Are hiking trails obvious in Tajikistan?

[dude]

I'm generally pretty good at following trails and I like to keep my gear to a minimum.

I'm planning many treks in various areas of Tajikistan (only hiking and camping, not mountaineering or snow stuff).

I'm wondering if treks are generally obvious and easy to follow in Tajikistan or if taking a watch with gpx tracks loaded in it is worth it.

Thanks

[Christian77]

Expect zero signage. But this is the bigger problem: Imagine a valley with dozens of different trails beaten by cows, sheep, goats and donkeys. They have a different idea of what makes a good trek. You may end up following a perfect looking trail only for it to fade into dozens of smaller grazing tracks.

And then some are super obvious: one trail at the bottom of a narrow valley or along a small river.

It can vary. I would have GPS on hand to occasionally check your location (otherwise you may end up adding extra time for back-tracking and wandering about). I haven't met any lost trekkers in Tajikistan, but I definitely have in Kyrgyzstan. A smartphone with an offline map could have solved all of their problems.

[bamboo]

Expect zero signage. But this is the bigger problem: Imagine a valley with dozens of different trails beaten by cows, sheep, goats and donkeys. They have a different idea of what makes a good trek. You may end up following a perfect looking trail only for it to fade into dozens of smaller grazing tracks.

And then some are super obvious: one trail at the bottom of a narrow valley or along a small river.

It can vary. I would have GPS on hand to occasionally check your location (otherwise you may end up adding extra time for back-tracking and wandering about). I haven't met any lost trekkers in Tajikistan, but I definitely have in Kyrgyzstan. A smartphone with an offline map could have solved all of their problems.

What apps do you use to track the trail? Is there any paper maps?

[JanDeAlleman]

Trekarta (free) and OsmAnd (paid) are both great options for hiking.

There are plenty of paper maps of Central Asia, mostly made by the Soviet Army. See for example:
https://maps.vlasenko.net/soviet-milita ... p200k.html

But these might not have the latest trails shown on them, as they are at least 30 years old.

[Koen]

I used OsmAnd in kyrgystan and Tajikistan and it's worked very good.
It's has all tracks that are availeble. Also the option to show what you want, (shops, buildings, etc..) works good.

[Julia]

OsmAnd (need to pay for some features) or LocusMap (free) apps.