We built Hiker Safety Check-In because we love the trail — and we love the people waiting for you at home. This page explains how the feature works, where it depends on things we don't control (like cell coverage and battery life), and how to pair it with the outdoor habits that keep hikers safe. Please read it fully before you activate a session.
1. Purpose of Safety Check-In
Safety Check-In is a communication tool. Its job is simple: help you keep your emergency contacts informed while you're on the trail. When it's working as designed, it sends scheduled check-ins, shares your last known GPS location, and — if you trigger an SOS — pushes an urgent alert to the people you've chosen. It's meant to give you and your loved ones peace of mind, not to replace professional search-and-rescue services.
2. Limitations of Technology
Technology in the backcountry is humbling. Safety Check-In depends on your phone, your carrier, satellites, weather, terrain, and our upstream messaging providers all doing their jobs at the same moment. Any one of those can fail. We designed the feature to be resilient — retries, multiple channels, and escalation — but we can never promise 100% delivery in all conditions. Please treat Safety Check-In as one layer in your safety plan, not the whole plan.
3. Connectivity & Battery Risks
- Cell coverage: Many of the best trails have thin, patchy, or no coverage. If your phone can't reach a tower, check-ins can't be sent.
- Battery life: GPS, screen-on time, and cold weather drain batteries faster than usual. A dead phone can't check in. Carry a fully charged power bank and a cable that actually works.
- Weather & terrain: Storms, canyon walls, dense forest canopy, and heavy snow can all block signal.
- Airplane / low-power modes: These stop messages from going out. Double-check your phone settings before you start walking.
4. No Guarantee of Message Delivery
Email, SMS, and WhatsApp all travel through third-party networks we don't operate. Messages can be delayed, filtered as spam, throttled by carriers, or bounced by full inboxes. We log delivery attempts and surface failures where we can, but we cannot guarantee that any specific message will reach any specific contact at any specific time.
5. User Responsibilities
You are the expert on your own hike. Before you head out, please:
- Share your itinerary with someone who is not going with you.
- Carry the Ten Essentials, a map, and a way to navigate offline.
- Bring a fully charged power bank; know your phone's battery reality.
- For remote or high-consequence trips, carry a dedicated satellite communicator (e.g. Garmin inReach, ZOLEO, ACR PLB). Safety Check-In is not a substitute.
- Check weather, permits, closures, and trail conditions the morning of.
- Turn back when your gut says turn back. The trail will be there tomorrow.
6. Emergency Contact Expectations
Your emergency contacts are part of the system. Please make sure they:
- Know they're listed and have said yes.
- Understand what a missed check-in and an SOS mean, and what to do about each.
- Have the phone number for the local ranger station, park dispatch, or 911 equivalent for the area you're hiking.
- Can actually receive messages at the email and phone number you entered.
Send yourself and your contacts a test notification before your first real hike so everyone knows what to expect.
7. SOS and Escalation
The SOS button pushes an alert through every channel you've enabled — email, SMS, WhatsApp — with your last known location. It does not automatically contact 911, search-and-rescue, or any government agency. In a life-threatening emergency, dial your local emergency number first if you have any signal, and use a satellite communicator's SOS if you have one.
8. Liability Disclaimer
Hiking involves inherent risks — weather, terrain, wildlife, other people, and your own physical limits. By using Safety Check-In you acknowledge that you assume responsibility for your own safety and the decisions you make on the trail. To the fullest extent permitted by law, GoTravelHiking, its owners, employees, contractors, and service providers are not liable for injury, loss, damage, or death arising from your use of, or reliance on, Safety Check-In or any related feature. This tool is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind.
9. Changes to These Terms
We may update these terms as the product evolves. When we do, we'll refresh the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes may prompt you to review and re-acknowledge before starting your next session.
Questions?
We're a small team of hikers and we read every message. If anything here is unclear, reach out on our Contact page — we're happy to talk it through.
Related: Privacy Policy