Best Watch For Camping And Hiking

Final Thoughts On The Best Outdoor Watches

From heart-rate tracking and step count to email and blood-oxygen level readings, there is not much that some of these watches cant do. Since I spend a lot of time in the mountains and work as a guide, I love having a watch that gives accurate altitude readings, storm alerts, and tracking points all vital data points when leading groups in the mountains.

The best watch for your own needs to going to be different. Hone in on what sort of performance you need out of a watch and make your purchase based on that information.

From all of the watches on our list, it may be hard to pick a favorite. If you are looking for a good all a-rounder that will serve you in a variety of settings, go with our top pick: the Garmin Instinct GPS Watch.

Once you get your hands on a badass outdoor watch, there is no going back. Youll see.

Need more tech for your adventures? Check out our guide to the best satellite phones next!

Reasons To Use A Gps Watch

There are some strong reasons that you might consider getting a GPS watch.

Before we jump into the reasons, what do I mean when I say GPS watch?

• A wrist-worn device
• Can be used by itself for data and metrics
• As basic to advanced GPS navigation capability

Apples iWatch falls in these categories but it is especially complicated since you can make calls with it, so Ill be mainly talking about specialized GPS watches that are focused more on geolocation tracking rather than an iWatch that can be used for communication.

Benefits Of Smartwatches For Hiking

Whether your hiking gear kit includes everything but the kitchen sink or you prefer to hit the trails with little more than yourself, your boots, and a bottle of water, you cant go wrong adding a smartwatch to the equation. Some pieces of equipment take up more room than they are worth or end up sitting at the bottom of your pack without ever being used, even in an emergency. Hiking smartwatches weigh almost nothing, sit safely on your wrist for no added bulk in your pack, and include tons of features to help with everything from basic navigation to keeping you safe from sudden or unexpected changes in weather.

Hiking smartwatches have quickly gained popularity, especially for individuals who prefer to hit the trails without frustrating paper maps , smartphones with easily drained batteries, or anyone who likes to keep an eye on weather, air pressure, elevation, heart rate, or the temperature. Designed with a wide range of features to suit a wide range of needs, today there are tons of hiking smartwatch options to choose from. Before you dive into the specs of the best hiking watches, it is important to know what you are looking for and which features are most important for your needs.

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Garmin Fenix 6s Solar

Want something with tons of smart-features, plenty of battery life, and extras to keep you entertained? If you answered yes, youll love the Fenix 6S from Garmin. Available in a number of editions, were recommending the solar model which allows you to charge cord-free and store up to 9 days of battery life just from the power of the sun. Lightweight and available in attractive metallic finishes, the Fenix 6S is a watch youll be wearing everywhere, on and off the trail.

Price: $549 $1,100 depending on features Battery Life: Smartwatch: Up to 9 days/10.5 days with solar*Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 34 days/59 days with solar*GPS: Up to 25 hours/28 hours with solar**GPS + Music: Up to 6 hoursMax Battery GPS Mode: Up to 50 hours/64 hours with solar**Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 20 days/26 days with solar*Weight: 61 grams

Pros: Sleek, elegant design and tons of extra health features

Cons: Expensive

See On Garmin |

Disclaimer: We use affiliate links within this article, which means that on some purchases you make through these links, we will get a small commission at no cost to you. This helps support our writing team and ability to provide helpful reviews. We do not let any commissions effect our recommendations. Our goal is to provide you with the most useful resource possible, and we do our best to test our products, get testimonials from our gear partners, guide partners, and also other reviewers to select our top picks.

Deep Blue Tritium Diver

Deep Blue may not be a household name in the watch world yet, but the New York-based company makes some truly exceptional dive watches that stack up nicely against the Seikos and Citizens that dominate the market.

The DAYNIGHT Tritium Quartz Dive Watch is a prime example. Dependable, lightweight and water resistant to 200 meters, this is a great watch that will stay with you through some tough scrapes.

Its good-looking and comfortable on the wrist too. One of the best parts of the DAYNIGHT series is the tritium lume on the hands and dial markers, which makes it easy to read from about a mile away. Overall, its a great value in the $300 range.

This really has become one of my go-to choices for almost any backcountry adventure, mainly because the Tritium tubes! Rather than traditional lume, the DayNight uses little tubes of radioactive Tritium gas that glow for 25 years. You just cant beat the nighttime advantage over lume or pressing a button.

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Best Classic Field Watches

Although the Alpinist isnt a military-derived field watch in the strictest sense, it has plenty of authentic outdoor heritage. The design first appeared in the 1960s and was inspired by Japanese Yama-Otoko ‘mountain men’. As its name suggests, it was intended to be a robust tool watch for use at high altitudes.

It is a compact and wearable piece, even if you dont have huge climbers wrists. Its also surprisingly elegant, with some dressy design flourishes. The latest version also has upgraded specs such as a highly scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with a cyclops date window, as well as Seikos in-house 6R35 automatic self-winding movement, which boasts an impressive 70-hour power reserve.

