Imagine a world without cellphones. I know, it's hard to do. Most of us would rather lose a limb than our iPhone.

So when the locals say, flat out, "Your cellphone won't work up here," some travelers might get a little queasy. Some might not believe it ("my smartphone is smart enough.") A few might begin canceling reservations at the "up here" destination.

But there are cell dead zones — whole swaths of land right here in America, where you'll be incommunicado — at least via cell. We're losing this kind of habitat at an alarming rate. There may come a time when the only way to experience the cell-free past is a special attraction. "Honey, kids, get in the car. We're going to Land Line World."

Last month, I was in just such a last frontier, in the Adirondack North Country. Arriving at Garnet Hill Lodge in North Creek, N.Y., just after nightfall, the innkeeper showed me around, pointing to the game room where, on a table in one corner, I would find the one working phone for guests.

It was a boxy, olive green model, and just lifting the handset could build up your triceps. It had pushbuttons. The anti-smartphone.

My call went through immediately. My editor's voice, more than 200 miles away, was clear. This was no doubt a phone that would let you finish a sentence, a conversation. This was ... a smartphone.

The next morning, I had a 10 a.m. appointment for a tour at Wild Walk, the newest attraction at the Wild Center natural history museum in Tupper Lake. On my way out, I asked the innkeeper how long it would take to get there; she estimated a little more than an hour, and offered to draw me a map. I told her I didn't need them. I get directions from my cellphone's GPS.

You know where this is going, right?

I typed Tupper Lake in as my destination on the Google Maps app, and hit "go." Watched as the little animated arrow went around and around until finally informing me there was "No connection available." Oh, OK. I drove some more, away from the densely forested mountainside and toward houses, paved two-lane roads, pickup trucks. No matter. No connection.

Connection to what? Wi-Fi? I was in my car, not a Starbucks. Didn't this thing have GPS, a system so accurate and so reliable backpackers used it in the backest of backcountries? Hadn't I heard that Google Maps knew where I was all the time everywhere?

Yes, my smartphone had GPS, but unlike the dedicated GPS devices from Garmin and TomTom, smartphones also need a data connection to be able to download maps and all the other location-specific information most mobile travelers expect today. No cell service, no route-planning.

Which meant that at the T-intersection with the main road, I had no idea which way to turn. Left or right? Which direction would I be heading then, north or west or what? Did it matter? I wasn't really sure where I was now in relation to Tupper Lake.

The road system "up here," like the Adirondack wilderness itself, was for the prepared. Without it, well, you're lost.

I was bereft of information, and it was my phone's fault. I'd gotten so dependent on my phone's navigation capabilities, I no longer prepared. I had no Plan B. Once upon a time, during the Unplugged Navigation era, I had maps in my car. But since I'd never been able to read actual maps in those dark, Unplugged Navigation days, I was more than happy to retire then to some dark attic space.

Not being able to talk incessantly on my phone wasn't a problem. Not being able to navigate with my phone was a nightmare.

Apparently I am not alone in this realization. A recent Pew Research Center report on Americans' use of smartphones found that 67 percent of owners use them at least occasionally for navigation — among 18- to 29-year-olds, that number is 80 percent. And the most-cited problem they encounter when they don't have their phone (or, ahem, it's not working) is not being able to navigate from one point to another.

The digital age in navigation may also be changing our brains and behavior, according to some researchers. Trip planning today is a far cry from what it was back in the days when your father really had that Oldsmobile. Back then, people used landmarks — they planned routes based on a series of big landmarks, and when they traveled, they checked their progress, and that they were on the right course, by watching out for features they knew they would see along the way.

Today, a program does the planning; we just follow the instructions on the little LED display — or the robot-lady voice who reads them out loud. In Google Maps we trust; no need to keep a lookout for validating landmarks. All this has led to general passivity behind the wheel. In one study this year, people were asked to recall various aspects of their surroundings: participants using GPS navigation performed 20 percent worse than their paper-map peers.

Well, I wasn't following any GPS instructions at that T-intersection. I was instead scanning the details of my surroundings, looking for anything that could give me a navigational clue.

I found not something, but someone. I pulled off near a whitewater adventure outfitter shop, where a woman was sitting at a little table out front reading the paper. Two little mutts romped in the dusty lot besides the building, and came trotting over to escort me to the woman. I asked for directions.

