MTB Project

Screenshots

About MTB Project

MTB Project is your comprehensive mountain biking guide to the trails you want to ride - with offline maps, full GPS route info, elevation profiles, interactive features, photos, and more.

Like a guidebook, we suggest the best featured rides to explore—either near your current location or in an area you search for. Local experts show you the highlights, challenging features, and insights you need to plan a great ride.

• Find more than 77,000 miles of trail to shred with your crew.

• New rides and trails are constantly added to our incredibly detailed mountain bike trail and ride database.

• Your exact location is shown on the trail.

• Downloaded trails work offline for when you’re off the grid. (No cell reception required!)

• Enjoy high-resolution photos and detailed topographical trail maps.

• We’ll sync with your to-do list and check ins on MTBProject.com.

By using GPS, we can show your location on trails and vertical profiles. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Version

App Information

My frustrating week with a free trail app

Downloaded MTB Project expecting something simple. Free app, lots of trails, owned by REI - what could go wrong? Well.

First ride out, the app crashed three times trying to load my local trails. Force quit, restart, finally got it working. Found a trail marked as "intermediate" that turned out to be basically a dirt road with one tiny rock garden. The rating system feels... conservative.

Then discovered you can't add photos or update trail conditions through the app. Have to use the website. In 2024. Are you kidding me?

But here's the weird part - once I got past the quirks, it actually worked pretty well for finding legal, official trails. No sketchy unmarked paths that might get you in trouble. Everything's vetted and approved. Boring? Maybe. Safe? Definitely.

The competition nobody talks about

testing this thing properly

Started my week testing around local trails I already knew. The app showed all the official ones but missed about half the fun stuff locals actually ride. That's when I learned MTB Project only adds trails that appear on official park maps.

Day 3, tried recording a ride. GPS tracking worked fine until my phone screen locked. Came back to straight lines everywhere. Apparently you need to keep the app open and screen on the whole time. My battery lasted exactly 2 hours.

Found a "top rated" trail system about an hour away. The directions to the trailhead were spot on. The trail descriptions? Generic as hell. "Singletrack through forest with some technical sections." Thanks for nothing.

The elevation profiles are actually useful though. Shows you exactly where the climbs are and how steep. Saved my legs on a 15-mile loop by knowing when to pace myself.

Last day of testing, discovered the real problem. The recent app update completely broke the user interface. Buttons don't work, search fails randomly, trail selection is a nightmare. Reading App Store reviews, this started happening about six months ago and hasn't been fixed.

What Reddit's really saying

The mountain biking subredits are split on this app. Found a thread on r/MTB with 200+ comments where half the people swear by Trailforks and the other half stick with MTB Project because it's free.

Main complaint? The approval process for new trails. One guy submitted a trail two years ago that's still "pending review" because the park hasn't updated their official map yet. Meanwhile, everyone's riding it and sharing GPX files on WhatsApp.

MTBR forums have riders saying MTB Project is "more conservative" but reliable. Translation: it won't show you the fun illegal stuff, but you also won't get kicked out by rangers.

Recent App Store reviews are brutal. Averaging 2 stars for the last 6 months, all complaining about the same UI bugs. One review: "Been using for years, now can't even search for trails without force quitting."

Interesting twist - onX Backcountry just absorbed MTB Project's data. Riders on TGOForums worried this means the free app dies soon.

The pros and cons

Should you even bother?

Look, if you're new to mountain biking and want free, legal trails with zero risk of trespassing, MTB Project does the job. Barely. The offline maps alone make it worth keeping as a backup app.

But if you ride seriously? Just pay for Trailforks. It has 5x more trails, actually works, and costs less than two craft beers per month.

MTB Project feels like it's on life support. The onX integration might revive it or might be the final nail. Right now it's a zombie app - technically alive but not really living.

Free is nice. Functional is better.