Explore California State Parks Support
Updated August 21, 2026
Explore is a map app for California's parks, trails, and campgrounds for iPhone. It shows a curated catalogue of places with photos, weather, tides, snow, fire and air-quality overlays; lets you save places to lists, mark them visited, record a GPS track while you hike, download map areas for offline use, and set alerts for park closures and campsite openings.
Get in touch
Email natetedesco@icloud.com. A real person reads every message — usually a reply within a few days.
If you're reporting a bug, it helps enormously to include your iPhone model, your iOS version, the version of Explore California State Parks you're running, and what you did just before it went wrong.
Common questions
Do I need an account?
No. You can browse, search, save lists, mark places visited, and record a hike without signing in — all of it stays on your phone. Signing in is what backs those up and syncs them to another device, and it's required to submit a photo or review or to set an alert.
Does Explore track my location in the background?
Only while you are recording a hike, and only after you tap Start. The recording keeps running with the screen off so your track doesn't break, and iOS shows the blue location indicator the whole time. Outside a recording session Explore only reads your location while the app is open.
Where do my recorded hikes go?
Onto your phone immediately. If you're signed in they're also saved to your account so they survive a reinstall — the track, distance, elevation gain, and duration. A hike recorded signed out is held on the phone and uploaded to whichever account you sign in to next.
What happens to a photo I submit?
It's uploaded privately, screened by an automated review that includes an AI model, and approved by the developer before anyone else can see it. Until it's approved, only you can see it. Approved photos appear in that place's public gallery for every user.
How do I delete my data?
Settings › Delete Account removes your account and everything stored against it on the server, and clears the app's local copy. Deleting the app removes everything else on the device.
How do I manage my subscription?
Explore Pro is billed by Apple. Manage or cancel it in Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions on your device — the developer can't change or cancel it for you.