Ready for the trails? Strava just dropped a massive hiking update

Strava supports a wide range of activities, ranging from running to yoga and much more. One category that has been rising in popularity is hiking, as the company’s Year In Sport report found a 5.8 times increase in hiking clubs. To accommodate that growth, Strava is rolling out a bevy of new features to enhance your next hiking trip.

Strava has announced that it’s pushing out a new update made for hiking fans. The update is designed to touch every part of the experience, including discovery and route planning, real-time tracking and navigation, and social sharing.

Here’s a list of what’s in the update:

Discovery and route planning

• Map style improvements: Athletes will be able to view richer trail surface data, along with clearer points of interest like trailheads, picnic areas, and campgrounds, which makes dense trail networks legible at a glance.
• Route discovery: Surface popular routes in any area, based on Strava’s heatmaps, so athletes can find trails wherever they go (subscribers only).
• Route builder: plan custom hikes with live distance, elevation, and surface feedback as you draw, including trail-specific map styles (subscribers only).
• Route saves: Save routes from a number of in-product surfaces (Activity Detail Page, Route Detail Page, Route Builder, Edit Route) and access them directly within Strava (subscribers only).

Tracking and navigation

• Off-route alerts: Notifies athletes when they stray from a planned route, so they can course-correct before getting lost (subscribers only).
• Route following on Apple Watch: Navigate directly on your wrist, no phone required.
• Smartwatch route sync: Routes built in Strava sync directly to compatible Garmin, Apple Watch, and Coros devices for seamless navigation.
• Offline routes: Download routes for use in low- or no-connectivity areas, so cell dead zones don’t mean navigational dead ends (subscribers only).
• Mobile record map: A full-screen map accessible with one tap during recording provides athletes with a clearer, more detailed view of their route in real time.
• Live elevation: See elevation profile data as you move, helping athletes pace themselves on climbs and plan effort across the full route.

Sharing

• 3D activity map: View your hike in feed as a 3D landscape, with topography and elevation rendered in detail.
• Activity replays: Set your hike to auto-animate in your feed, replaying your route for friends from start to finish (subscribers only).
• Sticker stats: Share your hike’s distance, elevation, and time with friends as a social-ready overlay.
• Clubs: Hiking-focused clubs with shared routes, group challenges, and leaderboards.
• Flyover: A cinematic 3D aerial animation of your completed route, rendered from real elevation data (subscribers only).

According to Strava, these features will be available to all members at no extra cost. However, some of the tools will be exclusive to subscribers. Most of the features are available right now, with Map style improvements expected to roll out later this summer.