Probably one of the most frustrating parts about off-roading is not knowing where you are heading. We have all become accustomed to the GPS in our cell phones or navigation in our truck, calmly telling us when and where to go. Off-road, however, is an entirely different story.

Our current struggle when taking GPS off-road

Trying to take any GPS out off-roading nowadays is like taking a go-kart to a short course race. Can it do what’s barely required? Well, yes. But we’d rather have something that can do the job right.

So it’s no small surprise that we heard about Magellan and its new technology made for adventure off the beaten path: the Off-Road Vehicle Navigation Platform. Magellan unveiled this new product at the recent TU-Automotive Detroit Trade Show, and is presently only making it available to automakers and power-sports manufactures.

Off-Road Vehicle Navigation is designed to give the user access to several unique features. One of the top features of this new platform is that it will have access to “the most comprehensive set of trail maps” mapped in all 50 states and across provinces of Canada, which come preloaded onto the hardware. Will it have every little trail around your house? Who knows–but it has the possibility to give you plenty of new places to go test out.

You will also be able to view 3D terrain and elevation lines, borders for national, state or provincial parks, service roads to and from these places, the location of scenic byways and even be able to provide your own trail information.

The key to this application is the tie in with social media and the ability to allow the users of this platform to leave comments, share pictures, and share posts to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from the Magellan ORV app that will be released on both Android and iOS.

This new technology will be something to keep a close eye on if you are into exploring the great unknown or at least what you think is the unknown. Will you be hankering to get your hands on it as soon as possible? Or would you rather abide by the tried and true methods of old?