As one of the premier 4X4 auto shops in Moab, we often have people stop by our shop to ask for off-roading tips. This being the off-roading capital of the world, plenty of people also ask us to share any southern Utah trail maps or other resources we have. You can imagine how thrilled we were when we discovered onX Offroad.
There are many reasons for us to rave about this incredibly accurate GPS mapping software but we’ll keep it short. With onX Offroad you can:
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Access all the best off-road and trail resources at the tap of your finger.
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Have as many maps of any area you want to access right on your mobile device. It’s like carrying 5000 maps at once.
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Customize and keep all your favorite off-road trails and tracks, create waypoints of interesting places e.g. campsites all in one accessible App.
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Share trails with other off-roaders using the App. This makes it easy for us to organize our southern Utah trail rides by sharing the trails we’ll be riding with participants beforehand.
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Find nearby trails wherever you are so you can keep adventuring as you go.
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Download maps and use them offline even if there’s no cellphone service on the trails.
Using onX Offroad
Using the onX Offroad App is easy since it has a user-friendly interface. The main screen is mostly taken up by a map and the bottom of the screen has different navigation menus. Let’s dive in:
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Making sense of the onX Offroad Map Legend
OnX Offroad maps include Featured Trails, Open and Closed Trails, and Open Ride Areas, all highlighted in different colors. They also show recreation sites and government lands.
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Featured Trails –these are highlighted blue on the maps. Tapping a featured trail on your map will bring up more information about it including trail descriptions (the name and number), trail length, difficulty rating, the best time to ride, pictures of the trail, vehicle types allowed to ride, the surface type and the dates the trail is open.
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Open Trails –these are highlighted green and indicate trails that are currently open for riding. Tapping an open trail on your map will bring up more information on the trail including the trail name and number, vehicle types allowed, trail length, open dates, and the trail surface type.
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Open Ride Areas – these are highlighted purple and indicate places that have been defined as open. These areas don’t have designated trails. While you’re not necessarily restricted to defined trails in these areas, you still have to follow local driving and riding guidelines.
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Closed Trails –these are highlighted red and indicate trails that are currently not open for off-roading.
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Hiking/Biking/ Equestrian Trails –the black and white dashed trails indicate those that are used for hiking, biking, or horse-riding.
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Discover Trails Near You
The “Discover” tab in the bottom menu allows you to find trails that are within 100 miles of you. This is handy if you’re looking for trails to ride close to home or planning a trip to another area. You can tap a trail to see more info on it including photos, mileage, difficulty ratings, and vehicle restrictions. You can also customize and filter the maps to only show trails accessible by specific vehicle types.
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Download and Use Offline Maps
Don’t worry about accessing your maps if there’s no cellphone service, onX Offroad has got you covered. You can download and save maps of the area you want to visit and the trails, aerial imagery and topography will be saved to your mobile device. Simply tap the “Offline Maps” tab in the lower menu then next tap “New Offline Map” to save the one you need. Thanks to your phone’s in-built GPS, you can put your device in airplane mode and still use the app normally when offline and still access all the maps you saved.
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Adding Waypoints to the Map
Another great feature onX Offroad has is that it allows you to customize your maps by adding Waypoints to mark spots of interest such as unexpected obstacles, a closed gate, a campsite, and more. To add a Waypoint, tap and hold anywhere on the map or add one from the “Map Tools” tab in the lower menu. Further customize the Waypoints by using specific symbols and colors to help you quickly identify what you’ve saved at a glance. You can also save and share Waypoints with other onX Offroad users.
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Importing 4X4 Trails
For ease of use, you can import 4X4 trails of your choice from your computer to the onX Offroad App or vice versa. This makes it easy to share maps between your different devices.
To import or upload files from your computer, go to the My Content menu and click the “Import” button then choose the option to select GPX or KML files from your computer. Once you’ve selected the file you want, click “Save to My Content” and you’re done.
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Tracking your Trips
When you’re out off-roading on the trails, it’s important to leave bread crumbs that you can use to find your way back in case you ever get lost. The Tracker feature on onX Offroad allows you to track your trips even when there’s no cell service available.
To record your route, tap the “Tracker” tab in the lower menu then tap the start button to start recording your route and time taken as well as your speed and the distance traveled. Once you start recording, you can either pause (temporarily stop your tracking) or stop the recording. Once you tap the stop button, you can save the Track to your account, choose resume to continue recording or delete the track if you no longer want it. You can then view and edit your saved tracks in the My Content menu.
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Sharing with other users
You can choose to share featured trails or waypoints with your friends. To share featured routes, tap the route on your map then tap “Share Trail” to send a link to another onX Offroad user. This can be shared either via text or email.
To share Waypoints, go to the My Content menu, find the Waypoint you want then tap the three dots next to it. Finally, tap “Share” in the menu that appears on the screen. This gives you the option to share the link through text message or email and your friend can only open it if they are a fellow onX Offroad user.