She didn't have a cellphone, but she did have Wi-Fi, and brought out her laptop, got directions from Google Maps, and wrote them out for me on a piece of lined paper. In pencil. Handwriting, remember?

Back in my car, I removed the smartphone from its holder, and slammed it into the darkness of the glove compartment.

I put the directions in the passenger seat.

No display glare. No canned female voice mispronouncing basic words. No snarky "recalculating" notifications when I made a wrong turn.

I got to the Wild Walk just fine.

On the way home, I decided I need to get smarter about this digital navigation thing. Was there a way to make sure I could have access to turn-by-turn directions no matter where I was — and especially in remote areas? Or here, in upstate New York?

Or would I need to dig out those old maps from the attic?

There are a variety of options available — and new apps and gadgets come out every day. The most helpful are those that capitalize on the GPS capability already installed on your phone. As far as a device capable of providing maps, directions and all that other information travelers demand, wherever they may be, though ... we're not there yet.

But we're getting close.

PLAN B FOR NAVIGATINGNavigation on the fly is one of the most popular uses for smartphones these days. It's fast, accurate and provides points of interest along the way. So you've become a fan. You've become sort of dependent, even. Then just when you need it most, it's abandoned you in that place known as the no signal zone. If you've been there, done that and would rather not go there again, you have some options to consider.

If you are willing to buy yet another gadget, a dedicated GPS device is one good choice. In a June poll, the mobile-tech site wirecutter.com found that most readers who bought one did so specifically because they worked in cellular dead zones. GPS devices use a receiver to pick up signals from a network of 24 satellites. It needs a minimum of three signals to triangulate its (your car's) location — with more signals it gets more accurate.

GPS devices have also gotten more useful, and cheaper. For instance, the Garmin Nuvi 2539LMT — wirecutter.com's top pick this year — costs $200 and is exceptionally easy to read, accurate, and includes additional information drivers will find useful: trip data, street names, points-of-interest, etc.

If two navigation devices is just one too many, you can add some Plan B backup right onto your smartphone.

OFFLINE MAPSMany leading navigation apps, like Waze, Apple Maps and Google Maps, let you (or even require you to) download maps for offline use. Most have significant drawbacks, though. Google Maps, for example, are limited in size and travel information, and the offline maps need a cell signal to do most key functions, such as searching, navigation and map layers. Google Maps limits you to six map downloads, then you have to start paying.

MAPS ON GPSSome navigation apps offer interfaces for offline maps and your phone's GPS system that allow for actual directions. Most have drawbacks. Here are some of the most popular apps.

Sygic GPS Navigation (sygic.com): The world map is $50 (but promotions are common); it's not the most expensive in this category. And though not entirely user friendly, it will provide turn-by-turn directions. You can't ask for something generic like "hotels" — and you need to enter a physical address into a time-consuming format. Searching is slow, and routes may not be 100 percent reliable.

CoPilot (copilotgps.com/us/personal): A capable GPS-based app, it comes in basic (free to download) and premium formats. The basic doesn't come with much — you will have to pay $9.99 for turn-by-turn directions, for instance, ditto for live traffic information, etc. The premium version costs $9.99 and comes with full navigation, including voice guidance and a one-year subscription to ActiveTraffic. Both versions come with one map (U.S., Europe, etc.); additional map downloads start at $24.99. Some reviewers say the search engine is clunky and slow, but the developers are continuously improving performance.

Other popular apps include Scout (some users have reported unreliable and outdated routes) and NaviGon (expensive to buy, and then requiring additional purchases).

CROWD SOURCED NAVIGATIONWhile Waze is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app, it won't work without a cell signal. Most of its 50 million users won't notice because they're using it in or near cities.

Enter OsmAnd (osmand.net), which may turn out to be the breakthrough app for navigation sans cell service. OsmAnd (it stands for OSM Automated Navigation Directions) is a map and navigation application with access to the free, worldwide and high-quality OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. All map data can be stored on your device's memory card for offline use. Then via your device's GPS, OsmAnd offers routing, with optical and voice guidance, for car, bike and pedestrian. All the main functionalities work both online and offline — no cell service required. OsmAnd plus is the paid application version ($8).

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