I know a lot of people use Alltrails and I think it’s a great resource for finding *approximate* distances and elevation gain. It’s not a great resource for *accurately* knowing the distance and elevation gain of a hike. I mostly use it to confirm the planned route with my hiking buddies and the “get directions to the trailhead” functionality.

Phones and satellite devices are flawed by ping rates and connection. They can over estimate hike distance by accidentally pinging your location far off trail and then back again. They can under estimate hike distance by pinging at point A and point D, but missing points B and C.

Map/book distances are actual distances measured with a wheel. THAT is the actual distance. The distance that you will be hiking. No matter what an app or your device says. It’s great when the app over estimates, but it can really suck when you plan for a shorter distance and end up hiking a lot longer than anticipated.

Take for example the hike that Rainbow and I just completed. We were together the entire time.

Source	Distance
Map/book (actual distance)	4.4 miles
Alltrails hike as listed	4.2 miles
My Gaia track recorded in app on my phone	4.6 miles
My Garmin track	5.0 miles
Rainbow’s Alltrails track recorded in app on her phone	6.1 miles
Rainbow’s Garmin track	3.9 miles

For a 4.4 mile hike, that’s a difference of two miles from the shortest recorded distance to the longest!

Always check a map when planning your hike. It’s great to use devices to track your distance (as we obviously do) but just know they can be off. If your plan says there is water at the three mile mark, don’t rely on your app to accurately tell you that you’re at the three mile mark.