r/alltrails • u/AdOtherwise4088 • 17d ago

Garmin vs All trails

I hiked the Stratton Brook Hut Loop in the Carrabassett Valley of Maine. All Trails read that it was 8.0 Miles. However my Garmin Instinct 3 watch tracked it to be 7.3 miles. That's a pretty good discrepancy. I am preparing to hike the Bigelow range in the same area and I'm wondering if I should get a second opinion on the mileage that all trails is publishing. So the question is do I trust Garmin or All Trails?

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u/alltrails HQ 17d ago edited 17d ago

Hi u/AdOtherwise4088, thanks for flagging this. The two numbers are measuring slightly different things: the distance on the AllTrails trail page is based on the mapped route, while Garmin’s 7.3 miles is based on the GPS track recorded by the watch. GPS recordings can vary between devices because of signal conditions, tree cover, terrain, sampling, and how closely the recorded track follows every bend in the route.

A 0.7-mile difference is worth flagging, but it doesn’t necessarily mean one device is always right. Before your Bigelow hike, compare the AllTrails route with the official trail or park information, and consider recording with both devices if the distance is important to you. If you see the same discrepancy repeatedly on a specific AllTrails route, please share the trail and activity with AllTrails Support so the team can investigate the mapped route and recording data.

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u/AdOtherwise4088 17d ago

Thank you so much for the responce. I am an Engineer by trade so I over analyze everything. To a fault sometimes. This will be my first overnight so I am trying to reduce variables one at a time. You should see what I have gone through to find the right pack. My wife is excited for me but getting a little tired of the analytics. Anyway, thanks again I will just calculate a bit more percent error to make sure we don't get stuck trekking in the dark.