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The field guide

Treader Docs

Guides for planning a trip and for being on one. Search for what you are stuck on, or filter by category and browse.

National parks US national parks: how the whole system works 6 min read National parks Canada national parks: the Discovery Pass and how booking works 5 min read Camping and outdoors What to pack for a camping trip 3 min read

Start here

3 guides
Create your first trip Start a plan in under a minute, with or without dates, and never hit a save button. 1 min read Read Find your way around The planner layout, the right-side dock, map styles and every keyboard shortcut. 1 min read Read Save a guide to read later, or print it as a PDF Every guide prints cleanly to PDF, which is the version that still works with no signal at a trailhead. 2 min read Read

Plan a trip

4 guides
Add stops and discover places Search, browse the live map, and turn a pile of places into an ordered day. 1 min read Read Shape your days Day names, the insight rows, one-tap optimize and the board with its Ideas pen. 1 min read Read Add flights to your trip Log a flight once, get both airports, true air time and timezone-correct days. 1 min read Read Set a trip budget pro One ceiling for the trip, a live running total, and clear marks on what is real versus estimated. 1 min read Read

Travel together

6 guides
Invite people to a trip Editors and viewers, live co-editing, and how many seats each plan carries. 1 min read Read Share a trip publicly A read-only link anyone can open, with your money and your maybes kept out of it. 1 min read Read Friends, messages and trip chat Follow people, message your mutuals, and drop live trips and places into the chat. 1 min read Read Mark spots and post moments Pin your own places at three visibility levels, and put your photos on the map. 1 min read Read Find free overnight spots For campers and vanlifers: use community spots to find, vet and share free places to sleep. 1 min read Read Put your food truck on the map A community spot with hours, a menu link and photos is a free storefront for anything on wheels. 1 min read Read

Scout AI

3 guides
Meet Scout A planning copilot that suggests real places near your plan and reshapes your schedule when you ask. 1 min read Read Make Scout yours Teach Scout your pace, diet, access needs and taste once, so every chat starts warm. 1 min read Read Get better answers from Scout Small changes in how you ask make big changes in what comes back. 1 min read Read

Travel Data

2 guides
Keep your travel documents in the vault discovery Bookings, insurance, loyalty numbers and files in one private place that can brief Scout. 1 min read Read File a flight claim discovery Turn a delayed or cancelled flight into a compensation letter the airline has to answer. 2 min read Read

Travel smarter

5 guides
Keep your money safe abroad Cards, cash, ATMs, and spending safely abroad. 2 min read Read Travel scams and how to spot them The classics, their tells, and the counters. Read once, keep your wallet twice. 2 min read Read Document your room before you unpack Two minutes of video at check-in beats any argument about damage you did not do. 1 min read Read When your flight goes wrong Delays, cancellations and bumps come with rights attached. Know them before the gate agent does. 1 min read Read Arrive like you live there A first-night checklist that turns landing-daze into a smooth first morning. 1 min read Read

