About US Public Lands
The US Federal Government* owns nearly 650 million acres of land - almost 30 percent of the land area of the United States. These are lands that are held for all Americans. Up until now, there has been no quick & easy way...
The US Federal Government* owns nearly 650 million acres of land - almost 30 percent of the land area of the United States.
These are lands that are held for all Americans.
Up until now, there has been no quick & easy way to retrieve the boundaries of these properties without carrying physical maps, books, or slowly digging deep online.
Included in this app are on device (fully works offline), individually selectable & beautifully colored layers for most of the properties administered by the federal government:
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
- US Forest Service (FS)
- National Park Service (NPS)
- Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE)
- US Fish & Wildlife Service
- Bureau of Reclamation
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- Department of Defense (military bases & installations)
- Other (National Laboratories, Test Sites, etc...)
Key Benefits & Features
- Know which US agency owns and operates the land you're on or are heading to. Use the "Layers" icon to select which agencies you want displayed to create your own custom map. (Hint, the toggles are color coded to the color each layer is displayed in.)
- Links are provided to each agency's website within the app, so that you can further your research as to what land use rules apply for each public land type - such as permits, fees, activities allowed, and limits of stay.
- Map layers are stored on device - no internet connection required.
- Be sure to turn on the 'Basic' base map to see the US Public Land labels for each land area. This base map layer is also stored entirely on your device, and can be utilized if you do not have an internet connection or would like to conserve bandwidth.
- If you have an internet connection, you can utilize standard and satellite view maps as well as the base layer underneath the public land overlays.
- A boondocker's assistant - While US Public Lands is not specifically a camp site locator and does not have a database of specific sites, by turning on the satellite view map, you can better scout out trails, roads and signs of dispersed camping locations within the boundaries of the public land resources.
- Quickly toggle between 'Show' and 'Hide' via the "Map" icon to more clearly see satellite images below.
- If you have GPS access on your device, click the 'Locate Me' icon to show your present location - know what type of land you're on right now!
- Built in search tool locates anything on device maps supports (requires internet access) - including cities, states, zip codes, addresses and points of interest. A pin is dropped at the search location.
*The maps included in this app were generated from data provided by the Protected Area Database (PAD-US) of the U.S. Geological Survey* (https://www.usgs.gov/programs/gap-analysis-project/science/pad-us-data-overview). We would like to thank them for providing the public domain raw map data that we’ve been able to utilize to create this interactive overlayable mapping & navigation tool. We will update our maps in the future to stay in sync with improvements to this data set.
Two Steps Beyond is not affiliated with, and does not represent, the USGS or any other US Government Agency.
Please note, the USGS PAD-US database contains the “most up-to-date aggregation of Federal lands and waters” available, but this database is still evolving and some locations may not be listed and others may not have precisely accurate boundaries. Resolution across the nation may vary. And always remember - there may be private unmapped inholdings within any public lands - so always pay attention to local signage, indications, and information.
The US Public Lands app should only be used as an overview, and you should always confirm more precise details by consulting local field offices, administration websites, and other resources. Do not solely rely on this app for determining if you are on public or private land.
Previous Versions
Here you can find the changelog of US Public Lands since it was posted on our website on 2016-10-01 04:04:07.
The latest version is 2026.7.0 and it was updated on 2026-10-12 18:26:09. See below the changes in each version.
US Public Lands version 2026.7.0
Updated At: 2026-07-23
Changes: Removed legacy code, updated several core libraries and versions.
US Public Lands version 2026.3.0
Updated At: 2026-04-07
Changes: Maps updated to current PADUS 4.
Added feature to allow backup and restore of map pins.
Added feature to allow export of map pins.
US Public Lands version 2025.8
Updated At: 2025-08-26
Changes: Added support for Android 15.
Additional support for Dark Mode.
US Public Lands version 2024.7.1
Updated At: 2024-07-19
Changes: Updated to current version of PAD-US map data (4.0).
Corrected ACOE link that was broken.
US Public Lands version 2022.11
Updated At: 2022-11-28
Changes: Updated maps to reflect latest versions.
Removed some older dialogs.
US Public Lands version 2021.11
Updated At: 2021-11-08
Changes: Corrected an issue that would cause crashes on older versions of Android when editing Pin Data.
US Public Lands version 2021.5
Updated At: 2021-05-28
Changes: New to US Public Lands this year - we have greatly improved the ability to place and manage your own custom pins on the map!
Now you can add pins by using the search tool, by entering GPS coordinates, or by pressing and holding to drop a pin on the map. And the new pin manager lets you edit and name pins, and select which ones that you want to see displayed.
The Public Lands database powering the maps has also been updated with all the latest information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
US Public Lands version 2020.9.1
Updated At: 2020-09-19
Changes: Added a close button to the layers dialog to make intent more obvious.
Additional handling of potential errors returned from new Google Places search integration.
US Public Lands version 2020.9.0
Updated At: 2020-09-09
Changes: Rebuilt search feature to use newer Google Places, and Suggestions API.
Updated store listing and in-app information to clarify our relationship with the government agencies listed in the app.
US Public Lands version 2019.7
Updated At: 2019-07-08
Changes: This is the first update to US Public Lands in over four years, and the changes are huge!
+ Much more detailed & updated maps, using the all new Protected Area Database (PAD-US 2.0) of the U.S. Geological Survey!
+ Full support for all the latest devices and screen sizes.
+ Updated UI and Controls to make managing layers easier.
+ Overlay and map settings are saved between uses.
Disclaimer
Official Google Play Link
We do not host US Public Lands on our servers. We did not scan it for viruses, adware, spyware or other type of malware. This app is hosted by Google and passed their terms and conditions to be listed there. We recommend caution when installing it.
The Google Play link for US Public Lands is provided to you by apps112.com without any warranties, representations or guarantees of any kind, so access it at your own risk.
If you have questions regarding this particular app contact the publisher directly. For questions about the functionalities of apps112.com contact us.
