Comparison

Parks Canada App vs RidgePacker

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Parks Canada App

Your pocket guide to Canada's national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas. Plan, navigate, and discover with offline maps, real-time information, and interactive tours.

Highlights
  • Offline maps and navigation
  • Real-time directions and weather
  • Interactive self-guided tours
  • Save favorite locations
  • Discover must-visit places
  • Local tips and information
Features
Read full description

450,000 km² of stories at your fingertips. Whether you’re camping, hiking, or discovering local culture, the Parks Canada App is your pocket guide to visiting Canada’s national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas. Enjoy features like self-guided tours, travel tips, and offline access. Use the app to: - Find locations and navigate - Enjoy interactive self-guided tours - Locate nearby gift shops - Access hours, real-time directions, weather forecasts, and local tips - Save your favourite pages for easy access later - Explore offline, no Wi-Fi or cell service needed Plan and explore! Download the Parks Canada App and start your adventure today. For more information: parks.canada.ca/app Location services are optional and can be turned off at any time. Favourites saved to your profile are stored only on your personal device and are not accessible by Parks Canada or others. Parks Canada is a federal agency of the Government of Canada. On behalf of the people of Canada, we protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure the ecological and commemorative integrity of these places for present and future generations.

About

RidgePacker

This app helps outdoor enthusiasts organize their gear, create detailed packing lists, and track item weights for trips. It features an AI scanner for gear identification, trip planning with weight goals, and the ability to separate base weight from consumables. Users can also manage everyday carry items and import existing lists.

Highlights
  • Gear catalog with photos and weights
  • AI gear identification scanner
  • Trip planning with weight goals
  • Base weight and consumables tracking
  • Sublists and modular pouch organization
  • Everyday carry list management
  • Import from CSV (LighterPack, spreadsheets)
Features
Read full description

RidgePacker: Gear Organizer & Packing List Stop showing up to the trailhead with the wrong gear, or worse, forgetting it entirely. RidgePacker is the gear management app built for hikers, backpackers, and everyday carry enthusiasts who care about what they bring and how much it weighs. YOUR GEAR CATALOG Build a permanent catalog of everything you own. Add photos, weights, brand details, category tags, and product links. The AI scanner identifies your gear from a photo and fills in the specs automatically. Search your whole catalog straight from your iPhone's Home Screen, even with the app closed. TRIP PLANNING Create a trip, pull gear from your catalog, and pack against your list. Set a target weight for any pack or sublist and see how far under or over you are as you add gear. Need more than one of something? Set a quantity and your totals add it up. Prefer it simple? Turn off the check-off circles in Settings and let the list itself be your pack. BASE WEIGHT & CONSUMABLES Flag food, water, and fuel as consumables and RidgePacker splits your load into base weight, consumables, and worn weight. See your true base weight: the carried, non-consumed number that matters most when you're trying to pack lighter. NOTES Tap the note row at the top of any pack or sublist to jot reminders: campsite details, gear swaps, anything you don't want to forget. SUBLISTS & MODULAR POUCHES Organize a big trip the way you actually pack it. Break any pack into sublists (a day pack, what's left behind, what the porters carry), then group gear inside them into modular pouches like a first-aid kit or a cook set, up to three levels deep. Move a pouch into another sublist, to your pack's top level, or onto your body, and it stays a pouch wherever it lands. Each pack, sublist, and pouch tracks its own weight, rolls up automatically, and can carry its own weight goal. JUST FOR THIS TRIP Add one-off items (extra socks, snacks, toiletries) that belong to this trip only. Full photo and weight tracking, without cluttering your permanent gear catalog. ON YOUR BODY Separate your worn gear from your packed gear. Mark hiking boots, a trail hat, or a buff as "On Your Body." Body weight is tracked independently and you choose whether it counts toward your pack weight. On a multi-pack trip, set which pack you're carrying (the whole trip or one sublist) and pack weight reflects exactly what's on your back. EVERYDAY CARRY Maintain a separate gear list for what you carry every day. Independent from your trip lists, always one tap away. IMPORT YOUR GEAR Already track your kit in LighterPack or a spreadsheet? Import your gear list from a CSV file and bring everything into RidgePacker in a single step, with units, categories, and consumables included. SHARE & EXPORT Turn any trip into a beautifully formatted PDF packing list with photos, weights, category charts, and every sublist and modular pouch. Choose exactly what to include, then print it or share it with a hiking partner. PRIVACY FIRST No account required. No ads. No cross-app tracking. Your gear catalog and packing lists are stored on your iPhone, not in the cloud. Back them up yourself, whenever you want. TRY IT FREE Start with 14 days of full access, completely free: every feature, no account, no commitment. After that, your gear and lists are always there to browse and pack against; a RidgePacker Pro subscription keeps you adding, editing, AI-scanning, and organizing without limits. RIDGEPACKER PRO • Monthly and yearly subscriptions available • Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase • Subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID Account Settings Privacy Policy: https://www.termsfeed.com/live/4e87787e-3481-4629-8246-8b9c1631c866 Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Parks Canada App4 screens
RidgePacker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RidgePacker at 100% against Parks Canada App's 24%. RidgePacker also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 months). Parks Canada App's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. RidgePacker sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Parks Canada App asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Parks Canada App ships an update every 4 months, RidgePacker every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Parks Canada App versus RidgePacker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterParks Canada AppRidgePacker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (145 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews23.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings145 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size136 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperParks Canada / Parcs CanadaMike Dangerfield

Customer experience

Parks Canada App

All ratings145 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive23.6%
Neutral14.5%
Negative61.8%

RidgePacker

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Parks Canada App

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Pop-up blocks access on iPhone 12 mini
  • Blank white screen with 'loading'
  • Page Not Found Error 404
  • App crashes when creating itinerary
  • App closes after startup
Show 5 more
  • App crashes when viewing trails
  • Screen freezes when creating itinerary
  • Location shows incorrect area
  • Filtering does not work
  • App crashes when adding to itinerary

Requested features

11 requests
  • Search and make camping reservations in app
  • Make self-guided tours available on website
  • Restore 'save my trip' functionality
  • Restore offline mode
  • Map of trails
Show 6 more
  • Real iPad version
  • Update app for newer iPhone models
  • Fix display on iPhone X
  • Functioning search feature
  • Allow changing location
  • Use metric units (km)

RidgePacker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Parks Canada App

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

RidgePacker

Subscriptions2
  • RidgePacker Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • RidgePacker Pro Yearly$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Parks Canada App free?
Parks Canada App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is RidgePacker free?
RidgePacker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Parks Canada App or RidgePacker have ads?
Neither Parks Canada App nor RidgePacker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Parks Canada App or RidgePacker?
Parks Canada App ships an update every 4 months, and RidgePacker every 2 days. Most recently, Parks Canada App was updated on November 6, 2026 and RidgePacker on October 31, 2026.

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