National parks

23 guides
US national parks: how the whole system works Passes, timed entry, reservations and the booking calendar, explained once so every park trip gets easier. 6 min read Read Yellowstone National Park: a first visit that works Geysers, wildlife and the figure-eight loop road, plus how to see it without spending the week in traffic. 3 min read Read Yosemite National Park: valley, granite and the crowds question Half Dome, the waterfall season, Tioga Road and how to enjoy a valley that seven miles long takes four million visitors a year. 3 min read Read Grand Canyon National Park: which rim, and what to do there South Rim against North Rim, the sunrise and sunset spots, and an honest account of hiking below the rim. 3 min read Read Zion National Park: the shuttle, the Narrows and Angels Landing How the canyon shuttle works, what the permit lottery covers, and when to walk up a river instead. 3 min read Read Glacier National Park: Going-to-the-Sun Road and when it opens The one road that matters, its unpredictable opening date, and how to plan around a park that is snowbound most of the year. 3 min read Read Great Smoky Mountains: the busiest park, and how to lose the crowds Cades Cove, Clingmans Dome, autumn colour and why the most visited park in America still has empty trails. 2 min read Read Acadia National Park: Cadillac Mountain, carriage roads and lobster Sunrise reservations, the car-free carriage road network, and how to do coastal Maine in three days. 2 min read Read Rocky Mountain National Park: altitude, Trail Ridge and timed entry A park that starts where others end, plus how to handle 12,000 feet without ruining your first day. 3 min read Read Arches and Canyonlands: doing Moab properly Two parks, one town, extreme heat and a timed entry system. How to fit them together in three days. 3 min read Read Olympic National Park: three parks in one Rainforest, coastline and alpine ridge, none of which connect directly, and how to loop them without wasting days. 3 min read Read Joshua Tree National Park: two deserts, rocks and the night sky A weekend park within reach of Los Angeles, plus why the water situation deserves more respect than it gets. 3 min read Read Grand Teton National Park: the mountains next door to Yellowstone A compact park with the most abrupt skyline in America, and the natural partner to a Yellowstone trip. 2 min read Read Canada national parks: the Discovery Pass and how booking works Parks Canada explained: what the annual pass covers, when reservations open, and how the system differs from the US. 5 min read Read Banff National Park: lakes, shuttles and the crowd problem Moraine Lake access, the Icefields Parkway, and how to see the famous water without a four hour queue. 3 min read Read Jasper National Park: the quieter, wilder half of the Rockies Maligne Lake, the Columbia Icefield, dark skies and a park more than twice the size of Banff. 3 min read Read Yoho National Park: the best value hour of the Rockies Emerald Lake, Takakkaw Falls and the Lake O Hara lottery, in the park most people drive straight through. 2 min read Read Kootenay National Park: the drive-through park worth stopping in Radium Hot Springs, the Paint Pots and Marble Canyon along Highway 93, plus why it is the quietest of the four. 2 min read Read Waterton Lakes National Park: where the prairie hits the mountains A small Alberta park with an abrupt skyline, an international peace park and a fraction of Banff crowds. 2 min read Read Pacific Rim National Park Reserve: storms, surf and old growth Long Beach, Tofino and the West Coast Trail, plus why winter is a legitimate reason to come. 2 min read Read Gros Morne National Park: fjords and the Earth mantle Newfoundland at its most dramatic, where you can walk on rock from the planet interior. 3 min read Read Cape Breton Highlands: the Cabot Trail done properly One of the world great coastal drives, the Skyline Trail, and when the colour peaks in Nova Scotia. 3 min read Read Plan a park road trip that survives contact with the road Why park distances lie, how many nights each stop really needs, and the mistake almost every first itinerary makes. 3 min read Read

Camping and outdoors

8 guides
What to pack for a camping trip A full packing list grouped by system, plus the items people most often leave behind. 3 min read Read How to get a campsite in a popular park Recreation.gov, Parks Canada, booking windows and the cancellation trick that works when the first attempt fails. 3 min read Read Being safe in bear country Food storage, bear spray, what to do in an encounter, and which common warnings hold up. 3 min read Read Your first time camping: a night that goes well Pick an easy site, arrive in daylight, and the handful of decisions that separate a good first night from a last one. 3 min read Read Campervan and RV road trips: the practical bits Overnight parking, water and waste, height limits and driving a vehicle you are not used to. 3 min read Read Leave no trace, without the sanctimony Seven principles, why each one exists, and the two that people get wrong most often. 2 min read Read Backcountry permits, lotteries and quotas explained Why the best trails are rationed, how the draws work, and how to get a permit without winning anything. 2 min read Read Altitude, heat and choosing a hike you can finish How thin air and heat affect your body, and how to judge whether a trail is within your reach today. 3 min read Read

Road trips

6 guides
Driving the Trans-Canada Highway: route, timing and stops Planning a Trans-Canada road trip: how long 7,800 km really takes, where the highway earns its reputation, and the stretches to respect. 3 min read Read The Icefields Parkway: driving Banff to Jasper The 232 km drive between Lake Louise and Jasper: where to stop, how long it really takes, and the fuel and cell-service facts to know before you start. 3 min read Read A Canadian Maritimes road trip: Cabot Trail, Fundy and PEI Looping New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island by car: a route that works, tide timing for Fundy, and how the bridge and ferries fit together. 3 min read Read Pacific Coast Highway road trip: doing Highway 1 right San Francisco to LA on California Highway 1: which direction to drive, the Big Sur stops, and why checking Caltrans first is not optional. 2 min read Read New England fall foliage road trip: timing beats route Chasing peak colour through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine: when the leaves actually turn, the drives that deliver, and how to book around leaf season. 2 min read Read Driving across the USA: picking your coast-to-coast route The three classic cross-country corridors compared, what a coast-to-coast drive really costs in days, and the passes and bookings that matter. 2 min read Read

