Maps of Tajikistan’s Mountains and Trails
Very short version: Download the “OsmAnd“ map app to your phone, and pay for the upgraded version (“OsmAnd Live,“ also referred to as “Annual All-Inclusive”).
Short version: This project edits the free and open source “Open Street Map” data, which is used, by varying degrees, by numerous map apps. We recommend to download the offline map app "OsmAnd" to your phone and download the offline map of Tajikistan. BUT… to get the features necessary to survive in the mountains, you need to upgrade the app with the "OsmAnd Live" upgrade (also referred to as “Annual All-Inclusive”). Other map apps are far less useful.
Download the OsmAnd map app.
Pay for the upgraded version.
Download Tajikistan
Download contour lines
Download hill shading
Set up automatic updates (I do daily; you’ll need it less often). Do a quick manual map update right before you leave for your trip.
If OsmAnd is too difficult to use, then you need to learn to adjust the manual settings for how the various map elements display (see comments below). For viewing a large area, I prefer “Russian/Soviet Topo Maps“ (Android only, for Russian speakers) Finally, if I’m exploring I like to use the Google Earth or Google Maps satellite view (but, while you still have internet, you need to zoom in and cache all the areas you plan on visiting). Apple Maps is also very useful for its detailed satellite/aerial view (but again, you need to cache an area while you still have internet).
If you are going on some of the more complex and difficult treks, you absolutely need to read the longer version below (including a discussion of paper maps). Many map apps have serious drawbacks.
Longer version: Map apps that can be used offline on your phone are mandatory, as you will have no internet data connection in the mountains. What you need is a map app that allows you to download a map of Tajikistan. Then, when in the mountains you will be able to see your position thanks to the freely-available satellite GPS signals. The ONLY map data that is both up-to-date and somewhat comprehensive for the mountainous regions of Tajikistan is Open Street Map data (which we comprehensively edit). Google, Apple, Bing and Yandex are useless in the mountains and remote regions of Tajikistan. So you need to use an app that relies on Open Street Map data.
You should not go to the mountains of Tajikistan without OsmAnd (available for both Android and iPhone). It's free, but you will need to pay for the upgraded version "OsmAnd Live." These upgraded versions of the app have unlimited map downloads, elevation/contour lines, and daily updates available. The free version is NOT UPDATED after you install it. We and others are regularly updating the Open Street Map data, and there may be a very important update in there (example: a valley may be closed by a mining company, a bridge may be destroyed or a new one built, a mountain guesthouse has been opened or closed, a river ford has been deemed very dangerous, etcetera). If you like to use topographic/contour lines that show elevation, then you will need the upgraded version of the app. Try to download the contour map of Tajikistan somewhere with good internet - it's almost 600MB in size (versus 30MB for the regular map).
Unfortunately, OsmAnd is not as clear as some other apps. Sometimes it is hard to easily make out and select features on the map. But it is necessary. Tip: Go to the “configure map” setting and then go to “Overlay map“ and and play with the transparency settings (try “underlay map“ as well). This will make the map easier to read when you are following a trail through the contour/topographic lines. But it will also make some places, notably stores and guesthouses, invisible if you push the transparency slider too far to one side. At the very least, experiment with the map app before you go to the mountains.
What about your favorite map app? Your favorite map app is likely far less useful in Tajikistan. Many map apps rely on amazing mountain map data made available by governments, private companies, organizations, volunteers and clubs. But this is only helpful in countries like Canada, US, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, etcetera. In Tajikistan, it has to be a map app that uses Open Street Map data. Does your map app use Open Street Map data? Check here for a list of Android and iPhone apps that use Open Street Map data. Scroll all the way to the bottom of each page, as the apps are listed in sub-categories (note added: after some investigation, it seems the list is selective and not comprehensive). Almost all of these apps are trying to sell upgrades and subscriptions, and you will likely have to pay to be able to download an offline map. Furthermore, many of the maps are very out of date in regards to Open Street Map data. Some of them are almost a year out of date, some of them don’t update at all after you instal them and many of them do not integrate all Open Street Map data, leaving out vital information (for example, some show just a trail line crossing a river, but leave out the label that reads "Early Summer Snow Bridge" or "Dangerous High Water Crossing"). Furthermore, some do not display the English map layer, nor do they transliterate names into the Latin alphabet. So perhaps you should, at a bare minimum, continue to use your favorite map app while also downloading OsmAnd to use at the same time.
Another serious problem with map apps that use Open Street Map data is that OsmAnd will show the trail quality, with seven different grades (for example, solid dotted line for good trails, far-spaced dots for bad trails and routes off-trail over open terrain), but non-OsmAnd maps just show the same style of line every time, and they don’t distinguish between clear, high-quality trails and trails that are so bad as to barely exist (or not exist, in the case of routes over open terrain).
