If you rely on Google Maps to get, well, anywhere, this new update may be super helpful for your next vacation. The app just announced several new updates tied to national parks, so you can navigate your way through America's most rugged (and often LTE-free) domain, smartphone in hand.
Cell phone service is touch and go in many national parks, if you can get a signal at all, and Google Maps is fixing that. A new feature lets you save offline maps for the parks, so you can access them even on airplane mode. To do so, tap the ‘download’ button on the park’s Google Maps listing. Then, you can use the map at your leisure, with absolutely no signal required.
Google Maps has also added more detailed directions for national parks. Maps will highlight park entrances, and users can request walking or cycling directions to a particular trail, with a direct route to the trailhead.
Trails within national parks are now easier to discover too: When you search for a trail, its entire route will be highlighted on Google Maps. Instead of just showing a pin on the map, users can easily identify where trails start and end and what the route looks like. If you're trying to decide where to venture, you can also easily access community reviews and photos that help detail what type of trail you're considering, its difficulty, and if running, walking, or cycling are preferred.
These new features will help you plan before entering any park and assist procrastinators on the road. Attractions, campgrounds, visitor centers, and trailheads can all be found via Maps, in advance or on-site, so you can go to Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Grand Canyon without paging through guidebooks, relying on a compass, or doing anything without your Smartphone at the ready.