You are here, and you want to get there. Use our Route Planner to find the best route for your trip, whether you're on a bike, on your own two feet, or even driving a vehicle. We’ll show you the way, the amount of climbing you’ll endure, and more.
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Download the Ride with GPS mobile app
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Create a Route
To get started with the route planner feature, click Route Planner at the top menu bar of the website.
Jump to a Location
Add to Route
Routing Mode
When you have Add to Route selected, you can choose your Routing Mode to best suit your activity. Our routing engine will use this setting to plan along the most appropriate roads, paths, and trails for your selected mode of transportation.
- Cycling - prioritize based on safety for cycling. Routes will use multi-use and bike paths, but may not be available in all areas.
- Walking - prioritize based on safety for walking. This routing will not be based on traffic laws such as one-way streets but will use multi-use paths.
- Driving - prioritize based on the shortest distance.
- Draw Lines - allows you to draw straight lines from point to point anywhere on the map, with no regard to existing roads or trails. Note that using the Draw Lines function will not build a cuesheet, so you'll want to use it sparingly.
Sometimes, if you get undesirable results, it can be helpful to change the Routing Mode. For example, Walking can sometimes allow you to route down trails that might not be selected by default in Cycling mode, and Driving can sometimes help plan road rides that stick to main thoroughfares.
Preferred Surface Type
When using the Cycling Routing Mode, click on the caret to switch between Paved or Unpaved to generate routes that favor a surface type preference when creating a route.
- Paved - stick to paved surfaces. This option will prioritize paved surfaces.
- Unpaved - stick to unpaved surfaces. This option will always stick to unpaved surfaces.
- Any Surface - the Route Planner will have no preference between paved or unpaved surfaces, optimizing for a cycling route first and foremost.
Draw Lines
We recommend using this tool sparingly because it does not generate cues or snap to roads.
Use Draw Lines to get your route line to go through a short area that doesn't seem to be mappable in our routing engine. Parking lots and unmarked streets aren't identified as routable infrastructure in our underlying map data, so this makes it necessary to add some of these connectors with the Draw Lines tool.
Control Points
The white dots, or control points, that appear along the route are used to "pin" the route line in place along your selected path. They constrain the route to a specific path so that when you drag the route, the rest of the route on the other side of the control point remains the same. You may find that adding or removing control points in strategic places will enable you to move or pin your route along your preferred route.
- Move a control point: click and drag.
- Add a control point: select the Control Point button and click on the desired place along the route line or right-click anywhere along your route, to pop up the Add Control Point option.
- Remove a control point: when using the Control Point tool, click on the existing control point or right-click on a control point to access the Remove Control Point option.
Avoid Control Point Issues
Missing or incorrect cues can be created by clicking inside an intersection. The Route Planner attempts to identify these inadvertent deviations from a planned route but to ensure you don't experience this, it's best to make sure to click before or after intersections along the road, path, or trail you are working with.
Cuesheet
A route's cuesheet provides turn-by-turn navigation in our app.
When you make changes to the route, the cues in the left side panel are updated automatically. See our guide on Cuesheets for more detailed information.
Cue tips:
- If your route has no cuesheet, and you want to navigate this route, see the Advanced Route Planning page to learn how to Trace a route and generate a cuesheet.
- Cues are generally not necessary if you are loading a route onto a GPS computer for navigation. Most mapping devices generate directions from their own navigation data. Check with your device's manufacturer for confirmation.
- Want to add personalized notes to your cuesheets? Check out Custom Cues on the Advanced Route Planning page.
Custom POI
Drag & Drop an Existing Route
If you're working with an existing route file, you can easily open it in the Route Planner by dragging it from your computer's file system. Simply click and drag, and voila! Compatible route file types include GPX, FIT, TCX, KML, and KMZ files. Premium users can also drag multiple routes into the planner to work with a number of different routes at once.
Map View Options
Change Map Type
Route Planner Settings
- Units: switch between imperial (ft/mi) or metric (m/km) distance units.
- Show Cue Icons: helpful for reviewing the route and the location of each cue.
- Auto Center: will cause the map to center on every click.
- Enable Scrollwheel Zoom: allows you to zoom with the scroll wheel on your mouse or zoom gesture on your trackpad.
- Enable Distance Markers: automatically places distance markers along the route.
- Show Custom POI: Show or hide all Points of Interest icons (if these are included on your route).
- Generate Cuesheet While Planning: we recommend keeping this enabled so that the cuesheet is automatically generated for use on a printed cuesheet and mobile app. If you disable this, your route will not be navigable in our app.
Heatmaps
Premium members can enable the Global Heatmap or Personal Heatmap to see where others travel frequently in the area, and where you have traveled before.
Street View
Drag the pegman icon onto a street to view a Google Street View image of the area that you drop into. This can be really helpful for understanding what kind of infrastructure you can expect to encounter on your trip.
To exit Street View, look for the back arrow at the bottom of the image.
Right-click Utility
Use our convenient right-click menu (two-finger click on MacBook) to access frequently used tools such as Undo actions, Add Control Points, Drop POI, adjust the Start of your Route, or dive straight into Street View for a firsthand look.
Route Tools
Route Tools allow you to make changes to your entire route or to a portion of it. For more information on all the available Route Tools check out the Advanced Route Planning page.
Out and Back
Want directions back to your start point on a single route? Plan the first half of the route then click Out and Back to automatically plan your return trip.
Reverse Route
Want to ride a route, but from finish to start? Use the Reverse Route tool to flip the direction of your route.
Change Color
Save Your Route
View Route
Become a Route Planning Pro
- Don't click inside intersections - always click just before or just beyond the intended turn to generate an accurate cue.
- Zoom in close enough to see side streets. This will help ensure that you follow your desired paths, and set control points in the correct location.
- Save your work often!