Paid $30 for a paper map of the Cohos Trail and it saved my butt when my phone died on day 2

Val Adams · 2026-10-11T07:00:05.558881+00:00

Everyone on the forums keeps saying just use your phone for navigation, so I almost skipped buying the paper map for my 4 day trip on the Cohos Trail up in New Hampshire last month. I grabbed the $30 waterproof map set from the Forest Service office in Pittsburg anyway, mostly because my dad nagged me about it. Day 2 my phone hit 8 percent by noon because the cold killed the battery faster than I planned, then it just shut off and would not come back. The trail splits near Mount Cabot had a sign missing and I stood there for 10 minutes until I pulled out the map and matched the contour lines to a pond I could see. Without it I would have walked an extra 3 miles downhill the wrong way and missed the shelter before dark. My buddy who came along thought the maps were a waste until that moment, and now he wants a set for the Whites. So what sections do you all carry paper for, or do you trust your battery bank to hold out the whole trip?

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Paid $30 for a paper map of the Cohos Trail and it saved my butt when my phone died on day 2 | Backpacking Routes - HW Forums