Hiking, the new fad of the French… and mobile applications

Who would have bet, five years ago, on the triumph of hiking? By placing the population at home, the health crisis has had this strange consequence: giving confined people a desire for nature and the great outdoors. And instill in them, once outings are authorized again, a taste for walking.

In the mountains, across fields, along the coast and even in urban areas, the French put on their sneakers and set off to explore the territory. The tech sector is seizing on this craze and increasing the number of devices to support walkers on their outings or encourage performance: connected watches, increasingly lighter external batteries, filtering water bottles and… applications.

More and more apps

The offer is increasingly substantial, reveals the high-tech news site Clubic. From Visorando to Komoot, from OpenRunner to Hika, from AlpineQuest to Fatmap or Strava, walkers are spoiled for choice. Leader in the field, the international AllTrails platform, created in 2010 in California, entered the French market in 2019. It now brings together more than 60 million walkers around the world.

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Mercantour: night hike to observe the stars and wildlife

“We offer more than 400,000 itineraries, including 34,000 in France, explains Juliana Ead, director of public relations at AllTrails. On each of them, users will find information that will guide them in their hike. Our ambition is really to make outdoor activities accessible to everyone.“

With 1 billion 368 million kilometers traveled, the platform was certified iPhone application of the year in 2023, adds Canadian media Newswire.

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Adventure just a stone’s throw from home

To present how it works, the AllTrails team arranged to meet us far from San Francisco, near the village of Gambais. So head for the Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Natural Park, located a half-hour drive from Paris. “We also want to show that hiking can be done close to where you live.” adds Juliana Ead.

Famous for its castle (the Domaine de Neuville, where the film was shot Donkey Skin by Jacques Demy in 1970), the village of Gambais is also known for having hosted some illustrious people, such as the painter Robert Delaunay or the serial killer Landru (to whom the destination also gave the nickname “Bluebeard of Gambais”). Its bucolic surroundings provide a perfect testing ground for budding hikers.

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A mountain guide in your pocket

Before the walk, the app offers an aerial preview of the route. It also reveals a series of technical information on the hike to come: the distance to cover, the elevation gain, the duration. Photos, posted online by users, also offer a nice overview. The platform also relies in part on the contributions of its subscribers, who can inform of a change in the routes traveled (tree on the road, interrupted path, etc.).

Finally, a short presentation summarizes the assets of the trail. “The application will, for example, tell you if the hike can be done by children or if dogs are accepted.” specifies Mehdi El Mabrouk, spokesperson for the platform in France. The application also lists 900 trails accessible to people with reduced mobility in Europe (including 207 in France). So many filters which allow you to select your route in advance.

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The application also reveals the forecast weather for the entire outing. “A real advantage if you are going for a mountain hike, enthuses Mehdi El Mabrouk. You will thus be able to anticipate the temperatures at the summit, which are very different from those recorded at the starting point. And equip yourself accordingly.“The route, finally, can be downloaded before the hike, in order to avoid frequent network outages in the wilderness.

Green disconnection, an ally of health

This day, our walk is easy and crosses forests, fields and small hamlets where farms and millstone houses coexist. With its hilly landscape and its secure trails, the setting of the Chevreuse valley is conducive to disconnection, confirms Victor Laroche, naturopath embarked on the AllTrails adventure. “Opting for walking in nature is a very good way to reduce your cortisol levels, a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands..”

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The practitioner recommends contact with so-called “vitalogenic” elements (trees, plants, animals). And remember that in Japan forest baths, called “shirin goku”, are even prescribed by doctors as an alternative to antidepressants. These immersions in nature, he explains, “help support the production of serotonin involved in well-being and that of melatonin, the sleep hormone.“

In an interview given to the Mercury News in March, Ron Schneidermann, CEO of AllTrails, confirmed the benefits of so-called “outdoor” activities. “Our primary intention is to get as many people as possible spending more time outdoors.“For their own good, but also for the collective good: by raising awareness about the preservation of nature and living things, hiking is a good way to raise awareness about the consequences of climate change.

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“People are touched by what is personal to them, continued Ron Schneidermann. If when you think of nature, you only have the image of a dirty, muddy, even scary place, then there is little chance that you will be sensitive to real estate development projects or the destruction caused by fires. With AllTrails, we therefore try to work on the relationship with living things. Because by encouraging people to go outside, we also encourage them to care about nature.“

Our journey ends at Ruche, a restaurant that invites nature to the heart of the plate. Run by Californian chef Cybèle Idelot, the establishment, recently awarded a green star in the Michelin Guide, offers essentially plant-based, anti-waste cuisine. This is made only with fruits, vegetables and herbs from its vast permaculture garden.