Cool Walk is a free iPhone app that plans walking routes along streets with more trees. Tell it how long you want to walk, and it finds a route that keeps you in the shade as much as it can.
- Free
- iPhone
- No account
- No ads or tracking
How it works
Pick a time, pick a route, go for a walk.
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1See the shade near you
The map colors every street by how much tree cover it has. Darker green means more shade.
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2Say how long
Choose a loop or a one-way walk, from 10 minutes to an hour. You can also drive 5 to 20 minutes to somewhere shadier and start there.
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3Compare the routes
You get a few routes to pick from. Each one shows how much of it is shaded, how far it is and how much it climbs.
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4Walk it
Cool Walk tells you each turn out loud, so you can keep your phone in your pocket.
In the app
What it looks like when you use it.
These are screen recordings from the app.
Finding a 20-minute loop
Tap Find a shady walk
, pick 20 minutes, and it comes back with three loops. Swipe between them to compare the shade on each one.
Making a turn
About 150 feet before a turn it says Coming up, turn right onto West 42nd Street.
When you reach the corner it says At the corner, turn right onto West 42nd Street.
This clip plays at double speed.
Where the shade numbers come from
Maps of real trees.
Cool Walk scores every street by how much shade its trees give, using tree canopy maps of the United States.
Shade moves during the day, so the scores do too. A street that's shady at 9 AM can be in full sun at 4 PM, and the routes you get change with it.
Buildings aren't counted. A street with no trees counts as sunny even when a building is shading it.
Details
The short answers.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing. There are no subscriptions or in-app purchases.
- Where does it work?
- Anywhere in the lower 48 states.
- What do you collect?
- Nothing. There's no account, no ads and no analytics. Your location and walks stay on your phone and in your own iCloud.
- Can I save walks?
- Yes. Save the routes you like and look back at past walks. They sync between your devices through iCloud.
- Can my phone stay locked?
- Yes. Directions keep coming with the screen off and the phone in your pocket.
- Anything else?
- Shade is an estimate. Keep an eye on traffic, weather and closed sidewalks like you normally would.