Baseline Maps vs TroutRoutes: Which Fits Your Water?
Last updated: July 26, 2026 · Prices checked against vendor sites
The honest verdict
TroutRoutes, acquired by onX in 2024, is the deepest dedicated trout-stream atlas available — if your fishing is trout streams, it’s a serious tool at $39.99/year. Baseline Maps covers the whole water column of Western fishing — salmon, steelhead, trout, tides, ocean — plus hunting maps, first week free with a $34.99/year Professional Edition.
| Baseline Maps | TroutRoutes | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per year | Professional Edition $34.99 (or $7.99/month), first week free, every feature | Free (Basic) · $39.99 (PRO) |
| Ownership | Independent (Driftline Co.) | Part of onX (acquired 2024) |
| Focus | All moving water + coast + hunting | Trout streams |
| Live river flows | Real-time CFS, 1,300+ rivers, custom alerts | Stream conditions on PRO |
| Access points | Land ownership + public land layers | 350,000+ mapped access points (PRO) |
| Salmon / steelhead / coastal | Core coverage — tides, buoys, hatchery returns | Not the focus |
| Hunting | Included (11 Western states) | Not included |
| Offline maps | Yes (Professional Edition) | PRO |
Where TroutRoutes is stronger
- →Your fishing is specifically trout streams — their classified stream database and access-point mapping are unmatched in that niche.
- →You fish Midwest or Eastern trout water heavily, where their coverage is deepest.
Where Baseline Maps is stronger
- →You chase salmon, steelhead, or anything tidal — that water is Baseline’s core coverage and isn’t TroutRoutes’ focus.
- →Flow alerts drive your decisions: set your fishable CFS range per river and get a push when it hits.
- →You hunt too — one app covers both seasons.
Bottom line
Pick TroutRoutes: A dedicated trout-stream angler — especially east of the Rockies — gets real value from TroutRoutes PRO.
Pick Baseline Maps: A Western angler whose season spans rivers, tides, and hunting camp gets more app for slightly less money.
FAQ
- Is TroutRoutes owned by onX?
- Yes — onX acquired TroutRoutes in 2024, and the app is now part of the onX product family. It remains a separate subscription from onX Hunt.
- Does TroutRoutes cover salmon and steelhead water?
- Trout streams are its focus. For salmon, steelhead, tidewater, and ocean conditions — buoys, tides, bar reports — Baseline Maps covers that water as a core feature.
- Can I use my TroutRoutes waypoints in Baseline Maps?
- If you can export them as GPX or KML, yes — Baseline Maps imports both formats, keeping names and locations.
Try it for a week. Keep it for the season.
Professional Edition is $34.99/year with the first week free, or $7.99/month — one edition covers every mode and every state, no per-state buying. Waypoint import from onX, Gaia, and Google Earth takes about a minute.