Digital mapping tools, my use in 2026

For years my mapping workflow settled into a set pattern.

• CalTopo desktop for planning.
• Google Earth for virtual ground truthing and understanding the landscape.
• Gaia GPS for mobile use in the field.
• Avenza for georeferenced PDFs and specialty maps.
• Paper maps and compass always part of the mix.

Now? The mapping app landscape feels very different.

Gaia GPS continues its march toward enshittification, most recently by dropping NatGeo map layers ; a major selling point for a lot of users.

Goat Maps looked like a way forward for a while. One of the original Gaia developers worked on it, and it felt like what a modern backcountry navigation app should be: mobile-friendly, better base maps, cleaner than CalTopo on a phone.

Developer Jesse Crocker recently announced it shuts down at the end of December 2026. Subscriptions stopped renewing. The app is already gone from the App Store.

So where does that leave me?

Google Earth and CalTopo desktop remain the backbone of my route planning. Google Earth is still unmatched for understanding terrain and virtual ground truthing:  visualizing canyon systems, seeing how landscapes connect, getting a feel for a place before heading out. CalTopo remains the best route planning platform for complex trips: off-trail travel, layered data, long-distance route creation. No serious competitor there.

The mobile side is a different story.

CalTopo’s app has base maps I don’t love, a UI that feels clunky, and struggles with larger datasets. Even the desktop version has gotten busier and I’m not the only longtime user who noticed, judging by reactions to recent UI changes among the long-time Search and Rescue (SAR) user base.

And if you’re on a legacy desktop subscription, expect a significant price increase when the transition period ends. Software costs money. But it’s another reminder that enthusiast-focused tools tend to become something else once growth enters the picture. CalTopo now has brand ambassadors with an increased social media presence. I’ve seen this movie play out before.

Avenza got purchased by a vulture capital company. The map store used by nonprofits, small map companies, and government agencies is going away. Georeferenced maps are now subscription-gated.

Gaia I still use the way some people use Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suite; not because I love it, but because it works for a specific workflow and feature set esp. in the field 

What started as a lean backcountry navigation app now feels corporate and bloated. Useful features disappear. UI changes feel driven by product strategy rather than user experience. Longtime users increasingly adapt to the platform instead of the platform serving them.

I tried OnX. Didn’t care for it. The separate subscriptions for hunting, offroad, and backcountry already annoyed me, but the deeper problem is that the app is built for consuming destinations rather than studying terrain. I want to plan routes across old jeep roads, canyon systems, public land boundaries, and off-trail connectors. The landscape doesn’t recognize marketing demographics, and neither do I.

Topo Maps+ was the most interesting experiment. The base maps are excellent. The UI is clean and backcountry-focused. There’s a desktop web app in beta that shows promise. But once I loaded larger datasets and complicated folders, it fell apart. I tried every organizational workaround I could find and kept hitting the same wall. Aesthetically and philosophically it’s the closest thing to what I actually want. It just doesn’t hold up under my data load.

Well known packrafter Luc Mehl uses a similar tool set and operation for his legendary Alaska routes as well.

So my workflow today looks roughly like this:

• Google Earth for terrain visualization.
• CalTopo desktop for serious planning.
• Paper maps for the larger picture.
• Gaia or Avenza in the field, grudgingly, as appropriate.
• Field Maps for georeferenced PDFs.  I already use it for a volunteer role. Other solutions work too.

The Avenza map store replacement is anyone’s guess. Probably some combination of open source, agency-hosted, and ad hoc solutions depending on who made what.

What I actually want is the base maps and UI of Topo Maps+, the desktop power of CalTopo, Gaia’s large dataset capacity, and the old Avenza map store for niche maps. All in one app, at a fair price, run by people who aren’t optimizing for growth at the expense of the users who built their reputation.

As a salty expression goes –

Wish in one hand, shit in the other. See which hand fills up first.