About Us

Getting people outside with innovative technology.

We're On a Mission

We created Transit & Trails in 2008 because we wanted to get outside for fun without driving cars. While developing it in partnership with the Bay Area Open Space Council — a coalition of most of the park agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area — we learned there was a need and a desire among local parks and recreation groups for better, more affordable technology.

In 2013, we decided to leverage all of our experience with technology and the outdoors to start Trailhead Labs. We've spent our time since continuing to learn, partner, and collaborate with outdoor groups all over to build innovative technology that engages people with the outdoors.

Open Data & Open Space

We are proud supporters of open source and open data, so it only makes sense to combine this with our passion for open space! We're working with groups like Code for America to build open standards for outdoor data.

We Should Talk

If you're an organization that wants to get more people outside, we can help. Check out our work and get in touch!

I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy."

Sylvia Plath

Our Work

A product and professional services.

We're somewhat unique in that we not only build a product, but we also provide outdoor technology-related services to government agencies, nonprofits, and companies.

OuterSpatial

OuterSpatial is our outdoor technology platform. It's designed specifically for organizations that steward open spaces and want to better engage with their visitors. The platform is made up of a content management system, an analytics engine, and a set of technologies organizations can use to publish their authoritative information to visitors via interactive maps and mobile apps.

If you're interested in learning more about OuterSpatial, head over to the website.

Professional Services

We also offer professional services, making over fifty years of domain experience and a rich history supporting the parks and recreation sector available to government agencies, nonprofits, and companies.

In 2017, Trailhead Labs joined the team that’s building the next generation of Recreation.gov, the gateway to discovering America's outdoors. Recreation.gov is the one-stop shop for trip planning, information sharing, and reservations — brought to you by twelve participating federal agencies.

Testimonials

Demonstrated success.

Trailhead Labs is a critical part of the core team rebuilding the federal government's Recreation.gov website. Their leadership in innovative outdoor mapping and technology has been invaluable in aggregating, cleaning, and publishing recreation geospatial data and rebuilding the mapping platform for the new system. Their extensive experience with the open source community, the outdoor industry, and the public sector has been a tremendous asset for this project. We are excited to partner with them for many years to come.

Will Healy, Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton and Project Lead for R1S, Recreation.gov