out & back
Day hike
Up before dawn, back for dinner. The long trail in a single long day.
8–20 mi
Long-distance hiking, kept
the long way,kept.
Plan multi-week trails, cache water, track every mile, and walk with a community that's already out there.
● now · PCT mi 1,204
01
How a hike comes together
Three steps, then a lot of walking.
/ 01
Plan the route
Pick a trail, see the profile, and know where the next town, pass, and water source are before you start.
/ 02
Pack the miles
Base weight, resupply boxes, and a pace that fits the terrain — not the calendar.
/ 03
Walk it
Go offline, log every mile, and lean on a community that's already out there when it gets hard.
02
Everything you need, nothing you don't
Built for the walk, not the scroll.
Offline topo
Download whole routes before you go. The map keeps working when the signal doesn't.
Water & resupply
Caches, springs, and towns — with a live report from hikers ahead of you.
Elevation profiles
Every pass, every climb, drawn in one line so the schedule matches the terrain.
Pace & mileage
Log miles, track pace, and see how today's walk compares to yesterday's.
Trip reports
Read the last week of reports from the exact section you're about to walk.
Find north
A companion that keeps you pointed the right way, even when the trail doesn't.
03
Out there, for real
Shot where the trail actually goes.
05
The shape of a trail
Two thousand miles, in one line.
mi 05001,0001,5002,0002,650
now · mi 1,2048,210 ftclimbing · 14% grade
06
Four ways to walk
Pick your pace. The trail takes all of them.
end to end
Thru-hike
The whole thing in one season. Months of walking, resupply boxes, and trail names.
2,000+ mi
summit
Peak bag
One summit, chosen on purpose. The walk is the approach; the view is the point.
1 summit
piece by piece
Section hike
A trail done in chunks over years. No finish line, just a line you keep coming back to.
100s of mi
From the desk of Ada Merrick
A thru-hike is just a thousand small walks, one after another.
Nobody wakes up in Georgia and walks to Maine. You walk to the next water source, then the next shelter, then the next town. The trail reveals itself one day at a time.
That's the whole idea behind wayfarer. Maps don't hike. Apps don't hike. But a good companion makes the thousand small walks easier to string together — the water report you can actually read, the profile that tells you tomorrow is a hard day, the note from a hiker a week ahead saying the spring is dry.
So here's the invitation: pick a trail you've always meant to walk. Plan the first twenty miles. The rest of it will take care of itself, one step at a time.
Ada MerrickFounder, WAYFARER
07
By the numbers
Live, from our backend.
12.4M
miles mapped
128k
hikers on trail
48k
water sources
96k
trip reports
08
Walked it, loved it
Hikers who finally finished.
★★★★★
"I planned my whole PCT on wayfarer and the water reports alone saved me twice. The profile told me when to slow down before my legs did."
June C.PCT nobo, 2025
★★★★★
"It's the only app that feels like it's been on trail. The offline maps just work, even at mile 400 with no bars."
Marcus T.AT sobo
★★★★★
"I did the Camino with it as my only guide. Yellow arrows and a good map — that's all you actually need."
Sofia R.Camino, twice
09
The roadmap
Where we're headed.
Q3 2026
Route planner, offline topo, and the live water report — in beta.
Q4 2026
Community trip reports and a shared resupply box planner.
Q1 2027
Satellite SOS and weather-on-route, for the stretches without signal.
Q2 2027
wayfarer beacon: a tiny device that logs miles and calls for help.
10
Questions, answered.
How does the water report work?+
Hikers ahead of you log the springs and caches they pass. You see the last report for every source on your route, so you know what's dry before you get there.
Does it work offline?+
Yes. Download the route and its topo tiles before you go, and the map, profile, and your own logs keep working with no signal.
Which trails are covered?+
The PCT, AT, Colorado Trail, Camino, and John Muir Trail are fully mapped today, with more long trails rolling out through the roadmap.
Is it only for thru-hikes?+
No. Day hikes, section hikes, and peak bags all use the same maps and profiles. The scale changes, the tools don't.
Is it free?+
Yes — route planning, offline maps, and the water report are free during beta and stay free after launch.
Do you track my location?+
Only when you want us to. Mileage logging is opt-in, and your location never leaves your device unless you share a trip report.
The trail is already out there.
the long way, kept.