Reston Paths vs C&O Canal Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Reston Paths
Discover nearby trails and recreation facilities in Reston, Virginia. This app uses GPS to show you the closest options, sorting them by distance and zooming in on your selection. It's a great tool for exploring outdoor opportunities.
- Find closest trails and facilities
- Sort trails by distance
- Zoom to selected trails
- Show current location on GPS
- Explore outdoor opportunities
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Reston, Virginia has a wonderful abundance of paths and recreation facilities. Find the closest ones to you with this app (on GPS enabled devices). The menu system sorts trails and facilities by distance and zooms to them upon selection. Current location can be shown to help find the way. Reston Paths is a great way to explore the opportunities for getting outside.
C&O Canal Explorer
Discover the 184.5 miles of the C&O Canal National Historical Park with this comprehensive guide. Find hiking trails, campgrounds, historical sites, and amenities with over 800 mapped points of interest. Easily calculate distances to nearby locations and explore new paths within the park.
- Explore 184.5 miles of park
- Over 800 mapped points of interest
- Searchable points of interest
- Find hiking trails and campgrounds
- Calculate distance to amenities
- Discover trailheads and parking
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The C&O Canal Trust is proud to be releasing its new C&O Canal Explorer app to help you explore all 184.5 miles of the C&O Canal National Historical Park! The C&O Canal Explorer app includes over 800 points of interest mapped for you in a searchable format, allowing you to find hiking trails, campgrounds, history, trailheads, parking, and more at a glance. The app also calculates the distance from your location to nearby amenities and points of interest. We hope that this app will encourage you to tread new paths and journey to new parts of the Park! The C&O Canal Trust is the official nonprofit partner of the C&O Canal National Historical Park and works to protect and preserve the Park.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Reston Paths at 100% against C&O Canal Explorer's 44%. Reston Paths also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and rating (5.0 vs 3.2). C&O Canal Explorer's advantage is update cadence (every 6 months vs every 22 months) and chart position (#40 vs unranked). On 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
Reston Paths is free to download; C&O Canal Explorer costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Reston Paths holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Reston Paths's written reviews are positive against 44% of C&O Canal Explorer's.
Reston Paths ships an update every 22 months, C&O Canal Explorer every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Reston Paths | C&O Canal Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 3.2 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 44.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 22 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #40 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alan Pew | C&O Canal Trust |
Customer experience
Reston Paths
C&O Canal Explorer
In-app purchases
Reston Paths
No in-app purchases
C&O Canal Explorer
No in-app purchases