One of the worst problems of non-OsmAnd map apps is that they take Open Street Map data on rivers and streams, but unlike OsmAnd many of them do not differentiate between a stream and an intermittent stream. In OsmAnd, an intermittent stream is not a solid blue line, but rather a dotted blue line. Other map apps don’t make a distinction, and show only solid blue lines. In drier areas this can give you the false impression that you can find water, when it is usually during the trekking season that these intermittent streams go dry.
My strongest dislike for map apps that are not OsmAnd are the fact that they do not show ‘farmyards‘, a category that includes shepherd camps, corrals, and overnight stops for livestock. One bad interaction with shepherd guardian dogs and you will very much want to know exactly where these ‘farmyard‘ locations are (nor just due to fear of dogs, but also to know if you are drinking water right downstream from a large shepherd camp.)
There are some useful supplementary map options that I have on my phone: The most well known is MAPS.ME, but unfortunately it has been purchased by a payment processing company and they have ruined it (super invasive, changed format that nobody likes, focus on payments, not on mapping etc.) So we suggest the “fork” app: Organic Maps. Updated about every two months from Open Street Map data, the free app has a free download of Tajikistan that is only 30MB in size. However, it does not show all the natural features that Open Street Map data has to offer and the topographic/contour lines are in 500-meter increments, with 50 meters being the bare minimum to be useful to a trekker. However, it is useful for the city and for navigating between cities and towns on the main roads. It is quick, clean and easy to read.
I also use the paid Android app known as "Russian Topo Maps Pro." It's a beautiful old-fashioned color map created by the Soviet government. It really shows well all the natural features. It gives you a good visual sense of the area you are in. Unfortunately, it's not in English and the map info is out of date by decades (see comments below on the paper maps version). If I'm exploring or unsure about a river crossing or a pass, I use Google Earth, Google Map satellite view or Apple Maps aerial/satellite view (I zoom in on the areas I plan on visiting, and my phone caches them for long enough to use in the short term offline). This gives me a look at the terrain to supplement the contour map view on my other map.
Name changes. The Tajik government loves handing out new names. Place names are always in flux. In the past this was only in regards to towns and villages. But in 2023 they did a massive sweep of natural features. Read here for more info.
Can I use a paper map? Sure, this will help save your phone battery. And paper maps are useful for longer trips - all the Russian trekking/climbing expeditions use them (but they actually have an assigned navigator on the team who is highly skilled). However, the details will be at a very large scale. My favorite for viewing the region at large is the 1:500,000 scale paper maps compiled by Markus Hauser (also available on Amazon: UK, USA, Canada, Germany, etc.). Another option at a scale more suitable for trekking is to print out the old Soviet Military General Staff maps that are available in scales down to 1:50,000 in some areas. Archa Foundation in Dushanbe can print them for you for a fee, or you can scour the Russian internet for a file and then have it printed at a printer who can print odd sizes/ratios - not a chore for a low quality street-side printing service in Dushanbe. But you will then have to (a) be able to read the Russian alphabet, and (b) make your own annotations on the map, because they are out of date by 40 to 120 years, depending on the map section. Physical geography doesn't change much (except for the shrinking glaciers), but the old maps may have bridges, trails and villages listed that no longer exist. And you will have to carefully draw your route onto the map. We use the paid service CalTopo to print maps (CalTopo uses Open Street Map data), but there are other services available. But there is a limit for long-distance hikes. You may end up with 1kg of paper in your bag…
What about GPS tracks? This project is about permanently editing maps. If you want GPS tracks, search online on the various GPS-uploading websites (which have, as of mid-2020, very few tracks for Tajikistan). Or try the Archa Foundation's GPS library.
What about my battery life? What I do is carry an external battery pack to charge my phone (I do not use a mini solar power charger due to reliability issues). But I still try to conserve battery as much as I can. All phones have a low-energy or battery-saving setting. Turn it on. And quit the app when you are not using it, as running GPS in the background runs down your battery. And maybe turn off your phone overnight. Also, try to memorize or write down on paper the sections ahead of time (example: "stay on this side of the river for 5km, then cross over footbridge, go 3km up the opposite side of the river until the shepherd's camp"). You don't need to stare at your phone screen all day long, but check your position occasionally to make sure you haven't taken a wrong turn and followed a sheep trail to nowhere.
Also, don’t expect every mountain guesthouse to have reliable electricity overnight.
Final piece of advice: Force every person on your team to download the map apps and an offline map of Tajikistan. Try to imagine what happens if you drop your phone in a river or down a ravine. You may need a back-up.