Get Our Newsletter

Must-Have Florida Apps for Exploring the Great Outdoors in 2024

Last Updated on November 26, 2023

Whether you call Florida home or are visiting the Sunshine State, there are plenty of Florida apps that can help you explore outdoor opportunities, find new hidden gems, and so much more.

Photo of outdoor adventure trail for Authentic Florida

They also all happen to be FREE.

Must-Have Florida Apps

NOTE: Our team is made up of Apple users, but we’ve provided the Android links, if available.

1. Florida Stories by Florida Humanities

Photo of the Athens Theatre

Price: Free

More Information: Florida Stories’ walking tours allow you to delve behind the scenes of your favorite Florida towns to learn more about their history, culture, and architecture.

You can discover the uniqueness of Florida at your own pace and on your own schedule.

Each walking tour is GPS enabled and includes audio narration and photos providing you with engaging content at each tour stop.

Apple app link

Android app link

Check out our article all about the Florida Stories app: Florida Stories: Free Walking App Features 36 Community Tours.

2. Fish | Hunt FL by Florida Fish & Wildlife

Photo of fishers in a boat on the Everglades
The Florida Everglades offers prime fishing for anglers

Price: Free

More Information: This app helps both anglers and hunters during their outdoor fishing and hunting activities in Florida. Visitors can purchase their fishing or hunting licenses, access regulations, pull up a copy of the user’s current licenses, determine sunrise and sunset time based on GPS location, access NOAA seas and weather information, and more.

Apple app link

Android app link

3. Florida Storms

Photo of Florida sunset after Hurricane

Price: Free

More Information: Florida Storms is not just another weather app with a radar. It’s a clean and fast interactive map that alerts you to every storm, while at the same time delivering credible real-­time audio and text alerts from the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network.

The app includes a live radio stream of the nearest Florida Public Radio Emergency Network partner station, with the option to choose from 12 others in the state in case of evacuation or traveling, push notifications from multiple sources, including the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, Baron’s exclusive Doppler radar, and local emergency management personnel, and the ability to set up alerts for other locations, such as your second home, vacation or evacuation destination.

Apple app link

Android app link

4. Florida Trail Association

Photo of a wooden walking trail in the woods

Price: Free

More Information: The Florida Trail Association (FTA) develops, maintains, protects, and promotes a network of hiking trails throughout the state. In the app, you can explore the Florida National Scenic Trail interactive map, get up-to-date trail notices and closures information, uncover news and volunteer event opportunities, and download the trail and base map data to use the app while offline.

Apple app link

5. Space Launch Now

Photo of a rocket taking off

Price: Free

More Information: With this app, you can get updates and notifications for rocket launches from SpaceX, NASA, ULA, ROSCOSMOS, ISRO, and others. If you’re a Space Nut and want to learn more, discover the history of space flight back to the first manned space flight, vehicle details on commonly used launch vehicles, launch tracking, and so more.

Apple app link

Android app link

6. Visit Florida

Photo of a beach

Price: Free

More Information: The Visit Florida app is designed to help you plan your perfect vacation, trip, or weekend getaway in Florida. With the app, you can discover outdoor activities and attractions that match your interests, view upcoming events & beaches near you, add events and places to your custom trip, and share events, places, and your itinerary with friends and family.

Apple app link

Android app link

Note: If you’re visiting a specific area of Florida, make sure to check their official tourism agencies as well to see if they have an app to make your travels easier. If you enjoy staycations, these agencies are a wealth of information

7. Florida 511

Amelia Island scenic road

Price: Free

More Information: The Floria 511 app is there to help you drive safely through the state of Florida. With real time traffic updates, you can make sure to keep safe on the road while knowing where accidents and construction are.

Android app link
Itunes app link

8. Go Paddling

Price: Free

More Information: Loaded with over 25,000 paddling locations for kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddling, Go Paddling (formerly Launch Sites) provides an easy way to find a great place to paddle nearly anywhere. Whether you have a kayak, canoe, or paddleboard (SUP) you can find a place to get on the water with this app.

Android app link
Itunes app link

AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run

Source: alltrails.com

Price: Free

AllTrails has the largest collection of detailed, hand-curated trail maps and GPS tracking so you can hit the trail with confidence! You can find the perfect hike, bike ride, or trail run sorted by length, rating, and difficulty level. You can also filter by which trails are dog or kid-friendly trails, or have great views!

Cairn: Hiking & Outdoor Trails

Source: cairnme.com

Price: Free

Cairn allows you to get home safely from any outdoor trek! It automatically alerts your safety circle if you’re overdue and communicates important details, like where you’re headed and when you intend to return. It also has real-time location tracking with your friends and family! You can also see where there is cell coverage on the trail and know your ETA at all times based on your pace, distance, and elevation.

9. Florida Theme Park Apps

Price: Free

More Information: When visiting Florida theme parks, it can help to have their apps downloaded before visiting. Many parks will use their dedicated app to provide maps, reserve experiences, and see event schedules. Download the apps for the parks you intend to visit before going to the park.

Here are a few other articles you may be interested in:

Did we miss one of your favorite outdoor Florida apps? Let us know in the comments below!

Leave a Comment