A new Williams Lake mountain biking trail map mobile app is gaining traction.
“I heard in Whistler and Squamish they had a trail app and apparently it was quite popular,” said Williams Lake Cycling Club director Ivor McMahen. “I thought it would be useful to have here.”
McMahen contacted the creator of the app called TrailMapp, Ryan Robertson of the Lower Mainland, and asked if it could be done in Williams Lake.
Several months later, after extensive updating of the local map database on McMahen’s part, Williams Lake TrailMapp became a reality.
TrailMapp is simple to navigate. Users start by selecting a trail network, which then zooms in for a look at what the selected network offers. You can then select a trail — marked either green, blue or black for difficulty — for an extensive description.
“Visitors that don’t know which trails go up or down — it’s useful instead of looking at the hardcopy map because there are a lot of variables,” he said, adding there is a GPS locator which shows users exactly where they are on the trail network in the event of getting lost.
“Our network is huge,” he said. “We have top-notch signage but this tells you exactly where you are.”
The app also shows parking locations for pickup and dropoff spots, and will work solely on GPS so no mobile network or data is required for its use.
Currently the app will only work on iPhones, however, an Android version is being developed and should be released soon, he said.
“The feedback has been really fantastic,” he said. “There are recommended riding routes for each trail network with blow-by-blow descriptions … my first thought was this would be great for visitors, but I’m finding a lot of local people like to get out and walk the trails. It could be useful for them, too.”
The app costs $9.99 on the iStore, with $3.50 from each sale going to the WLCC’s trail maintenance fee.
“So far it’s been quite successful,” McMahen said. “We’re averaging about two downloads a day.”