The North Carolina State Parks Guide by Pocket Ranger puts a wealth of state park information at your fingertips.
This free app consolidates and organizes all the information you might find on the state parks website – and more. While we've found it to be a little clunky at times, I do recommend the app for several useful features.
The most handy function for us has been the Explore button, which allows the user to search for a park (by proximity, name, available activities and region), then provides the most pertinent details on each. Categories of available park information include:
- A park overview
- Photo gallery
- Park alerts
- Operational times
- Contact information
- Amenities
- Directions
- Activities
- Trail descriptions
- Park map
- Educational opportunities and events
- Park history
- An ecological overview
Other features of the app include:
Park alerts, which provides a near real-time listing of closings and other changes to park and amenity status. (Note: The alert link under the News button seems to function better than the Alerts button on the homepage.)
A camping button that lists all overnight stay options by category (drive-to camping, trailer/RV, backpack sites, family cabins, etc.) Each category lists the parks and their specific amenities.
A GPS map on which you can record and save hikes, post “waypoint” pictures, and take pre-populated GPS tours.
A "follow" function that allows you and your friends to track each other's map location.
A weather function and built-in compass.
And, an alert feature that supplies GPS coordinates to designated contacts in case of an emergency.
Again, some parts of this app works better and more reliably than others. But it is a handy resource and I'm glad to have discovered it. I'm sure we'll continue to use it as we work toward our goal -- and beyond.