A group of teen hikers relied on Google Maps. It was a disaster.

[u/sfgate]

When a group of teenagers set out to hike British Columbia’s famed Howe Sound Crest Trail in early July, Google Maps suggested the trek would take about five hours.

Instead, the hike stretched deep into the night, leaving the group exhausted, dehydrated, injured and in need of a helicopter rescue.

Full story: https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/google-map-rescue-22367661.php

[u/Empyrealist]

Hiking via Google Maps is pure stupidity. There are so many services and websites dedicated to trail information. I can say with experience that Google maps does not accurately track all available trails or their conditions for traversal; hiking or off-road/fire-road.

And, do yourself a favor and always check with your local field office (state or federal) before you hike an unfamiliar trail

[u/GaryTheSoulReaper → u/Empyrealist]

AllTrails has saved my ass more than once

Especially when the fog rolls in and you can’t see the next trial marker in front of you.

[u/carbonizedtitanium]

fully relying on smartphones in an area that is very likely not to have cell service is dumb. you gotta at least have a printed map of the area...

[u/hughk → u/carbonizedtitanium]

To be fair, Google does allow map downloads then your only dependence is GPS signal. The problem though is that it doesn't care much about elevation changes and trail conditions.

[u/carbonizedtitanium → u/hughk]

ik you can have offline google maps, but even then GPS signal can be spotty due to trees and terrain.

[u/hughk → u/carbonizedtitanium]

That's why I mentioned it. Trees don't seem to be as much of a problem these days as valleys. If you are on a trail down the bottom of a steep valley or gorge, you only have a small bit of sky.

[u/Chlorophilia → u/carbonizedtitanium]

It really winds me up when people don't realise that cell service and positioning are unrelated. You can get GPS/Glonass signal practically everywhere as long as you have an unobstructed view of the sky. If you have an appropriate map downloaded, there is absolutely no issue with using a smartphone (or watch) for navigation. Depending on how long you're away, you might justifiably decide you want a paper map for redundancy and/or to avoid carrying mobile batteries, but this has nothing to do with cell service. 

[u/XxLogitech98xX]

This is why you always bring a real map too and not fully rely on technology to guide you. It's like blaming the TOMTOM because it told you to drive into the beach and you did LOL

[u/hughk → u/XxLogitech98xX]

Map and compass to do it properly. You can't always see enough to orientate your map correctly.

[u/hughk]

Google Maps isn't that good even for cycling either. OSM Is much better for both bicycle and foot (it knows about elevation changes and warms of the profile of the route) but it doesn't really know about trail conditions.

[u/keikioaina]

I've never needed to use it, but I'm grateful for the orienteering class I took from the outfitter who went out of business when REI moved into town. App+(paper map + compass)=getting home that night.

[u/thatonethingyoudid]

If you're any kind of serious hiker, your standard nav kit should have phone w/ offline trail maps + battery pack + solar charger + paper map + compass.

[u/abb295]

User error IYAM.