking trails?
Hiking Project:
Just when you thought I was done talking about hiking - I wasn’t. Hiking Project is another great app for finding trails, directions to the trailhead, confirming the distance of each trail and so on. But the one thing I love the most about this one is that it tracks your mileage while you’re on the trail and also gives you a small map of the trail you’re on - showing how far you’ve gone and how much longer you have. Oh yeah did I mention the best part? Their app is designed to work offline so even when you’ve lost service and you forgot to start the app, you can open it mid hike and start tracking yourself if you’ve downloaded the area offline.
REI Co Op National Parks:
I just discovered this one before my roadtrip and I LOVE it - If you were following along on my roadtrip or read about it in my previous blog post you know I went to the Grand Canyon for my first time and WOW it’s beautiful. Anyways, I was trying to explore more in depth in the national park since I knew how big it was and how much there is to do, all the different campsites, the village and so on. That’s when I came across REI’s helpful app for the National Parks - it literally has everything you could think of for every national park.. Local info, visiting tips, camping / lodging, food and drink, shuttles, tours, maps / guidebooks, trail info, history of the park, webcams and more.. If you didn’t think that was enough this great app lets you create a To Do List - so you can add your hikes or viewpoints in one handy place to start crossing them all off.
This was a game changer when visiting new national parks this trip, definitely download this one if doing my Ultimate Southwest Itinerary as many National Parks are listed in there!
TRiposo:
This is just like the REI Co Op App but instead of it only ranging for the National Parks it talks about each state! So you can explore the different city options if you’re driving through a whole state, it shows all the national parks / state parks, a little bit about the history of each state, what to see / do and also what the weather is looking like. This is a really fun app to have if you’re road tripping through a state you never really planned for but want to find some last minute things or if you want to plan ahead for your trip. But the best part? You can download all the info about what state you want OFFLINE - that way if you’re out of service and can’t remember the name of that place you wanted to stop off at.. You’re covered.
The Outbound Collective:
If you needed even more ideas for what to do when on the road to new places The Outbound Collective has a great app to download! This one isn’t just for hikes like mostly the other ones listed above. This app is great for finding hot springs, beautiful campsites, random adventures, a small town and so on.. It’s honestly the best place to just search for your next exploration! It has all the info you need as well such as trail mileage (when looking at hikes), coordinates to camp spots, photos of the places and more.
Outbound Collective is also desktop friendly you just need to make an account!
Gasbuddy:
If you read my Why you need to travel solo blog post you know that one of the things I listed as being a con to road tripping alone is paying for gas because IT ADDS UP QUICK! Especially when doing a long journey.. That’s where Gasbuddy comes into play. You just open up the app and it will use your current location to find gas stations nearby and lists the current prices that way you can be sure you’re getting the best deal and saving more money for roadtrip snacks. Because let’s be honest: snacks and gas is where most of the money goes when on the road. So don’t ever fill up and then drive by another gas station where gas is a dollar less again - just download this and do the quick minute check to save yourself some money!
Netflix:
If you didn't already know that Netflix has an app for your phone and that you can download shows / movies offline if you have an account.. Well, I’m sorry nobody let you in on the secret earlier. Netflix is my favorite for this reason! Mostly because I don’t already pay for the Netflix account I use (Thanks to my brother) but even then he’s not paying extra to download stuff offline or to be logged in on a phone. So next time you get all cozied up for bed in the tent make sure you have your favorite TV show or a movie downloaded offline!
Amazon TV:
Are you a member of Amazon Prime? Then you know that there’s tons more benefits than just the free 2 day shipping when shopping online - Amazon TV being one of them. It’s literally just like Netflix; tons of TV shows, documentaries and movies that you can download offline for free as well (If you have an Amazon Prime account). It’s just another great option to have if you’re getting sick of everything on Netflix. When I flew to Thailand I watched at least 4 seasons of House because I forgot about that show completely until scrolling through Amazon TV it’s just a nice little switch up than everything you’re used to seeing!
Ted Talk:
I’m a huge fan of Ted Talks - the variety of speakers on Ted is so eye opening and is always something I love to listen to when on the road. Sometimes I get tired of listening to music so I love that on the Ted Talk app you can download talks offline - either just the audio or the audio with video.
I usually just download the audio since it saves space on my phone and I’m listening to these on the road but again it’s free to do offline!
Spotify / Soundcloud:
The best investment I’ve ever made is to Spotify premium.. Downloading music offline has been the biggest game changer to road tripping there is. I’m sure you all know you can download offline music or podcasts if you have either Spotify Premium or Soundcloud Go - so all I’m here to do is basically encourage you to make the move on buying it. I love downloading random roadtrip playlists offline and then listening when I’m on the road and sick of my own music because 2 out of 3 times I find a lot of music I like!
Audible:
I’ve been trying to read the book “Wild” for probably 4 years now and I just finally read (listened to it) for my first time while driving to Utah.. Thanks to Audbile though! So again if you’re not big on the music or you’ve just gotten to to the point where you’re not in the mood for it anymore, download a book and listen to it. Yes you do have to pay for the book but since it was my first time using the app I actually was able to download 2 free books so I’d recommend doing that and saving them for if you have a long trip coming up!
Well that’s it you guys.. The best / most helpful apps I’ve found to making a road trip more of a breeze - now I know I’m always prepared with these downloaded in order to start planning a trip or also when I’m on the road already.
I hope you were able to find a couple new apps to download and try out before you hit the road on your next trip. If you do I’d love to know what ones you used and liked!
Thank you for being Lost in a Dream with me
With lots of love,
Niki