California State Parks Foundation has rolled out an iPhone application that lets users take trail guide information with them while they explore state parks and beaches across California.

CSPF partnered with EveryTrail to develop the application. The CalParks application is available as a free download in Apple?s App Store.

?We are working to get the word out about all the great things that California?s state parks have to offer for users of mobile technology,? said Jerry Emory, director of communications at California State Parks Foundation, San Francisco, CA.

?Our target demographic is mobile users who already use California?s state parks and mobile users who might be new to state parks, both in California and beyond,? he said.

Since 1969, CSPF has raised more than $170 million to benefit state parks.

Mobile park
The application lets users find parks near them and read about their highlights and history.

Additionally, users can find the best hikes in each park and navigate hiking trails using detailed maps, description points of interest, photos and audio.

Users can share their experience by tracking their hikes, taking photos and uploading them to EveryTrail, Facebook and Twitter.

?With this technology people can replace or augment other ways to explore state parks?in addition to or instead of hard-copy guides and traditional maps,? Mr. Emory said. ?People will be able to get directions while they are out and about.

?This technology also allows users to easily share their own experiences and adventures in state parks by uploading all of their hikes, photos and descriptions, right from in the app,? he said.

Users can explore different trails

Users can find the closest park

Additional content
The application features more than 50 guides detailing walks and hikes in more than 45 California state parks, such as Big Basin Redwoods State Park and Doheny State Beach.

Seasonal updates, changes, as well as new guides from additional parks will be added frequently throughout the year.

CSPF is currently looking at creating an Android version of the application.

?In terms of content, this launch is definitely just version 1.0,? Mr. Emory said. ?There is information covering some 50 state parks out of a total of 278 state parks in California?lots of room to add on.

?We are also exploring short videos of the trails and/or other specific state park topics,? he said. ?For members of the California State Parks Foundation, we are also planning to have mobile coupons that members can show on their phones to concessionaires in and around state parks for discounts.?