- Define your own walking trails in Maps
- Build up a route by tapping to add nodes
- Save your walking directions to use offline
Apple Maps has been slowly improving for the past decade, with new features almost every year. The latest additions with iOS 18 allow users to create custom walking trails, which is great for dedicated hikers. That said, anybody who walks, hikes, or runs on the regular will benefit from this feature, so let’s take a peek at how it works.
Go your own way
First, pick a location in Maps and tap the directions button as usual. Select Walking mode to see routes you can do on foot. Amongst Apple’s suggestions, you’ll see another option to Create a Custom Route. Tap this to open up the route-building interface.
Here, you can simply tap the map build up a route, adding markers as you go. It’s a bit like painting your journey from start to finish. Pro tip: the app will program in the most efficient route between points, so if you want to go a circuitous scenic route you’ll need to zoom in with a pinch gesture for more precise control.
Hit the undo button if you make a mistake, or the route button in the lower right of the map to perfectly frame your entire journey on screen.
When you’ve placed markers all the way to your destination, you’ll see a few clever options. Reverse will switch the start and end points, Out & Back will add an identical return journey to the plan, and Close Loop will bring the route back to the start point in the most efficient way possible.
You’ll also see a nice set of data including total distance, estimated walking time, and a graph showing elevations changes along the route.
If you’re planning to do the same route again in future, press the Save button. Here, you’ll be able to name the route, add notes, and even download the necessary map data for offline access. That means you’ll still be able to follow your trail even if you go somewhere with no signal. You can revisit saved routes from the Library section of the Maps app, where everything you’ve pinned or saved goes.
With all that sorted, press GO to get started with your walk. Have fun!
Topographic trails
One more thing – if you’re in the US or Japan, you’ll see new topographical maps and trail networks, giving even more reason for hikers to use the app. Not everywhere is covered, but Apple confirmed that every national park in the US has been mapped with this new level of detail.
Look up Sequoia or Joshua Tree or Death Valley and you’ll see a Popular Hikes section on its info card. Alternatively you simply search for “hikes in X” to see a full selection of pre-made routes in that area.