Trimble released a suite of apps for outdoor enthusiasts to plan trips and navigate the outdoors. The first app, Trimble Outdoors MyTopo Maps, is a mapping and trip planning app for the Apple iPad to organize outdoor adventures. The second app, Trimble Outdoors Navigator, is an in-the-field GPS navigation and mapping app for iPhone and Android devices to use on trails and in remote backcountry areas.

Although the two apps run independently, users’ personal trips can be exchanged between the apps via the free Trimble Outdoors Trip Cloud, a wireless service that allows users to exchange trips between apps and trimbleoutdoors.com.

“Our new ecosystem of apps and digital maps covers a full range of navigation needs for outdoor enthusiasts–from planning a trip at home or in the coffee shop to finding remote forest roads or campsites while in the outdoors,” said Rich Rudow, general manager of Trimble Outdoors. “The new apps offer best-in-class topographic and aerial maps, and tools to answer the specific demands of hikers, off-roaders and other outdoor enthusiasts.”

Trimble Outdoors MyTopo Maps

Runs on: iPadBest for: Scouting trails and parks, planning outdoor trips, viewing backcountry areas, mapping forest roads and campsites.

MyTopo Maps is a mapping and trip planning app to scout outdoor and back-road adventures. Users can start by viewing topographical maps in US and Canada, and also check out worldwide aerial, terrain, street and hybrid maps. Since no single map shows all the essential details to plan a trip, users can turn on Dual Map View to see two different maps at once.

Users can then search for more than 10-million places such as trails, peaks, lakes, rivers, and towns using Place Search. Additional powerful features that enhance the trip planning experience are a digital compass to overlay a compass on the map, a ruler to measure distance between two places, and Smart Paste to copy GPS points from web sites and instantly map their location.

This app is available on the Apple iPad App Store here.

Trimble Outdoors Navigator

Runs on: iPhone and Android-compatible phonesBest for: GPS route finding, mapping and compass navigation, accessing offline topographical maps, recording hiking, camping, paddling, ATV riding, and off-roading trips.

Outdoor enthusiasts can navigate using their iPhone or Android phone to find trails, navigate off-road maps and share stories with their social networks. Trimble Outdoors Navigator provides access to more than 68,000 topo maps in the U.S. and Canada.

In the field, no cellular or data signal is needed for the app to work. It will provide maps and navigation guidance as well as track over 10 adventure statistics including distance traveled, elevation gain/loss, and speed. It will also allow the user to capture location-tagged pictures, audio, video and personal notes.

After returning from the field, the user can upload those pictures, audio, video and personal notes to create an exciting trip report that can be uploaded to Facebook and YouTube.

This app is available on the Apple App Store and Android Market here.