Then theres the internal compass bezel, a distinctive feature which is operated by a secondary crown positioned at 4 oclock. And despite being primarily made for use on terra firma, the watch still has an excellent water resistance rating of 200m as good as many of the brands specialist divers watches.

The build quality is as solid as youd expect from Seiko, too. So, this is a reliable outdoor companion, but one thats far more than just a tool, with an eye-catching dial that offers both style and elegance. In that sense, this is a versatile watch that could go easily from office work wardrobe to adventurous weekend wear.

Read our full Seiko Alpinist review

Read our full Hamilton Khaki Mechanical Bronze review

Best Gps Watches For Hiking

With a list price of $229.99 / £219, the Amazfit T-Rex 2 is less than half the price of some of its main rivals, but doesn’t skimp on features, build quality, or accuracy.

In terms of design, it doesn’t look that different to 2021’s T-Rex Pro, but there are some smart changes like a new metal bumper to protect the ‘start’ and ‘back’ buttons. The real differences are on the inside, where there’s a new higher-capacity battery that delivers up to 10 days of performance in regular heavy usage, or up to 45 days in power-saver mode .

It boasts a great-looking OLED display as well, and its multi-band GPS with support for all the major satellite systems locks on quickly to track your outdoor activities. Biometric monitoring is excellent too .

Our only real complaint was that the automatic workout detection didn’t always detect when we’d started a run, meaning our training session wasn’t logged. Provided you can remember to start tracking manually and you’re willing to try something different to Polar, Garmin, and Coros GPS watches, we think you’ll be very satisfied with the Amazfit T-Rex 2.

The Polar Grit X Pro is one of the toughest GPS watches we’ve tested, with a sapphire crystal lens and a rugged case that will shrug off scrapes and knocks when you’re scrambling or bouldering. It has the navigation chops you’ll need when exploring the backcountry too, and is a solid option if you want to try out some new trails on your next run.

Read our full Garmin Enduro 2 review

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Health & Activity Trackers

A perfect and best GPS watch for camping is the one which is a combination of both health and activity tracking. During hiking, you need to know about your heart rate monitoring all the time. So make sure your selected watch has concerned health features as well. For the casual hikers, such best hiking watches 2019 play an important role.

Why You Should Trust Us

This review is brought to you by a team of expert testers headed up by Matthew Richardson. Matthew works with maps for a living and spends his free time in the outdoors surrounding Durango, Colorado. He uses a GPS watch daily and has completed some big outings, such as a solo ride on the Colorado Trail and linking up Chicago Basin 14ers in a day.

Also on the testing team is Amber King. Amber is a professional outdoor educator who spends lots of time navigating the great outdoors. She is also an ultra trail runner who loves to challenge herself with big, steep, and long runs and fastpacking adventures. She uses a GPS watch daily for trail running, open water swimming, mountain biking, and backcountry skiing.

Before selection occurs, we spend hours looking through the best options on the market and delve into the research to determine the best. Once we’ve found a handful that we think represents the best on the market, we buy them and start testing. From days out running, skiing, climbing, and biking, we analyze the features, accuracy, and usability to give you our recommendations on what’s best. Our team is proud to provide our thoughts and aid you in searching for the best GPS watch to fit your needs.

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Tomtom Adventurer Gps Multisport Watch

Although the TomTom Adventurer GPS Multisport Watch is suitable for a broad range of activities, it is especially ideal for outdoor adventure sports. So, whether you like to trail-run, hike, ski, or snowboard, this top timepiece has a function for your favorite fitness-based activity. As well as featuring a GPS, the Adventurer boasts a built-in music player, barometer, altimeter, and compass, and can also measure your heart rate.

Casio Pathfinder Pag240 Multifunction Watch

The Casio Pathfinder PAG240 features the time in 48 cities and 39 time zones making it a great choice for frequent travelers. The solar-powered battery can last up to six months, so even if youre taking a short vacation to cloudy terrain, you dont have to worry about your watch dying. The watch has a 1.5 LCD display and has sensors to detect temperature, direction, and altitude. However, the watch only operates in temperatures higher than 14°F, so if you enjoy winter-weather hiking, alpine climbing, etc. then this watch probably isnt the best option for you. It also includes a barometer that shows you things like weather-change charts. The Casio Pathfinder PAG240 is a functional watch that gets the job done.

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The Best Gps Hiking Watches

The majority of GPS hiking watches allow you to import hiking routes and then follow a single line track on the display to and from your terminus. These are the best GPS hiking watches that operate like that.

Despite not having full-color maps on the screen, this does not mean you cant access maps using these types of GPS watches.

The Garmin Instinct Solar easily links up with the mobile phone app Garmin Earthmate. So if you want to check your whereabouts on a map you can.

Pro tip: Put your phone in airplane mode when you hike to conserve the battery life of your phone. If you dont have service why waste your battery power?

Which Smartwatch Is Compatible With Android Or Ios

Most smartwatches that come from popular brands are compatible with both systems. However, not all functionality is guaranteed to support properly. An iPhone user will be better served by an Apple Watch than an Android mobile owner. However, it is better to ensure the compatibility of the model you have chosen with your smartphone.

