Name: US Public Lands
Rating: 4.41737 (587 reviews)

User Reviews for US Public Lands

4.42 out of 5

587 Ratings

7 months ago, stupiduniquenamereq

Nearly Useful

Wanted an app like this. It's close. The color overlay is ok except green areas because the default map color is green. Must squint and guess. Should let you tap to get management info about a the location. Maybe change default map color or allow configuration of overlay/map colors. Yes, you can choose "basic map" with white default color to help, but lose roads and whatnot. You can zoom in but some areas have fuzzy, gradient borders. Shouldn't the GIS data be very clear about boundaries?

8 years ago, klein78

A tad more useful

I am upping my review to 2 stars mainly due to fact that if you are in the boonies, at least you would click the 'basic' map and 'locate' and you may know if you are trespassing or not. The good: - it keeps you 'legal' as much as possible; if in doubt, better backtrack thou - low cost for doing above Still bad: - I think it uses Apple maps which is inferior to Google in showing all the tiny roads (off roads - even though I found many Google tiny roads that were gone when checking them on location but still showing on maps - not this app problem to fix). - you need to download google offline maps, then toggle between this app and google maps to navigate the maze of off roads when off grid - still misses large areas that are accessible to public but again, not big deal since there are so many public lands in western states Ideally when in the boonies and no coverage, satellite view is critical if you want to change locations if one proves inaccessible. Being able to download ahead of time the sat view and terrain view from google then lay over the ownership map, would make this app worth a lot. I would pay easily 50$ for one stop shop. Other apps that do that are pricey and require subscription etc. Again, great idea, I hope the developers improve it.

9 years ago, BaadB

Brilliant app!

The info you get from the government sites on where exactly blm starts or even where blm land is located is very hard to pinpoint. This app allows you to search by name and while not accurate to exact boundaries is more accurate than the blm website. The maps there are very hard to read while this one is overlaid on actual maps so you can figure out directions and get where you want to go. I like that it also covers other government land for you to stay on. This app is a must have if you love camping off the beaten track.

7 years ago, pgib9981

It does what it says it does

My husband and I love 4-wheeling out to the middle of nowhere and staying a few days. Many times we’ve wondered if we were on BLM land or not. Now we know. I love that it shows your gps location on the map in conjunction with the colored map overlays. (Although I don’t believe it shows the coordinates.) If you’re looking for a basic app that shows if you’re on public land or not, then this is the app for you. If you need something that shows campgrounds and has all the frills, then look elsewhere.

1 year ago, MB Tucson

Maps not vey accurate

I purchased this app to help me find legal shooting locations on national forest land. Unfortunately, the detail and accuracy of the maps are not good enough for me to rely upon. I live next to national forest land, but the app shows that my house and all the homes around me are on national forest land, which they are not. Hopefully over time the maps will get better. Nevertheless, the app is well done. I just think it needs a better database to draw upon. I would like to see the national forest system put out more detailed information for app developers to draw upon.

8 years ago, Micklongley

Great for finding public lands

This is a great app for finding public lands but isn't quite as accurate as high dollar apps like Hunt. It's a great quick reference and is super helpful when roaming around the country looking for little pockets to boondock.

2 years ago, rosimak

Useless if you need any detail

We live in a rural area that is a mix of private and public land. I bought this app hoping it would let me know where it’s safe to hike without trespassing, but it doesn’t even show the private property that I already know of. It shows half of the neighboring subdivision and all of the private land near a local reservoir as part of the national forest. I deleted it almost as soon as I bought it because I knew it wouldn’t be useful at all here. Only consider this app if you need it in the most general sense; do not trust it if you are out on the land and want accurate boundaries.

5 years ago, Slimbeaux

Love the New Update

With this new update any review more then 6 months old may not tell the whole story. With the new update to fully use the features you need cell service. But being able to have three different view. With satellite view you can see if there are other campers there. Then turn on the overlay to see who is the land manager. Great tool.

