Colorado Trail Explorer vs CloudTAK
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Colorado Trail Explorer
Explore Colorado's trails with this comprehensive map app. Discover routes, download offline maps, record trips, and log field notes. Earn badges by completing challenges and share your adventures with the community.
- Comprehensive trail maps
- Offline map downloads
- Trip recording
- Field note logging
- Challenges and badges
- Community sharing
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Discover and explore Colorado’s unique trail experiences with the Colorado Trail Explorer. Available for free, COTREX offers the most comprehensive trail map available for the state and is built atop data from over 230 trail managers. View trails by allowed uses on the map, browse featured routes, download offline maps, record trips and notes in the field, complete challenges to earn badges, and share your experiences with the community. COTREX is your gateway into Colorado’s magnificent outdoors. ■ DISCOVER TRAILS & FEATURED ROUTES – Browse or search to find trails and Feature Routes that match your activities or interests. – Change activity type to dynamically filter trails on the map. ■ OFFLINE MAPS – No cell coverage? No problem! Download maps ahead of time for a continuous experience that doesn’t depend on your network. – COTREX offline maps are lightweight in size and easy to download. ■ RECORD TRIPS & FIELD NOTES – Capture the details of your outdoor experiences by recording Trips. – Go beyond simple photos by taking and classifying rich Field Notes along the way. Choose from 45,000+ classifications that include trail conditions, species, rocks and minerals, historic places, points of interest, and much more. – Seamlessly sync activity recorded on your devices with the web. ■ COMPLETE CHALLENGES TO EARN BADGES – By recording and classifying Field Notes, you can complete Challenges and earn Badges for your profile. ■ SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY – Inform and inspire the entire COTREX community by sharing your Trips and Field Notes publicly or submitting Trip Reports. – View activity feeds for all users or just the ones you follow. – By sharing your experiences, you also help to inform trail managers about current conditions on the ground. ■ ABOUT COTREX The Colorado Trail Explorer endeavors to map every trail in the state of Colorado in support of the Colorado the Beautiful Initiative. COTREX connects people, trails, and technology by coordinating the efforts of federal, state, county, and local agencies to create a comprehensive repository of recreational trails for public use. This project is led by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Department of Natural Resources, but is only made possible through partnerships with organizations at every level statewide. COTREX represents a seamless network of trails managed by over 230 land managers. ■ DISCLAIMERS [Battery Life] We do everything we can to make the app low power when recording, but GPS is notorious for reducing battery life Terms: https://trails.colorado.gov/terms Privacy Policy: https://trails.colorado.gov/privacy
CloudTAK
This app provides real-time situational awareness and team coordination for public safety operations on iOS devices. It allows operators to share live locations, secure chat, and map data with teammates, creating a unified operational picture for efficient and safe mission execution.
- Real-time situational awareness
- Seamless team coordination
- Live location sharing
- Secure chat
- Critical map data sharing
- Unified Common Operating Picture
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CloudTAK delivers real-time situational awareness and seamless team coordination to your iOS device for public safety operations. By connecting natively with the broader Team Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem, operators can share live locations, secure chat, and critical map data with teammates across all platforms. Empower your front-line personnel with a unified Common Operating Picture to execute missions safely and efficiently.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CloudTAK at 5.0 against Colorado Trail Explorer's 4.4. CloudTAK also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Colorado Trail Explorer's advantage is ratings volume (253 vs 4). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CloudTAK holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Colorado Trail Explorer has 253 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Colorado Trail Explorer's written reviews are positive against 100% of CloudTAK's.
Colorado Trail Explorer ships an update every 2 months, CloudTAK every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Colorado Trail Explorer | CloudTAK |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (253 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 253 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 136 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | State of Colorado Governor's Office of Information Technology | State of Colorado - DFPC |
Customer experience
Colorado Trail Explorer
CloudTAK
Bugs and requests
Colorado Trail Explorer
Reported bugs
14 issues- Password reset email links non-functional
- Keyboard covers trip description input field
- Trip trim function throws 'Undefined is not a function' error
- GPS signal locking issues after iOS updates
- App crashes when zooming on map
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- Screen timeout during trip recording
- Mileage tracking significantly off from actual distance
- Current location icon disappears intermittently
- Spacebar non-functional in trip description field
- App crashes with filter functionality
- Account creation email character limit validation error
- App won't open after updates
- GPS tracking inaccurate during guidance mode
- App requires screen to stay on for trip recording
Requested features
18 requests- One-handed zooming (double-tap and drag)
- Apple Watch compatibility
- Apple CarPlay/Android Auto integration
- Private land overlay
- Trail difficulty ratings and color coding
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- Game unit and wildfire layers
- User-submitted trail reviews and photos
- Friend location sharing on map
- Garmin watch compatibility
- Trail condition crowdsourced reports
- Landscape mode orientation support
- Navigation/turn-by-turn directions
- Ability to copy coordinates without URL
- Screen-off recording capability
- Easier offline map downloading (bulk/drag selection)
- Trail running activity category
- Dispersed camping overlay
- 4WD/Jeep specific trail filter
CloudTAK
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Colorado Trail Explorer
No in-app purchases
CloudTAK
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Colorado Trail Explorer free?
Is CloudTAK free?
Which has better reviews, Colorado Trail Explorer or CloudTAK?
Do Colorado Trail Explorer or CloudTAK have ads?
Which is updated more often, Colorado Trail Explorer or CloudTAK?
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