MAPS.ME
Maps.me is our go-to offline mapping app. We find it straightforward to use for planning routes in advance, as well as navigating on the trail. It doesn’t drain our phone battery, and it’s quick and easy to save and organise ‘bookmarks’. There are many trails already marked on Maps.me, plus you can download and import a KML track of your route to the app.
To use Maps.me, first download the app (iOS/Android). Hover over the region or country that you want to visit and the app will prompt you to download this map. Once downloaded, it can be viewed offline.
You can tap anywhere and save it as a ‘bookmark’ by tapping the star symbol at the bottom. Hit ‘Edit Bookmark’ to personalise the bookmark colour, organise your bookmarks into different folders, and rename them.
You can navigate easily or plan routes in advance by tapping your start point and selecting ‘route from’, then tapping your end point and selecting ‘route to’. Tap the car, walking, or cycling symbol at the top of the screen to indicate your mode of travel. If you want to plot a different route to the one suggested by Maps.me, just tap a third (or fourth, fifth, etc.) bookmark between the start and end points and select ‘add stop’.
Maps.me shows the distance and travel time, plus elevation profiles for hiking trails. Note that the estimated time isn’t always reliable, but we’ve always found the distance and elevation gain/loss to be largely accurate. It only shows very basic contour lines.
You can track your progress on the trail using GPS. The arrow shows your direction of travel. Tap the compass at the top right of the screen to keep the map in a fixed position (the arrow will rotate). Alternatively, tap the arrow at the bottom right of the screen to rotate the map in the direction of travel (the arrow will stay in a fixed position).
GAIA
Gaia (iOS/Android) is another offline mapping app that is very useful. It shows the contours in much more detail than Maps.me, as long as you have previously viewed the section of map online. With a paid membership you can download various maps in advance for offline use. The app has existing OpenStreetMap trails marked and you can import GPX tracks and view them offline. You can also create new routes online yourself and export them as GPX or KML files. You can navigate easily on the trail using the arrow that shows your GPS location. Unlike with Maps.me, it isn’t possible to quickly check distances between two points (or at least we haven’t figured out a way to do it). There are a lot of useful features in the free version and even more benefits if you have a paid annual membership, so if you spend a lot of time outdoors it is worthwhile learning how to use the app to its full advantage.
In our experience, Gaia drains your phone battery much quicker than Maps.me, even in flight mode, so it’s best to shut down the app completely each time you finish using it.
OSMAND MAPS
OsmAnd Maps (iOS/Android) is another great offline mapping app with lots of useful features. In our opinion, it’s not as intuitive as Maps.me, and it has so many features that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. Like Gaia, we recommend checking out the written and video tutorials on the OsmAnd website to learn how to fully use the app. The benefits of the app include being able to plot routes in advance and save them as GPX tracks, and to view detailed elevation and terrain information, including surface types. You can also import GPX tracks. One downside is that the free version does not include contour lines, but these can be added via a paid plugin.
Hey guys, we did this hike in July and the very same dog joined our little adventure, she was us for all 3 days 🙂 it was so hard to leave her behind!!
Ahhh, that makes me so happy to know that she’s still out there enjoying life in Lagodekhi!! She must have completed that hike hundreds of times. We still talk about Maggie (what we called her) almost every day. She’s one of our all-time favourite doggos! Hope she made your Black Rock Lake trek even better like she did ours : ) All the best! Kim
🙂 We named her Blsica (blcha in Slovak means a flea because she definitely had some :D). At first we were trying to get rid of her because she did not seem to be in a shape for the long hike but she kept on following us. She was amazing, she even went for a swim in the river with us on the day 3 at the end of the hike and she did not manage to jump back up on the trail so we had to push and pull her up the cliff and she completely trusted us, it… Read more »
Ha, I bet she’s had many names from different hikers over the years. Glad she had a wash in the river and got out safely again! Yeah, she is very loyal and great company : ))
Hello. Thanks for the insightful articles on Georgian national parks! I’m in Sighnaghi now and thinking about doing this trek. However, the land borders between Azerbaijan and Georgia have been closed for 2 years already due to COVID. Does this apply to the mountains as well (as you’re not going in Azerbaijan to stay)? If so, do you recommend any other hikes here? Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, on this hike you don’t cross over any borders at any time, you will remain in Georgia. You just need to take your passport/ID with you and visit the Georgian Border Guards on the way to Black Rock Lake on Day 2, and be sure not to walk around the lake as this crosses into Russian territory. You can check current conditions with the visitor centre as it may still be snowy at high elevation. They will have up to date advice about current trail conditions. Cheers! Kim
Hi! We are thinking of doing this trek in late April/early May. Is that a good time (weather-wise) for it? Also, we would prefer to go with a guide — do you know of any guided treks in Lagodekhi?
Hi Nina, it’s likely there will still be snow at higher elevations up by the lake at this time. I’d recommend checking with the visitor centre about conditions locally, and about guides. Hope this helps! Thanks, Kim
Thank you very much!
Hi Nina, When do you guys want to hike the trail? I am planning to go May 12th to15th. Well, that is if there is a way to get to Lagodekhi from Tbilisi departing after 3pmish on Thursday the 11th and if its not too snowy.
Hi Piet — We were thinking of going this weekend, but our plans changed. We were planning to use GoTrip to get to Lagodekhi, so you could consider that!
Thanks for letting me know!