One of the most popular sports today that can be enjoyed alone or with family is hiking. It is inexpensive and does not require any special equipment except for a good solid pair of shoes, comfortable clothes and the most important, a map.

It is always helpful to carry terrain maps of maintained tracks and to take a break regularly to check the area. Map-reading is more important when one ventures off a beaten track. On adventure hikes, ploting a course becomes much more important and considerably difficult. Hiking on a deserted natural area alone and without a map is inviting disaster because the chance of getting lost is high.

The introduction of GPS-enabled device changed the way we all travel. Since the launch of GPS-enabled Android phone, the mobile market has gone through an immense transition.

Among the many features of an Android phone, the most valuable is its capability to function as a navigation device.

Android phones have already contributed to the tremendous transition in the way people hike. The Android GPS can receive location from GPS satellites regardless of the location. If you are in areas with no signal your GPS will work, but you'll need a program that stores maps on the phone to make use of it. With an ideal Android hiking app to read pre-downloaded maps even without network coverage, Android phone turns into a capable outdoor GPS device.

One of the best and must have Android hiking app is the kind that lets you store hiking maps and aerial photos to your storage card and use it while outdoors even without network coverage. With the use of GPS for navigating, you can see the hiking terrain and your location on those maps.

Support for wireless connectivity is also one of the significant characteristics of a good Android hiking app. It must enable the user to download GPS maps and data on the go and must also have the capability of storing custom way points.

Another important feature that a good Android app must possess is access to topo maps of USA and Canada among the diverse map sources because all these maps are free or public domain. However, if you download maps using your cell phone, the corresponding data transfer charges incurred will be billed by your service provider.

An Android hiking app with wi-fi capability is another feature that everyone should look for. This will give users an opportunity to download maps when connected to wi-fi hot spots away from home, store it, and then view it through the same hiking app even in areas without network coverage.

Having a GPS-enabled Android phone together with a good hiking app is very useful when you go for a hike especially if you are not familiar with the place.

A good hiking app must support current and future Android powered phones with GPS capabilities.

One of the best hiking apps for Android can be bought and downloaded from the Android Market.

Android phone and a reliable Android hiking app is an ideal pair for hiking enthusiasts. It not only guides them with their exact location and point of direction, it also shows them other places which they can add to their list of future hikes.