If you spend time hiking, camping, hunting, or working outdoors, ticks are a risk you cannot afford to ignore. But knowing how much of a risk they pose in your specific area has always been harder than it should be. Federal reports are often a year or more out of date. Seasonal warnings are vague. And most online resources lump the entire country together as if a trail in Maine carries the same risk as a trail in Arizona.
That is why Trail Ready Solutions built the Tick Bite Tracker: a free, interactive tool that gives you state-by-state tick risk information in seconds.
What Is the Tick Bite Tracker?
The Tick Bite Tracker is an interactive U.S. map, available free on the Trail Ready Solutions website, that lets you click on any state and instantly see the tick situation in that region.
No searching through government databases. No reading through dense public health reports. Just click your state and get the information you need.
What You Will See When You Click Your State
When you select any state on the map, a detail panel opens with the following information:
Risk Level: Each state is color-coded with a risk rating of Very High, High, Moderate, or Lower, based on reported tick-borne disease case data and tick population density.
Tick Species Present: You will see which tick species are active in your state. This matters because different species carry different diseases. Knowing whether you are in Lone Star Tick territory versus Blacklegged Tick territory changes what symptoms you should watch for after a bite.
Diseases to Watch For: The panel lists the tick-borne illnesses associated with your state, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, and others.
Monthly Activity Calendar: Tick activity is not the same year-round. The calendar shows you which months carry the highest risk in your state so you can plan accordingly.
Reported Case Data: Real case counts from surveillance data give you a concrete sense of how active tick-borne illness is in your region.
Trail Tip: Each state includes a personalized tip based on the local tick environment, giving you practical, actionable advice for that specific area.
Where Does the Data Come From?
The Tick Bite Tracker is built on three fully public domain and openly licensed data sources:
- CDC National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS): Federal case count data for tick-borne illnesses, reported by state.
- NSF National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON): Tick abundance, species density, and pathogen status data collected from field sites across the United States, released under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.
- NOAA Climate Data: Seasonal and climate data used to contextualize tick activity patterns by region.
All three sources are either U.S. government public domain or openly licensed. There are no paywalls, no proprietary data, and no third-party trackers involved.
Who Should Use the Tick Bite Tracker?
The Tick Bite Tracker is designed for anyone who spends time outdoors, including:
- Hikers and backpackers planning trips in unfamiliar regions
- Hunters preparing for deer, turkey, or upland bird seasons
- Trail runners and mountain bikers who frequent wooded areas
- Parents whose children play in yards that border wooded or grassy areas
- Outdoor workers including forestry crews, surveyors, utility workers, and park rangers
- Pet owners who take dogs on trails or into fields
If you are going outside, this tool is for you.
Knowledge Prepares You. Your Kit Protects You.
The Tick Bite Tracker tells you what you are walking into. But no amount of awareness eliminates the possibility of a tick bite entirely. Ticks are small, their bites are painless, and even the most careful hiker can pick one up on a windy day when a questing tick blows onto their clothing.
When prevention is not enough, preparation is your only backup. The Trail Ready Solutions Tick Removal Kit gives you the professional-grade tools to remove a tick safely and completely, before it has the chance to transmit disease. Carry it every time you head out.
Check your state on the Tick Bite Tracker: https://trailreadysolutions.com/tick-bite-tracker/
Your Trail. Your Safety. Your Kit.