{"id":1842845,"date":"2025-06-20T09:49:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1842845"},"modified":"2025-06-20T09:49:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:49:54","slug":"alltrails-and-ai-generated-hiking-trails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/06\/alltrails-and-ai-generated-hiking-trails\/","title":{"rendered":"AllTrails and AI-Generated Hiking Trails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last month the hiking app AllTrails announced AI-generated (\u201cleveraged\u201d) custom routes<\/a> as part of a new premium membership plan, and some people are worried about it. According to the National Observer<\/em><\/a>, AllTrails and other hiking apps have gotten hikers into trouble because they rely on crowdsourced trail information, which isn\u2019t necessarily official or safe. Given generative AI\u2019s track record for producing spectacularly erroneous results, there would appear to be some cause for concern. Except that \u201cAI\u201d has become a marketing buzzword that covers a lot<\/em> of computer stuff, from less problematic machine learning (which is what I\u2019d expect in this case) along with more problematic generative AI\/large-language models, and AllTrails isn\u2019t indicating which flavour they\u2019re referring to (because: buzzword). And as the National Observer<\/em> points out, \u201cThese problems already existed before the AI was added.\u201d To be sure, generative AI is a blight on human civilization, but let\u2019s be clear about our targets in this case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month the hiking app AllTrails announced AI-generated (\u201cleveraged\u201d) custom routes as part of a new premium membership plan, and some people are worried about it. According to the National Observer, AllTrails and other hiking… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,342],"tags":[1359,522,347],"class_list":["post-1842845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-mobile","category-sport-recreation","tag-ai","tag-hiking","tag-trail-maps","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1826544,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/02\/google-maps-is-adding-generative-ai\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":0},"title":"Google Maps Is Adding Generative AI","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 February 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Uh-oh. Generative AI is coming to Google Maps. Google is using large-language models to give suggestions on where to go based on its vast horde of reviews, ratings and other contributor data. \u201cStarting in the U.S., this early access experiment launches this week to select Local Guides, who are some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Web Mapping"","block_context":{"text":"Web Mapping","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/web-mapping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1832214,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/06\/topo-and-trail-maps-coming-to-apple-maps-in-ios-18-macos-sequoia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":1},"title":"Topo and Trail Maps Coming to Apple Maps in iOS 18\/macOS Sequoia","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 June 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Apple Topographical maps and hiking maps are coming to Apple Maps on the Mac, iPhone and iPad as of macOS Sequoia and iOS\/iPadOS 18, due out this fall. The hiking maps will be at least for U.S. national parks, and will also be available in offline mode because hiking in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ios18-maps.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787561,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/keith-myrmels-hand-drawn-trail-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":2},"title":"Keith Myrmel’s Hand-Drawn Trail Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Keith Myrmel, a retired landscape architect from Minnesota, has produced two maps of the Boundary Waters region that are proving popular with hikers and canoers. The maps\u2014one of the Superior Hiking Trail, the other of the North Country Trail and Arrowhead region\u2014are large (26 by 40 inches) and intricately hand-drawn.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/myrmel-superior-655x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/myrmel-superior-655x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/myrmel-superior-655x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1786172,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-recommends-paper-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":3},"title":"Gatineau Park Recommends Paper Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 August 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Relying on your smartphone's maps can be risky in places where cellular service is patchy. That goes for Gatineau Park, where, despite the fact that its southeast corner is surrounded by the city of Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa), staff still recommend people use paper maps, CBC News\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1845028,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/10\/review-geoai\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":4},"title":"Review: GeoAI","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Save some room on the AI bandwagon for ArcGIS. This seems to be the central message of\u00a0GeoAI: Artificial Intelligence in GIS,\u00a0a slim (only 120-page) volume of articles and posts that previously appeared, for the most part, in Esri blogs and publications. They highlight examples and \u201creal-life stories\u201d of how Esri\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/geoai-cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2342,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/06\/the-california-hiking-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":1842845,"position":5},"title":"The California Hiking Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"26 June 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The California Hiking Map\u00a0is a poster-sized (40\u2033\u00d760\u2033) map of California that purports to show all of the state's hiking trails on a single map. \"The trails shown generally include hiking trails, Class 1 bike paths, and fire roads closed to vehicles. This map also highlights select long distance trails and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sport & Recreation"","block_context":{"text":"Sport & Recreation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/sport-recreation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"california-hiking-map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/california-hiking-map-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1842845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1842848,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1842845\/revisions\/1842848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1842845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1842845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1842845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}