Touch and Go

By The Editors
November 6, 2012 9:00 am

Ah, the winding and scrubbrush’d hiking trails above Los Angeles. Where a man can breathe deep of the Pacific air, his only concern the occasional cougar that’s strayed from her natural habitat, Hollywood Hills.

Get away from it all, and avoid cougars (literal and figurative), with Modern Hiker.

A slick and easy-to-use app, Hiker maps out 27 all-terrain treks around LA, from a jaunt to the Bat Cave from the ‘60s Batman show, to a winding trail that reveals the ruins of a 19th-century resort.

Simply download the app, then revel in the wealth of info — each trail’s mapped out, including distance, time on trail, and elevation — categorized by effort required, e.g., “an easy nature walk along the site of an old ranch” or “an off-trail scramble to a prominent northern peak.”

And thanks to the app’s geolocator, you’ll also get customized directions to the trailhead.

Once you pick a trail, scroll down to learn more about trail conditions and pitfalls to avoid, like abandoned fire roads.

And those cougars.

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