Comparison

Sleeping Bear Trails vs Explore Michigan

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

Head to head
About

Sleeping Bear Trails

Explore a national park with detailed trail maps, descriptions, and photos for hiking, biking, skiing, and more. Get directions to trailheads and discover local insights for an enhanced outdoor experience.

Highlights
  • Detailed trail maps
  • Trail descriptions
  • Photos of trails
  • Route to trailhead
  • GPS trailhead locations
  • Local star ratings and comments
Features
Read full description

Hike, bike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, and even ride your horse on designated trails through the dunes and woods of this National Park in northern lower Michigan. Find your way with this unique guide which includes detailed descriptions and maps of each trail, routing from your current location to the trailhead, GPS locations of trailheads, and photos. A good reference for walkers, hikers, cross-country skiers, families, seniors, and people needing easy access information to this park, this app will be used regularly by the frequent visitor, and is unrivaled for first-timers. Get the most out of your visit to the Lakeshore recently named “The Most Beautiful Place in America” by viewers of Good Morning America. Up-to-date information includes details about the New Bike Trail, which you won’t find anywhere else. This app was developed by knowledgable locals and includes Aunt Jane’s personal star rating and comments about each trail.

About

Explore Michigan

Discover Michigan's natural wonders and historical sites. Browse state parks, national parks, and lighthouses with detailed information, maps, and guides to plan your adventures. Get directions and download location-specific resources for a richer outdoor experience.

Highlights
  • Browse State Parks, National Parks, Lighthouses
  • Location-specific activities, maps, and guides
  • Filter locations by type
  • Map clusters for readability
  • Turn-by-turn navigation integration
  • Downloadable safety and topic guides
Read full description

Explore Michigan's great outdoors right from your iOS device. Browse and learn about several outdoor attractions such as State Parks, National Parks, and lighthouses. Detailed information including location specific activities, maps, and guides can help you plan your next trip. Here are just a few features of the app: - Location Filters - Want to just see lighthouses? You can filter results so that you only see specific types of locations on the map or in the list. This makes it super easy to explore what you are interested in. - Cluster Preview - The map groups locations that are close together in a "cluster" so the map remains readable when zoomed out. Tap on a cluster to see a preview of the locations in that area. - Directions - Once you are ready to go, just tap "Get Directions" to start turn-by-turn navigation via the Apple Maps app. - Resources - Location specific resources such maps and PDF guides are available to download to help you learn about specific topics such as water safety or bear safety.

Screenshots

Sleeping Bear Trails4 screens
Explore Michigan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sleeping Bear Trails at 100% against Explore Michigan's 75%. Sleeping Bear Trails also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). Explore Michigan's advantage is ratings volume (212 vs 8). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sleeping Bear Trails holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Explore Michigan has 212 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Sleeping Bear Trails's written reviews are positive against 75% of Explore Michigan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sleeping Bear Trails ships an update every 4 months, Explore Michigan every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sleeping Bear Trails versus Explore Michigan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSleeping Bear TrailsExplore Michigan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8 ratings) — better4.7 (212 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8212 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJonathan ReidCode Bits LLC

Customer experience

Sleeping Bear Trails

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Explore Michigan

All ratings192 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral1.0%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sleeping Bear Trails

No in-app purchases

None

Explore Michigan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sleeping Bear Trails free?
Sleeping Bear Trails is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Explore Michigan free?
Explore Michigan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sleeping Bear Trails or Explore Michigan?
Sleeping Bear Trails is rated higher. Sleeping Bear Trails averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Explore Michigan averages 4.7 from 212 ratings.
Do Sleeping Bear Trails or Explore Michigan have ads?
Neither Sleeping Bear Trails nor Explore Michigan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sleeping Bear Trails or Explore Michigan?
Sleeping Bear Trails ships an update every 4 months, and Explore Michigan every 2 months. Most recently, Sleeping Bear Trails was updated on September 29, 2026 and Explore Michigan on October 15, 2026.

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