wanderer

Wanderer is an open-source, self-hosted trail catalogue designed for organizing, planning, and sharing GPS tracks. It addresses the needs of outdoor enthusiasts who want to manage their trail data independently, without relying on commercial platforms or facing paywalls and subscriptions. The platform emphasizes user control, allowing individuals or groups to run their own server instance so that all GPS tracks and related data remain under their direct management.

The tool supports uploading GPS data in formats such as GPX, KML, and FIT, and provides features including full-text and map-based search, route planning with Valhalla routing, elevation profiles, statistics, lists, summit logs, tags, photo galleries, and waypoints. Users can plan anything from a simple post-hike upload to a multi-week expedition, leveraging the platform's toolkit for comprehensive trail management. Wanderer also offers a plugin system for extensibility, and a mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Wanderer is built on the ActivityPub open standard, enabling federation across multiple instances. This means users can join an existing server run by a friend, hiking club, or outdoor organization, or connect with explorers and follow public trails, comments, and summit logs from other servers, all without needing an account on those external instances. The social layer allows for decentralized sharing and discovery of trails, supporting collaboration and community building among outdoor explorers.

Installation can be done quickly by downloading a compose file and running the service, with documentation provided for configuration and federation. All features are available without any cost, tier, or subscription, and users can export their data at any time in open formats. Wanderer is distributed under the AGPLv3 license and is maintained by a small volunteer team, with opportunities for community contributions and support through platforms like GitHub, Discord, Buy Me a Coffee, and Liberapay.