Route name:
This application lets you browse maps and create routes which you wish to explore and export them as GPX format files, ready to upload to your GPS.
But even if you've not got a GPS it's also just a great way of looking at maps; simply type the name of a place in the search box to jump to that location. Registered users can additionally zoom in to show Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 maps covering the whole of the UK.
You can scroll around the map by dragging it with your mouse. Alternatively use the relevant parts of the grey cross in the corner of the map. You can zoom and in and out using your mouse wheel or the plus and minus buttons.
To go to a particular location enter a postcode, a place name (which can be just about any name on a 1:50,000 map, not just a town name e.g. 'Ben Nevis' or 'Blackrock Cottage'), or the Ordnance Survey grid reference, including the two letter grid square code, into the box and press Enter.
If your browser supports it you can also enter 'here' and it will attempt to centre the map on your current location. The accuracy of this will vary from very good to fairly dismal depending on the geolocation data available.
If you click on a location on the map it will add a waypoint there. You will see its location shown in the "Your Route" box on the left hand side which appears once you start adding waypoints. Add more waypoints and they will joined by a blue line and the total distance will be shown at the bottom of the "Your Route" box.
You can move a waypoint you've already placed by dragging it.
You can insert a new waypoint between two existing waypoints by clicking marker midway between the two waypoints and dragging it to where you want the new waypoint to be.
You can delete a waypoint by right-clicking on it. Alternative you can click on the relevant "Delete" link in the waypoint list. So you can be sure you're deleting the right waypoint it changes colour when you hover over the link.
Similarly to name a waypoint enter its name in the waypoint list. Again so you can be sure you're naming the right waypoint it changes colour when you hover over the input box.
When you're ready to save your route then give it a name and then click on the "Download GPX file" link and the route will be sent to you as a GPX file. Most modern route planning software and GPSs understand GPX files.
Once you have two or more waypoints our server starts calculating statistics about your proposed route:
one hour for every five kilometres forward,which, expressed in metric units, is pretty close to William Naismith's original definition.
plus one minute for every ten metres of ascent
In addition we can display the height profile of your route if you click on the 'profile' link which will appear once you have entered two or more waypoints. This should give you so feel for the shape of the route you're creating. Remember that because the axes are scaled to fit the box the gradients are not to scale i.e. what may look like a gentle slope could be steep incline or vice versa. The gradients are only to scale relative to each other.
Although this is an application using Ordnance Survey data the latitude and longitude shown for the mouse use the WGS 84 datum not the OSGB 36 datum. There's an explanation of this difference on Wikipedia but the practical upshot is that the latitude and longitude can appear to be wrong compared to the latitude and longitude crosses shown on the 1:50,000 OS map but will be correct on your GPS (which will use WGS 84).
If you need help using the application then please ask on the Walkhighlands forums or look here for more help from Walkhighlands.
This application is part of the Walkhighlands website. Visit the homepage to search through over 1,000 detailed walking route descriptions, write about or draw your own routes, find thousands of places to stay and much more.
This software was written by The Hug using the OSGB Web Map Tools API. The software is not Open Source and may not be copied without permission.
This software uses Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2022 and Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2022. See the links on the bottom right corner of the maps for licence details and terms of use.
This site contain Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right, 2011, and footpath data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA, 2011.
These maps are available for reuse under the Creative Commons Share Alike licence. Attribution is requested (with links) to Walkhighlands, who did the work to make this tile set happen, OpenStreetMap contributors, and Ordnance Survey data under their OS OpenData programme.
Please note that, to enable the mapping to remain available to all users, any bulk or automated downloading of mapping tiles is strictly prohibited.
IMPORTANT NOTE: footpath data on these maps is crowd-sourced by OpenStreetMap; the indication of a path on these maps may not always exist on the ground, and is not evidence that there is any right of way. We accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies.
