Smart Camping: The Most Useful Smartphone Apps for Winning at Western Australian Camping
Although you might like to venture out of the city partly to escape the digital world – there are so many useful smartphone apps available now – you might want to consider downloading a few do enhance your camping experience in Western Australia.
There’s emergency information, comprehensive map apps, useful travel guides, camp cooking, camp activities and field guides to help you identify fauna and flora. These camping apps will not only create a more memorable and enjoyable camping experience, they’ll also ensure you stay safe while camping in our great state.
Camp Safety and Weather Apps
First Aid by Australian Red Cross
Developed for Australians, this app is up-to-date and well produced, an essential smartphone app for every camper.
The app gives you fast access and simple step-by-step advice on a variety of common first aid emergencies. Burns, snake bites, sunburn, cuts, even broken bones, asthma attacks and CPR are some of the processes the app includes. This app could literally save your life of a loved one, so keep it handy and download at home or work before you leave. Free to download, First Aid needs no Wi-Fi or 4G required once in use.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
SAS Survival Guide
The app is based on a best-selling book by the same name. The app offers users a range of survival skills to help you in a bad spot. The app will help you with building fires, navigating by the night sky, finding fresh water, checklists and more. The app comes with free and paid version.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
SunSmart App
This is a wise app to make use of, alerting you to the UV index and keeping you informed of when you should and shouldn’t be exposed to the sun. The app is sophisticated enough to determine how much UV radiation you’ll be exposed to from the sun, even factoring your height, weight and clothing type.
The App comes with a sunscreen calculator to remind you when to apply and how much you might need. You can also opt in to receive alerts for UV changes through the day.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Willy Weather
Willy Weather is one of Australia’s most popular weather apps, and offers personalized forecasts and easy to use interface.
All the vital information, including expected temperatures, live information, forecasts, UV index, sunrise and sunset, moon and celestial information, wind, tides, swell and rain radars for your area.
Download:
• Apple iOS
• Google Play Store
WA Dangerous Snakes
Developed by the Western Australian Museum researchers, this app is an essential safety app for anyone out in the WA bush. Although it’s highly unlikely you’ll get bitten, The app lists the 54 venomous land snakes known to exist in WA’s bush, including the 14 highly dangerous species, requiring anti-venom treatment. The app includes images to help you identify the snake you may have encountered, descriptions, maps and first ad information.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
Camp Travel Apps
Motion X GPS
This app goes above and beyond the standard in-build GPS app (Google, Apple). This app allows you to pull in data from multiple sources, like running apps and step counter apps, you can upload and download data as you please, create your own maps and tracks. The app can be used anywhere in the world.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
Memory Map
This app does exactly what it says it’ll do, remember and track your journey.
The app is designed for offline use, to help you plan and track your journey, along with recording every step you take of road and track you drive through.
You can create your own marks, rotes and track your speed, direction, altitude and geographical point in Australia. You can also import data from other sources and export your Memory Map data to other apps or programs.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Trails WA
A great resource for trials of all kinds in Western Australia; bush walks, mountain bike trails, wilderness trails, gorge walks, outback 4WD routes, equestrian, snorkelling and paddling. This site is a comprehensive guide to adventuring on all sorts of trail routes across WA.
Download:
General Camping and Caravanning Information
CampingMate
The CampingMate app has been created by Parks WA, designed with Western Australian campers in mind. The app allows you to create tailored checklists for your camping trips and allows you to share these with your friends.
CampingMate app also included comprehensive information about camp locations and the best advice on camping in Western Australia. The app can also includes third party sources of information and links.
CampingMate app website.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
CamperMate
This map based navigation offers useful information for planning the trip ahead of day-to-day camp and hiking planning. The app is created using a mix of crowdsourcing and original information.
The app is your go-to for finding anything you might need, like the nearest service station convenient to your route, swimming holes, hot showers, camp kitchens, toilets and more. The app includes campsite reviews, tips and tricks, so you can draw on the experiences of others.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Wikicamps
This app offers users comprehensive information on the nearest caravan park, camp site, road rest areas, national parks, locations of interest to campers and hikers, accessibility of sites, pet friendly information, toilets, showers and more.
Wikicamps is almost entirely user generated content, so much of the data is based on real user experience, the app includes images of campsites taken by fellow users to help you see the campsite ahead of time. You can even ask other campers questions, with forums and Q&A sections built into the app.
Much of the content in the app includes symbols to indicate campsite details, like power, water, showers, camp kitchens and toilets. The app is frequently updated, with the app makers spending hours ensuring the information is as accurate and useful as possible.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Camping Experience Apps
SkyMap
There’s nothing quite like stargazing in the bush, with no city light pollution, you’ll see millions of stars and constellations, planets and passing satellites if you look up for long enough.
The SkyMap app is a wonderful tool for discovering the stars and constellations above, with data from NASA, US Geological Survey and several other major space and astronomy organisations.
Ideal for children and space nerds of all ages, the app offers users locations of galaxies, significant stars, constellations, asteroids, planets and dwarf planets of the solar system. You won’t need an internet connection once you’ve downloaded the app.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Australian Wildflowers
This app offers information on more than 600 species of flower you’re likely to come across, including many from Western Australia’s famous wildflower regions. Search by region, colour, shape, common and scientific name. Whilst this app might not, be as comprehensive as a traditional book or field guide for wildflowers, but the app is a great starting source for identifying some of the most common flowers in WA.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
The Michael Morcombe and David Stewart guide to the Birds of Australia
Australia’s most comprehensive guide to Australian birdlife, the app can help identify nearly 800 species of bird. The app includes photos and recordings of calls to help you identify the species. The app also gathers information on your sightings and you can report the data to the app makers.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Field Guide to Western Australian Fauna
Developed by scientists with the Western Australian Museum and several other organisations, the guide will help you identify and discover hundreds of wildlife in the WA bush.
The app holds information on over 250 species, many endangered fauna, threatened by human development. The app covers birds, fish, frogs, snakes, lizards, spiders, insects, mammals, spiders, invertebrates both marine and terrestrial. The app includes hundreds of beautiful images, maps and comprehensive information about the amazing native wildlife you may encounter while camping or hiking in the bush.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Experience Western Australia
We highly recommend downloading the official Tourism Western Australia app. You can plan your holiday, look up events and make the most of your Western Australia experience. Covering Perth, South West, Coral Coast, Golden Outback, North West and more.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
Camp Cooking and Food
Camping Recipes
Camping doesn’t have to mean you have to miss out on healthy, beautiful meals. This app offers over 700 meals for preparing and cooking over an open fire.
Meal ideas are categories by preparation time and meal type, or you can search for ideas in the browser. Load up your favourite recipes before you leave for your camping adventure, ensuring you have all the right ingredients before you leave.
Download:
• iOS Apple Store
• Google Play Store
WA Camping, Web Resources
Parks WA
The official website of the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife, this site is the gold standard for camping in Western Australia’s National Parks and wilderness areas. The site features vital information about what to see and do, along with booking campsites online.
WesternAustralia.com
The most comprehensive and detailed information guide for anyone looking to visit and explore Western Australia – Western Australia.com.
Other Articles You’ll Find Interesting:
Best Beach Camping Trips in Western Australia
Top Glamping Trips in Western Australia
Camp & Caravan in Western Australia
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