• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.382-391
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• 2019

This study was conducted to verify whether smartphone hiking apps, which generate social network data including location information, are useful tools for analyzing the use characteristics of a forest recreation area. For this purpose, the study identified the functions and service characteristics of smartphone hiking apps. Also, the use characteristics of the area of Daegwallyoung were analyzed, compared with the results of the field survey, and the applicability of hiking apps was reviewed. As a result, the service types of hiking apps were analyzed in terms of three categories: "information offering," "hiking record," and "information sharing." This study focused on an app that is one of the "hiking record" types with the greatest number of users. Analysis of the data from hiking apps and a field survey in the Daegwallyoung area showed that both hiking apps and the field survey can be used to identify the movement patterns, but hiking apps based on a global positioning system (GPS) are more efficient and objective tools for understanding the use patterns in a forest recreation area, as well as for extracting user-generated photos. Second, although it is advantageous to analyze the patterns objectively through the walking-speed data generated, field surveys and observation are needed as complements for understanding the types of activities in each space. The hiking apps are based on cellphone use and are specific to "hiking" use, so user bias can limit the usefulness of the data. It is significant that this research shows the applicability of hiking apps for analyzing the use patterns of forest recreation areas through the location-based social network data of app users who record their hiking information voluntarily.