8 years ago, climberjohn

Lacking major areas

Initially I had some I hopes for this app, but after a few minutes of looking, I'm not too impressed. For example, it has large areas of state forest land in the Oregon coast range shown correctly, but then north of Highway 26, where there are thousands of acres of continuous forest land, none of it is shown. Also, there are no Indian reservation boundaries, which should be easy to add onto the app and would be very helpful to have visible. I much prefer a Gaia GPS with a pro subscription, which has a Public Lands overlay that is much more comprehensive.

8 years ago, Jiffy fifth

Great app.

Seems most of the folks writing negative reviews did not read the limitations of the app. If you know what you are buying, I think you will find this is an awesome app. It's not going to find a 100 acre parcel and says that up front. A square mile is 640 acres which is the stated accuracy.

8 years ago, NomadicMichael

Awesome

When was the last time you bought a paper map from the BLM office? And then how long did you use it? This app is SO much better and allows you to see where you are on the maps combined with satellite images. Thanks for building great tools.

4 years ago, timothi_banks

Appreciated simplicity

I use more detailed apps like Gaia GPS with premium layers to do deep investigation. But this app is great to have un the toolbox for its shear simplicity. Great for quick regional overviews to gather a sense of where to more granularly investigate. Thanks for making great use of these datasets, and implementing them in a clean and elegant way. Looks great on ipad.

8 years ago, Ldevereaux

Good but could be better

I like the satellite map with the color-coded overlay. You can see streets and figure out how to get places. But there's no measurement bar to indicate how large you've made the map or how far a place is from the highway. And as others have noted, small campgrounds or BLM dispersed camping areas don't show up. I can find these on free camping apps but not on this map.

3 years ago, TurkishVan

Needs ability to share/archive pin locations

I wanted to pin some of my favorite camping locations but found no way to share (with others or between different devices) or import/export. Also missing many public lands in PNW such as near port Angeles (especially state and county parks and DNR land )

5 months ago, EttaLea

Hard to read and understand Eastern US

It’s difficult to use this app. I’m simply trying to identify land with dispersed camping, are Fish and Wildlife holdings displayed here because they have that? Also a lot of back and forth and guessing to use the color key that identifies the type of land that is overlaid. Quite regret this purchase.

6 years ago, toad555555

Very helpful

It does does what it says it will do. I’m a boondocker and this helps me determine if I’m on federal land and what agency owns it. Used in conjunction with a camping app such as UC, you’ll be all set to head out into the wide open spaces.

5 years ago, Me71169

New version of Publlic Lands

Love the new app and detailed data

5 years ago, JJoyce8977

Great App!

This is an excellent app that makes our life so much easier. The developers have really improved it over the years.

6 years ago, Scruffy 23

So inaccurate it’s basically worthless.

Less than two minutes into comparing the maps on this app to actual BLM maps it’s strikingly inaccurate! Hikers and hunters beware, this app could easily put you on private land. One look at neighborhoods in my area and it shows BLM and Forest Service land where there’s entire neighborhoods of private property with .5 to 40+ acre parcels. I want my money back.

9 years ago, Sno*Jet

Worth it

Totally worth it however I'm disappointed that it doesn't show private lands. I bought it for camping/hunting/off-roading it would be also nice to be able to use as a turn by turn navigation with the iPhone.

4 years ago, NOGO1234567890-

ABSALUTELY USELESS

The idea is great BUT the maps they have based the app on (newest versions as I just downloaded yesterday) is useless. When you look at the map in detail WHOLE TOWNS, STREETS are shown as US Forest where as there are miles and miles private land whihc is not shown. Consider that you are parked in the parking lot of a supermarket in a rural town and it shows you as being on US Forest land. That is USELESS

7 years ago, Mellerz13

Waste of $3

If you travel the country and you're looking for a better app I suggest "the ultimate US public campground". Unlike this worthless app it gives you coordinates and helpful information. This app simply shows what land is for public use. This would be helpful if I didn't know about the other aforementioned app. I wish I could get a refund.

