Subaru, Chimani team up to bring national park travel guides to smartphones - Roadshow

If you've ever paid a bill online, you'd know that utility companies, banks and the like are all about "going paperless." Cutting down on mailed bills reduces waste, limits environmental impact and saves money. Going paperless isn't limited to industries that want your money, though, as evidenced by Subaru and its latest app.

Subaru is teaming up with outdoor-related app company Chimani to release a series of 59 apps. Each is its own travel guide for a separate US national park, providing users with all sorts of information, like park facilities, points of interest, hiking trails and more. The maps come down through GPS, so no cell service or Wi-Fi connection is required.

The automaker's role is more on the ancillary side, providing development support (read: money) and helping raise awareness for cutting down on waste in national parks. Moving paper guides to an app is definitely a great start, although I wouldn't recommend using your phone as a quick and easy replacement for a match. It's not a perfect replacement for paper.

All 59 apps are available on Apple's App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. Chimani also has apps for Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and all those other cool places you haven't yet been to. And if you do use this as a reason to head out to a national park for the first time, don't forget -- when you leave, make sure it looks the same as when you arrived.