Curiosity fuels many overlanders. Personally, I can hardly resist the urge to turn down any random dirt road I pass. I long for the unknown, crave what’s beyond that next curve, and dream of stumbling upon my next memory and the story it will spawn.
Up until recently, that’s largely how Hanna and I have traveled. Thanks to our Jeeps, we’ve been able to take and explore random trails with near impunity. We considered ourselves cartographers of our own history, tracking our routes and marking our waypoints along the way.
While we still plan to record our adventures in map form, things have changed. Now that we’ve shifted our focus to longevity, comfort, and sustainability on the road, we can no longer head down trails willy-nilly. We have to plan ahead, be informed, and try to keep our big old truck out of trouble.
To accomplish the balance of freewheeling exploration and not ending up on some search and rescue show, we’ve started relying more heavily on the tools available to us. Among them is an app we’ve used extensively in the past but only now truly appreciate—onX Offroad.
Find Trails for Your Truck
An example of trail information available on onX.
My favorite feature of onX Offroad is the ability to find trails in an area with ease. In the Discover tab, you can zoom in on any location to see the available routes, including everything from simple dirt roads to hardcore rock crawling trails. Tap on one, and you will be met with information that encompasses the difficulty rating, primary attractions and obstacles, and even photos.
These highlights alone make onX Offroad a valuable resource for any off-roader or overlander, but they’re not my favorite part of the Discover tab. No, that honor belongs to the ability to filter the trails shown on the map by the vehicle you will be using.
So, with the new truck in mind, I can filter all of the trails on onX Offroad by Full-Width 4x4. By applying this filter, I can feel confident that any trail I choose to take will accommodate our behemoth of an overland rig.
All the Features You’d Expect
While the Discover tab and its filters are by far my favorite aspect of onX Offroad and what elevates it to the top spot in my navigation tier list, the app offers far more than that. It is a full-blown off-road navigation app with all of the features you would expect.
Downloadable Maps
With onX Offroad, you can download a specific area of the map to use when cellular data is unavailable. This includes having access to the trail routes, making navigating even in remote locations a piece of cake.
A fraction of the icons at your disposal.
Record Your Tracks
Whether you like to track all of your movement or simply drop a waypoint to remember a special location, onX Offroad has you covered. You can record your routes, leave detailed notes for yourself (or others), use icons to identify landmarks (obstacles, campsites, etc.), and more.
Private Land Overlay
A close second to the ability to filter trails by vehicle size and capability is the private land overlay. In essence, this overlay indicates what land belongs to a private individual, and what land is public. This is a game-changer when searching for a campsite, as you don’t want to end up in someone’s backyard or hanging out beyond a “no trespassing” sign.
Constant Improvement
As a company, onX is extremely involved in the off-roading, overlanding, and hunting communities. Not only are they continually contributing to these communities and doing their part to strengthen them, but they are also constantly improving the services they provide. New features debut regularly, trails are added and updated frequently, and the interface of the app is always being refined. They’re committed to their community and their work, and it shows.
We’ve been using onX Offroad for about three years now, and it has been an exceptional experience since day one. It’s been fun to watch the app improve, and the visibility of the company explode. Hanna and I are blessed to be ambassadors of this brand based in Missoula, MT, a town we lived in for upwards of three years. If you find yourself wanting to give onX Offroad a try, be sure to use my link. Doing so will give me a small amount of commission and help me continue to bring you content like this!
-RW