4 years ago, Cane bastardo

Disappointing

I purchased this app hoping to make sure I don’t intrude on private property near the winnemucca area . Not sure how I’m supposed to do that with areas of maps that look like a checkered board. Even if I zoom in, the checkers don’t become defined areas. Wish I could post a picture of what it looks like. Terrible. Waste of money

5 years ago, Sonex781

I love this app!

I use Public Lands all the time. We are full time RV’ers and we use the app to find or confirm public land boondocking sites. Highly recommended.

9 years ago, Nancybee237

An essential for camping!

This app alone is worth buying a smartphone for. You won't need to wonder where it's legal to camp. This app will tell you.

2 years ago, Aore Jim

Beware

This app is just a rehash of low resolution publicly available info but once you sign up for it the subscription doesn’t show up to be cancelled but you keep getting charged. This “feature” is obviously where they focused their efforts.

4 years ago, Hrothgar105

Not useful

I got this app hoping it would show me where I could legally camp and where I could not. The “forest” overlay covered vast areas indiscriminately, including swathes of private land and even a small town (Nederland, CO). As of writing this in October 2020, this app is absolutely useless. I recommend using official US National Forest “motor vehicle use” maps instead.

3 years ago, imtonyandimdumb

Amazing app

I love this app and I have been using it for years. Great for cross referencing sat maps to find free places to camp.

8 years ago, TSSpec

Great app!

Great App, does what it says it does. Very helpful. Would love to be able to "drop a pin" or similar, and get gps coordinates.

2 years ago, kona4n7

Not accurate

In using this app for the last year it has become very clear that the maps within the app do not accurately list or show privately owned lands within BLM and USFS boundaries.

2 years ago, snowy owlzz

State Lands????

Great app! Comes in very useful. I wonder though if/when state owned lands will be added?

5 years ago, crazy krauts

Best App for RVers

We use this app all the time for finding beautiful boondocking spots on public land. The new version with the overlay is amazing

3 years ago, JA616616

Not Specific Enough

Not nearly specific enough. This app just shows large swaths of land, with mixed private and state showing as state land. I can get the same information from a small thumbnail.

4 years ago, Rikadoo

Yeah... NOT SO MUCH

So i uploaded all 3 and my first Acquaintance with this app shows the”general” area however there are no difinitve markers to help me deal with the boundreys... its ALL VAUGE! Hope it gets better, be sure to read the reviews... IM JUST SAYIN!

5 years ago, Tallisan

Great app

We use this all the time when looking for Boondocking opportunities. Love it

4 years ago, Joeyo

Don’t expect support...

The map is functional but very basic. In Arizona we have a particular type of public land called State Trust land where the rules are very different. I was hoping this would help me differentiate the land types in Arizona, but it shows all state trust land as National Forest. I contacted the developers about this and gave them a link to a GIS showing much more detailed land types in Arizona including state trust land. Got a 1-line response saying “The app name and description is very clear on what is included.”

9 years ago, rogerracer

Not what I expected

This doesn't really tell me anything about where I can camp. Just boundries of Government land. I guess I expected too much or misread the description.

8 years ago, Get old version back

Worthless

Save yourself the $2.99 and find alternative tools. This app is not intuitive or detailed enough to be of any value. Feel like I just gave $3 for a color coded map that actually already exists on line for free.

4 years ago, Sooook eeeeeeet

Great app

This app is great for figuring out what public land you are on for camping etc.

8 years ago, ANDIRONCOUNTY

Worth the money.

Just remember, camp real close to the highway,much safer.

4 years ago, cm823

Disappointed

I was disappointed to find that this app does not show real boundary lines. Not helpful at all to be able to tell if you’re actually trespassing on private land.

6 years ago, Lew in Chicago

What?

