Hiking is part of everyday life for UH Mānoa students — whether it’s Manoa Falls, Koko Head, Makapuʻu Lighthouse, or west-side ridge hikes.
However, students (especially newcomers) often face these issues:
This leads to students skipping hikes, hiking alone unsafely, or picking trails beyond their ability.
Trail Buddy UH is a web app that helps UH students safely explore Hawaiʻi’s trails. It connects students with hiking partners, filters hikes by difficulty, and provides safety tips based on real conditions.
Special Sauce: Hiking-fitness profile + real-time safety and partner-matching for UH students only.
Written & proposed by: Preston Woo
| Feature | Description |
|—|—|
Filters | Difficulty, location, length, incline, mud factor
Trail info | Route map, photos, parking info
Status | Weather & closure indicator
Student Notes | Reviews, safety tips
(You will include this as an image in your actual submission — a simple drawing or Figma screenshot works)
Wants to start hiking but doesn’t know safe trails
- Creates a profile
- Selects beginner trails
- Matches with other beginners
- Reads safety notes & waterfall weather warnings
Wants a partner for the ridge challenge
- Filters for intermediate/advanced hikes
- Matches based on pace
- Posts a partner request
Student checks trail status before leaving dorms
- App shows “Slippery + Flash Flood risk”
- Suggests alternative hikes
Future features we would explore include:
These features help make hiking at UH safer, social, and more motivating.
ChatGPT used for grammar/formatting and generating ideas for the Badge system