Getting off the beaten track into B.C.'s wilderness can be a challenge when you don't know the terrain.

Anyone who has hiked, biked or driven B.C.'s back roads knows the drill. You get half-way down a trail and it ends in a dense, green impassable thicket or it turns into a nightmare of ruts and potholes.

If these scenarios sound familiar, you might want to follow the business of a Coquitlam technology company that's hoping to revolutionize the province's tourism industry.

A couple of Coquitlam computer engineers, Steve Chapman and Steve Graham, have developed a software system to create virtual guidebooks that take the guesswork out of trip planning.

The company is called Virtual Outdoor Adventures and already it has caught the attention of Dragons' Den producers who gave the entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their business plan to the show's group of business moguls.

Chapman says he can't divulge the details of the CBC-TV venture and whether he got any investment capital, but the fact that his business was selected for the show from 4,000 hopefuls is a promising sign.

"It was an intense experience," is how Chapman describes the morning taping on May 23.

Chapman, his wife Jackie, and Steve Graham were pretty confident going in. They'd already impressed a group of producers, hikers themselves who could see the value of a $20 DVD-ROM that would enable them to plan a safe and enjoyable route that they could print out and take with them or download to an IPOD or Blackberry. But nervousness got the better of them. In their anxiety, the trio misplaced several of their props only to find them later in some obvious places — their pant pockets, for example.

"We kept losing these things and we spent a lot of time looking for them," Chapman recalled.

But such mishaps are commonplace on the road to success.

The group is now forging ahead on several fronts. An internet site, www.virtualoutdooradventures.com, showcases the company's product line and Chapman says he's looking at additional ways to utilize the software he and Graham developed last year.

"We've created a software platform that pretty much any trip can be superimposed upon. People can create data and we can create new products using the same software. That's where the real value is.

"We want to set ourselves up as a digital publisher. I employ the services of third party authors, who collect data. We can create the product from that," he continued.

The company's first venture was a digital guide of the Kettle Valley Railway from Myra Station to Penticton, an 80 km ride, with access points, descriptions and photographs. A similar guide is planned for Indian Arm that will include hiking trails and kayaking routes, and Chapman said he's developing another series covering hikes in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley with local hiking enthusiast and Trails B.C. director Leon Lebrun.

For those with more urban tastes, Virtual Outdoor Adventures offers City Explorer: Vancouver and Stanley Park, a resource for walkers and cyclists who can use the DVD-ROM to explore downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park as if they were actually there. The detailed interactive map includes hundreds of “hotspots” used to show trail junctions, viewpoints, tourist attractions, restaurants, accommodations and other amenities.

One day Chapman plans to approach businesses interested in having their hotel or restaurant included in the guide. Currently he is marketing the software to cities and resort owners.

The recession has slowed some of his development plans. But there is a silver lining. He now has time to collect more data and photos for the virtual guides.

"When things do open up, we'll be ready to rock, so to speak. We're only scratching the surface," said Chapman, who took Douglas College's self-employment program last year to plan his business.

He hopes that the virtual guides will help hikers and cyclists avoid messes like the one he was in last summer when his Jeep Liberty got stuck on the road to Chute Lake.

According to Chapman, his wife nearly exploded when the car got stuck and nearly came apart. She told him: "You're going to go back and you're going to get a proper job," he said.

They survived and he made a note about the poor road conditions on his Kettle Valley virtual guide so others don't get in the same predicament.

It's why his virtual guides are a sensible way to plan a trip. "You can avoid trouble," Chapman says.

• For more information, visit www.virtualoutdooradventures.com. The DVD-ROM guides are available at some Chapter's stores.