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To commemorate 15 years and fully cementing its status as the world's most as a popular hiking app, AllTrails has just announced a bunch of new, heavily requested features. Some of these features, like the ability to locate points of interest, are promised for all AllTrails users. Others, including access to offline area maps, will soon become available to those who pay for the company's Plus membership ($36/year). And still, other features like custom routes, more detailed information about on-trail conditions, and community heatmaps will be reserved for members of a new premium tier called Peak, which will cost $80 a year.
To get an early look at the new tier, which launches today, 12 May 2025, I attended a special preview in the Catskills earlier this month, where I had the opportunity to meet the AllTrails team behind the new update and test out a slew of new features myself. Though the bulk of the updates are now available to AllTrails members, it's worth mentioning not all features will be available until after an upcoming global app update, planned for June.
Read on for a deeper dive into all the new updates coming to AllTrails.
[Curious to test the app yourself? Sign up for a two-week AllTrails Peak trial today.]
New AllTrails App Features: Available June 2025
Points of Interest
Ever come home from a weekend away, only to realize you missed one more vista around the bend or an Instagrammable balanced rock? AllTrails has noted some 500,000 mapped view points, geological features, and trail amenities across its maps, which are viewable to all members. (Yes, including people who don't pay for Plus or Peak subscriptions.)
Offline Areas
Before this season’s update, the ability to save individual hikes for offline navigation was the key feature that pulled me over to a Plus-level membership. It's great to not have to rely on cell data (or a prayer) to know which turn to take at a fork in the trail. But the fact the app only allowed specific routes to be saved was a bit limiting (I am always so curious about what's down the paths I don't take).
Thankfully, the new update promises to allow Peak and Plus subscribers to download the maps for entire areas and all the routes inside them. This will allow users to be a lot more flexible in my trip planning. I especially like this feature as I can now just download the map for the area I'm visiting, rather than having to do a lot of research in advance of my trip to pick a specific route, only to be thwarted by an unexpected issue at the trailhead.
Community Heatmap
Leveraging millions of users' data shared with AllTrails through publicly recorded hikes (completely optional by each user), Peak members can now toggle on a heatmap view of the trails on the app's map. Whether you decide to apply the knowledge from the heatmap to find the most popular summit approach or identify the path where you're least likely to run into anyone else is entirely up to you.
Custom Routes
On several occasions, I’ve lacked the time or desire to complete the hiking routes as listed on AllTrails, opting to string legs of neighboring trails together on my own. With the new custom route feature, Peak subscribers can more easily choose their own adventure. Users can create a new route from scratch, or modify one that someone has already done. Using AI, AllTrails can also suggest ways to make your route shorter, less steep, or even more scenic with a simple finger tap.
Trail Conditions
To me, one of the most valuable features of AllTrails has always been the community insight into recent trail conditions sourced through trail reviews–think collapsed walkways, tricky post-storm creek crossings, or new bug blooms. Using a more scientific approach, a new trail conditions screen lets Peak members plan with environmental conditions they should expect at a time and date of their choosing–temperature, precipitation, and snow depth during early-season alpine hikes. More than 15 factors power the trail conditions view, with a future update providing even more details on surface terrain qualities.
Outdoor Lens
Outdoor Lens allows Peak subscribers to capture or load photos from their hike to save various plants, insects, and animals to a shareable logbook. Over time, AllTrails will expand its identification capabilities to grow to include a wider variety of natural wonders. (The company has confirmed this feature will not arrive until later this Summer.)
Final Thought: Is AllTrails Peak Worth It Over AllTrails Basic and AllTrails Plus?
Tired of planning by balancing multiple open browser windows, each with half a dozen tabs to triangulate maps, weather forecasts, and a meticulously-coded system of pins? Honestly, this has worked fine for me with only a few notable disasters (learning experiences!) over the years. But I can recognize that some people might not want to deal with the headache.
AllTrails Peak, and its younger sibling AllTrails Plus, offer an easier way to plan and execute foot-based expeditions. Those who hike occasionally will probably be happy enough with the middle-tier option. The ability to save entire map areas for offline consultation is a huge upgrade over the Base membership. Even if you have premium subscriptions to other outdoor apps (like Strava), this feature and the other advanced navigational tools offered at the Plus level are well worth it.
But, if hiking is your primary outdoor calling, then consider upgrading to the Peak membership. The community heatmap can help you make sure you leave no popular part of the trail untrod. And the custom routing features looks extremely easy (dare I say fun?) to use. You can register for an early access trial) to the features now, until the full suite of upgrades hit the app in June. Either way, happy trails!
Published 05-12-2025