I paid for this? How is this useful? No resolution worth using on these maps. Download Avenza and use the MVU maps from BLM for real, up to date info about where we can and cannot go and dry camp...for free.

9 years ago, Maladetto

Great!!!

Just told me i spent night on someone's private land! Whoops...

8 years ago, Livinthelifeofme

Not very accurate

The BLM parcels are not very accurate when compared to a actual map from the BLM. Small BLM parcels are missing. BLM parcels and private lands within the boundaries of CA State Parks are not shown.

8 years ago, Rksracing

Not useful

This should be a free app-- many gps apps have this same info combined with more helpful features.

5 years ago, K8BRF

Nice update!

This is a nice update to an already cool app.

7 years ago, Gopackers0712

helpful app

only 4 stars because you will need to cross reference with google maps, but it's a really useful app for those who want to explore and camp in beautiful spots for free

4 years ago, abrhamwhires

Public lands

Works great

4 years ago, MsDao

Worthless. Don’t waste your $

Wow, I feel bamboozled. This app shows swaths of BLM land... etc... but you can’t zoom in and see any detail. Like the highway or street, kind of critical. Boooooo.

9 years ago, Ruplinger Family

Wish I could get my money back

Not accurate at all. Does not show private land within public lands.

Description

The US Federal Governments owns nearly 650 million acres of land - almost 30 percent of the land area of the United States. These are lands that are held for all Americans. US Public Lands allows you to quickly retrieve the boundaries of these properties without carrying physical maps, books, or digging deep online. Included in the app are on-device (fully works offline), individually selectable & beautifully colored map layers for most of the properties administered by the federal government: - Bureau of Land Management (BLM) - US Forest Service (FS) - National Park Service (NPS) - Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) - US Fish & Wildlife Service - Bureau of Reclamation - Tennessee Valley Authority - Department of Defense (military bases & installations) - Other (National Laboratories, Test Sites, etc...) Key Benefits & Features - Know which US agency owns and operates the land you're on or are heading to. Use the "Layers" icon to select which agencies you want displayed to create your own custom map. (Hint, the toggles are color coded to the color each layer is displayed in.) - Links are provided to each agency's website within the app, so that you can further your research as to what land use rules apply for each public land type - such as permits, fees, activities allowed, and limits of stay. - Map layers are stored on device - no internet connection required. - Be sure to turn on the 'Basic' base map to see the US Public Land labels for each land area. This base map layer is also stored entirely on your device, and can be utilized if you do not have an internet connection or would like to conserve bandwidth. - If you have an internet connection (or have cached them before going out of signal), you can utilize the built in Apple Maps and satellite view maps as the base layer underneath the public land overlays. - A boondocker's assistant - While US Public Lands is not specifically a camp site locator and does not have a database of specific sites, by turning on the satellite view map, you can better scout out trails, roads and signs of dispersed camping locations within the boundaries of the public land resources. - Quickly toggle between 'Show' and 'Hide' via the "Map" icon to more clearly see satellite images below. - If you have GPS access on your device, click the 'Locate Me' icon to show your present location - know what type of land you're on right now! - Built in search tool locates anything on device maps supports (requires internet access) - including cities, states, zip codes, addresses and points of interest. A pin is dropped at the search location. Thank you to the Protected Area Database (PAD-US) of the U.S. Geological Survey for providing the public domain raw map data that we’ve been able to utilize to create this interactive overlayable mapping & navigation tool. We will update our maps in the future to stay in sync with improvements to this data set. Please note, the USGS PAD-US database contains the “most up-to-date aggregation of Federal lands and waters” available, but this database is still evolving and some locations may not be listed and others may not have precisely accurate boundaries. Resolution across the nation may vary. And always remember - there may be private unmapped inholdings within any public lands - so always pay attention to local signage, indications, and information. The US Public Lands app should only be used as an overview, and you should always confirm more precise details by consulting local field offices, administration websites, and other resources. Do not solely rely on this app for determining if you are on public or private land.