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Differences Between The Baro And Peak Editions

The Suunto Baro and Peak have nearly identical functions and features. Size and weight is the most significant difference.

Water Resistance: 100 feet

Warranty: 2 year

The Suunto Core is the best option if you want an ABC watch but can live without GPS functionality, fitness tracking, or other smartwatch mode features.

We would guess that the Core is the most popular outdoor watch in the long-distance hiking community its very durable, affordable, waterproof, has a great battery life, and performs the essential functions well. Both Treeline Review founders have used the Suunto Core for years on thru-hikes from the Great Divide Trail to the Pacific Northwest Trail.

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Treeline Review co-founder Liz Thomas thru-hiked the Great Divide Trail across the Canadian Rockies with the Suunto Core.

The Core has a barometric altimeter that displays the elevation in three-foot increments. The barometer shows 3- to 6-hour trends and can provide storm alerts. From personal experience on our thru-hikes, we know that the altimeter is accurate as long as you calibrate it regularly . The watch also provides elevation graphs and cumulative elevation gain/loss stats.

The Suunto Core provides the basic watch functions that are essential for any hiking watch. There is a timer, stopwatch, daily alarm, and sunrise/sunset times. The display is large and easy to read in different light conditions. The functions are easy to access and use.

Warranty:1 year

Fenix 6 Watch Features Not Found In The Garmin Instinct Solar

Full-Color Topographic Maps

The Fenix 6 Pro, Sapphire, and Solar models come preloaded with regional topographic maps.

For instance, outdoor watches sold in North America come with North American maps.

If you plan to travel for hikes or climbs in other countries, maps from other regions are available from Garmin .

You can evenbuy maps for National Scenic Trails like the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail.

The Fenix 6 is available with a Gorilla Glass, sapphire crystal, or solar lens.

Gorilla® Glass vs. Sapphire Crystal

The Fenix 6 series watches are available with Corning® Gorilla® Glass DX or Sapphire Crystal lens.

Gorilla® Glass is designed to be scratch-resistant with enhanced display readability through a 75% improvement in front surface reflection versus standard glass. Plus, the display contrast ratio is improved by 50% with the same display brightness level.

Sapphire crystal is incredibly durable and scratch-resistant. Sapphire crystal ranks 9 out of 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness .

The sapphire crystal lens is a $100 upgrade for Fenix 6 series watches.

So, is sapphire crystal worth the extra cost over Gorilla Glass®? It depends.

Gorilla® Glass is clearer and easier to read at different angles.

Sapphire crystal, while more scratch-resistant, transmits less light and is more reflective. You could also use a screen protector with a Gorilla Glass lens if scratching is a big concern.

Solar Display

Water Resistance: 330 feet

Warranty: 1 year

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Casio Smart Watch Wsd

Casios other top hiking watch is the WSD-F20 Protrek. Unlike many other outdoor timepieces, the WSD-F20 is a smartwatch with Android Wear 2.0. Thanks to this technology and advanced GPS functionality, this watch will allow you to get the most out of your active lifestyle. From its full-color map display and location memory to its built-in sensors for altitudes, atmospheric pressure, and directions, this watch has almost everything a modern hiker could need.

Best Outdoor Watches Need To Be Tough As Nails

Before there were ever smartwatches, there were wristwatches designed for the outdoors ones with hardened glass faces and pressure protections that allowed scuba divers to descend several dozen feet.

Features like these are doubly important when there are sensitive electronics behind the watch face.

The most important durability feature on an outdoor watch is an indestructible watch face.

Many companies now create their watch faces from Gorilla and Sapphire Glass, previously used to protect the iPhone from bumps and scrapes.

Additionally, a raised, hardened bevel will protect the face if you happen to swing your wrist straight into a rock wall.

Dont forget to check the durability of the band, too if a clasp breaks during a dive or while climbing a rock face, it might be very difficult to retrieve.

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Why We Think A Watch As An Essential Piece Of Gear

We think watches are an essential piece of hiking gear. Here’s why:

• There have been occasions when we only realized that we had missed a trail junction when our elevation was decreasing more than our map indicated.

• A rapid change in barometric pressure indicated on the watch lets us know that a storm could be brewing.

Naomi Hudetz, Chief Officer of Getting Stuff Done at Treeline Review, with the Suunto Core .

While knowing how to read a map and use a compass is an essential hiking skill, a watch can help keep you on track.

Timekeeping, the most basic function of a watch, is also critical for hiking. Every long-distance hiker knows the equation distance = rate x time. Knowing your approximate hiking pace and elapsed time gives you a decent idea of how far you have traveled. A watch, used in conjunction with your map, is a critical piece of gear for navigation.

While we think the extra features of an Altimeter, Barometer, Compass watch can drastically improve your backcountry understanding and experience, if nothing else, it’s worth it to carry some sort of non-phone timekeeping device.