Smartphone Trail Navigation
There are a number of websites and smartphone applications that may be used to help navigate trails on Lunenburg’s conservation lands. These applications or websites will show Lunenburg Conservation Trails and the user’s position on the trails. These include:
TrailForks: Virtually all trails on Lunenburg Conservation Lands appear in TrailForks and it automatically tacks the users position. The TrailForks website is free. There is a free version of the smart phone application that will work in a 38 square mile area centered on where the application is first installed and opened. The free version of the Trailforks application may be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
AllTrails: More than half of all the trails on Lunenburg Conservation Lands appear in AllTrails and it automatically tracks the users position. The free version of the AllTrails application may be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Open Street Maps: OpenStreetMaps is a free open-source collaborative project to create an editable map of the world. Local users have added some of the trails on Lunenburg Conservation lands. Additionally, features can be added to the maps to help guide users to local points of interest. There is an Open Street Maps smartphone application that may be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play or the open street map website may be accessed directly from a smart phone.
Gaia GPS: This application uses Open Street Maps as its source of its data. Gaia allows users to record their current track and show overlays onto trail maps. For those wishing to help maintain trails, screen shots of GPS location along with photos of trails that need repair can help volunteers to maintain trails. Note that there can be a delay of a couple weeks between updates in Open Street Maps and maps on Gaia. The free version of the Gaia application may be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
MRMAPPER: Is the GIS Mapping website of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission. https://mrmapper.mrpc.org/WebApps/v2.15/ExistingFormalTrails/ The Formal Trails app shows virtually all the mapped trails on Lunenburg conservation land. However, the application does not automatically track the users location.
In the future:
CAI Technologies Assessors GIS Website: The Conservation Commission is working with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission to create a trails layer and a conservation land layer to be added to Lunenburg’s Assessors GIS website. This website allows the public to view data online in any browser and on any device and does not require the installation of an application. Users will be able to turn on the trails layer and conservation property layer for navigational use on Lunenburg’s trails. CAI Technology has updated the “my location” button to the mobile user interface so it continuously updates the user’s position. We hope to implement this by the summer of 2021.
Please submit any corrections or updates to this information on smartphone trail navigation to lcctrails@lunenburgma.gov.