Walk The Distance makes exercise fun for those who’d rather be hiking

The type of app that will motivate a specific type of person is Walk The Distance. It allows you to virtually walk long-distance routes like the Pacific Crest Trail, which is perfect for those of us who don't mind our local walking paths.

You can see a little icon with your picture on a map if you walk a mile at home. As you get closer to certain points, Walk The Distance will show you pictures and facts. It is similar to playing The Oregon Trail, except instead of sitting in front of a computer, you are exercising. If you want to take a more historical trip, there is an official Oregon Trail app that does the same thing.

I like to come home from a walk and look at the app to see what landmarks I passed. The descriptions are short and sweet, explaining things like the weather or landscape in a certain location or going over certain aspects of what it's like to hike the trail, but for me, the photography makes them worth a look each time. When I read the description for Hawk Mountain Shelter that says the next stop is around seven miles away, I used AllTrails to find an eight mile hike nearby.

I will have completed Walk The Distance's version of the AT if I complete all my short walks. If you want to start off with a less intimidating goal, the app offers a number of shorter hikes through national parks and cities.

I do not think that Walk The Distance is a nice looking app. I don't think it's very pretty. You can see where you are on the trail in relation to other users, browse through your walking history, and revisit points of interest, if you can look past that. You can change a lot of the settings on the backpack.

I can't say I've played around with it a lot, but there's a social element to it. The app has a mode that shows you where you and your friends are on the trail, as well as the ability to add friends to walk the trail with. If the developers are looking for some free advice, it shouldn't be the "friend" section, it should be the "tramily" section. The app allows you to pick a trail name instead of a display name, which would be nice.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like Walk The Distance's pricing structure. It's possible to pay for the app in a variety of ways, including not paying at all. The first part or two of the big hikes can be done for free. The entire AT is unlocked at a cost of $4.99. A few of the national parks are free.

If you don't want to pay for it all at once, there's a subscription that will allow you to do all of the walks for free. If you use another app to sync your data into Apple's system, Walk The Distance will pick it up.

For the AT, I haven't gotten to the point where I need to start paying. I plan on buying that trail when I do. I am coming out ahead by hiking the Appalachian Trail for five bucks, since it is estimated that it will cost $6,000.

It won't work for everyone because not everyone is a hiking nerd. Making it to the next virtual shelter can be just the motivation we need to leave the couch and go outside. When I hike a section of the Pacific Crest Trail later this summer, I will be making some significant progress on my virtual Appalachian Trail journey because that is just the sort of thing I find funny.

Walk The Distance can be downloaded for free on the App Store.