New mobile app guides visitors to New Jersey outdoor, historic sites

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has launched a new mobile phone application to help visitors plan for and make the most out of their trips to New Jersey’s state parks, forests and historic sites. The free Pocket Ranger application provides information on activities, amenities and services directly to users’ smartphones, and is designed to make the park system more self-sustaining while improving visitor services.

The version of the application compatible with Apple iPhones was launched January 3. The Android-compatible version should follow within days. The applications can be downloaded at www.StateParkApps.com

With a few taps of the screen, visitors can use their smartphones to find overviews, directions, operating hours and activities available at various sites managed by the DEP’s Division of Parks and Forestry. Visitors can also fine-tune their searches by looking for activities that interest them, such as hiking, bicycling, swimming, fishing, boating, canoe rentals or winter activities.

Pocket Ranger can help visitors make lodging reservations, has social networking capabilities, and provides an advanced map-caching feature that allows users to continue to navigate even if mobile service is lost. In addition, advanced GPS technology allows hikers to keep track of where they are and how far they’ve hiked. The same technology enables hunters and anglers to mark favorite hunting spots and fishing holes.

The application also has a Friend Finder feature that allows users to keep track of the location of friends and family. As an added safety feature, Pocket Ranger has an alert feature that notifies select contacts of your GPS coordinates in the event of an emergency.

The DEP will receive a portion of advertising revenues generated by the application, which is not costing anything for the department to implement.

The state park system encompasses 440,000 acres in all 21 counties, and includes more than 50 historic sites, historic battlefields and villages, and 39 active recreation areas with year-round operations. The park system also includes more than 500 miles of hiking and riding trails and 10 miles of ocean beaches.

New Jersey is the ninth state to make the mobile tour guide application available to the public. The others are Pennsylvania, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Missouri, Rhode Island and South Dakota.