onX Maps

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OnX Maps
Founded2009
HeadquartersMissoula, Montana
Number of employees
400
Websiteonxmaps.com

onX is a private American technology company that develops digital mapping applications for outdoor recreation. It was founded in Missoula, Montana in 2009 as a hardware company, developing chips that extended Garmin GPS devices with land ownership data for the purpose of hunting.[1] In 2013 it pivoted to the development of mobile applications,[citation needed] and in 2024 announced a $87 million dollar series-b from Summit Partners.[1]

Products

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onX develops four products: onX Hunt, onX Offroad, onX Backcountry, and onX Fish.

onX Hunt

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onX Hunt was onX's first application. While it has received praise for expanding access to outdoor recreation and raising awareness of landlocked public lands,[2] it has also received numerous criticisms regarding user privacy and the erasure of 'secret spots.'[1]

In 2023, the owners of Elk Mountain Ranch filed a lawsuit against four Wyoming corner crossers, alleging that their activities devalued the ranch by $7.75 million dollars.[3] As part of the lawsuit, the owners subpoenaed onX and discovered a point named 'Waypoint 6' on the property, and attempted to use the point as evidence of tresspassing. A spokesperson for onX stated that “One could drop a waypoint for any reason at all and one has not necessarily been to the places where he or she has dropped a waypoint.”[4]

When asked if it would consider selling the data users provide to the service, onX explained that it believes the users creating the points retain ownership of them.[1]

onX Backcountry

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onX Backcountry is a mapping application for backcountry ski touring, hiking, climbing, and mountain biking.[5]

In 2021, onX acquired the rock climbing database Mountain Project for its expansion into climbing. onX promised to continue operating the site without a paywall,[6] however later shut down its API and filed a DMCA takedown against competitor Open Beta, despite claiming in its terms that users own the data.[7][8]

onX Fish

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To develop onX Fish, onX purchased TroutRoutes.[9]

Access Initiatives

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onX has funded a number of environmental stewardship projects.

  • $5,000 microgrants for trail maintenance in collaboration with Toyota[10]
  • "secure[ing] or improve[ing] public access to 154,000 acres, and support[ing] the maintenance and building of 255 miles of trails"[11]
  • A program to enroll 10,000 acres of South Dakota land for walk-in access for $25 per acre.[12]

References

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