Getting around

5 guides
Winter driving in Canada: how trips survive the season Winter tires and where they are law, the kit that belongs in the trunk, and how to plan road days around storms instead of through them. 3 min read Read Crossing the Canada-US border by car, without the drama Documents for adults, kids and pets, what never crosses in either direction, and how NEXUS and the wait-time pages change the trip. 3 min read Read Seeing North America without a car Where trains, buses and ferries genuinely work in Canada and the US: the corridors to trust, the scenic long-hauls worth booking, and the gaps to plan around. 3 min read Read Renting a car and driving abroad: licences, insurance, nerve International driving permits, the insurance stack explained once, and the local rules (tolls, ZTLs, left-hand traffic) that catch first-timers. 3 min read Read Getting around a new city: transit, taxis and your feet The first-day system for any city on Earth: what to set up before landing, how to read a transit network fast, and when a taxi is the right answer. 3 min read Read

Canada by province

14 guides
Canada by province: taxes, roads, rules and parks The reference tables for travelling Canada: sales tax and hotel levies, road reports, winter tire law, fire bans, camping systems, alcohol rules and time zones, province by province. 7 min read Read British Columbia travel guide: roads, camping and the coast BC for travellers: winter tire law, DriveBC, ferry and park costs, Crown land camping, bear country rules, and the stops from Tofino to the Kootenays. 4 min read Read Alberta travel guide: Rockies, badlands and no sales tax Alberta for travellers: the 5 percent tax advantage, park and Kananaskis pass costs, random camping on public land, wildlife rules, and 511 Alberta for the passes. 4 min read Read Saskatchewan travel guide: living skies and empty parks Saskatchewan for travellers: the Highway Hotline, park entry permits and costs, no daylight saving, Grasslands' dark skies and bison, and why the flat reputation is a lie. 4 min read Read Manitoba travel guide: polar bears, lakes and The Forks Manitoba for travellers: what Churchill actually costs and when to go, Whiteshell and Riding Mountain, park vehicle permits, fire status and Manitoba 511. 4 min read Read Ontario travel guide: Niagara, Algonquin and Superior's shore Ontario for travellers: the 13 percent HST and hotel tax, the 407 toll trap, Crown land camping rights, park costs and booking windows, and Ontario 511. 4 min read Read Quebec travel guide: old cities, whales and the Sépaq Quebec for travellers: mandatory winter tires, the near-15 percent tax stack, the health billing exception that catches other Canadians, Sépaq parks and whale season. 4 min read Read New Brunswick travel guide: Fundy tides and the quiet province New Brunswick for travellers: planning around the world's highest tides, the daily burn category, ferries you pay for on the way back, the 15 percent HST, and 511 NB. 4 min read Read Nova Scotia travel guide: the Cabot Trail and the sea in everything Nova Scotia for travellers: the 14 percent HST, the daily BurnSafe map, ferry costs to Newfoundland and PEI, Cabot Trail timing, and Keji's dark skies. 4 min read Read Prince Edward Island travel guide: the gentle island, priced fairly PEI for travellers: the bridge toll you pay leaving, red-sand national park beaches, Green Gables, the lowest speed limit in Canada, and how short the season is. 4 min read Read Newfoundland and Labrador travel guide: the edge of the map Newfoundland for travellers: Marine Atlantic ferry strategy and cost, moose at dusk, icebergs in June, gravel-pit camping, and the run from Gros Morne to Signal Hill. 4 min read Read Yukon travel guide: the Klondike, Kluane and the midnight sun Yukon for travellers: 5 percent tax, the Alaska and Dempster highways, cheap government campgrounds, no clock changes, wildfire checks and Dawson City. 4 min read Read Northwest Territories travel guide: aurora capital, falls the size of legends NWT for travellers: Yellowknife's aurora odds and costs, free ferries and ice roads, Nahanni's Virginia Falls, bison on the highway, and the road to the Arctic Ocean. 5 min read Read Nunavut travel guide: Canada's far edge, reached on purpose Nunavut for travellers: how a territory with no highways works, realistic budgets, travelling with Inuit operators, Auyuittuq and the floe edge, and what safety means here. 5 min read Read

Your account

3 guides
Plans, billing and free months What each plan costs and includes, how to change or cancel it, and what changes if you stop paying. 6 min read Read Refer friends and earn free Pro How the invite link works, who gets a free month and when, and why a reward is sometimes withheld. 3 min read Read Export or delete your account Download everything Treader holds for you as one file, and how to delete the account for good. 2 min read Read