Best trail mapping resources. Planning offroad routes.

If you're anything like me, the best part of running is getting out in the fresh air, in the great outdoors and next to nature.

If you live in a town or any built up area, this can be hard.

For planning road routes, programs like google maps are perfectly fine, but how can you properly plan offroad routes?  How can you know which mud tracks are public footpaths and which are just made by the people who live there?  If you're not in the know, you could get into all kinds of trouble!

Today I will share a few tips on how to plan offroad routes and not get shot by farmers!

The key is using ordinance survey maps (OS maps) here in the UK as they are made in conjunction with local councils and list all the correct public rights of way.

Bikehike
www.bikehike.co.uk

This is my personal favourite.  Bikehike consists of two screens, one google satellite map, and another OS map.  The great thing is that if your mouse cursor is over the OS map, it will display its position in the google map too.  This is great for offroad paths because you can plot a route on the OS map, but it will also show up on the google map, so you can see if there is actually a physically worn path there, which makes navigation easier. 

You can also download routes you create as GPX, KML or TXC.

OS Getamap

http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/

This site is owned by Ordinance Survey and so is the most reassuredly up to date OS map available.  The reason I like this site is that you can zoom in further than any other OS map i have found whilst still keeping the public rights of way visible, and is really handy for when you need just a bit more detail to your paths.  You can create routes and download them in GPX and KML.

The Hug Maps

http://maps.the-hug.net/

The functionality of this site is very similar to both bikehike and osgetamap and for route planning purposes you would do perfectly fine with them.  The reason I like this site is for its large working area.  If I am doing an ultra, or any long race, I obviously carry a map, but instead of wrestling with a full size OS landranger type monstrosity, I can plot my route on here, take a screenshot, then print it out on a more conveniently sized sheet of A4, or smaller.  The best technique is to plan your route on bikehike or osgetamap, download the file as a GPX or KML, then upload it to this site for printing.

Google Street View on Google Earth

www.earth.google.co.uk/

I use this more as a reassurance tool when it comes to planning new offroad routes.  Sometimes, even though they are clear on OS maps, entrances to footpaths can become overgrown, in tumbled town walls, or even down farmers driveways.  What I do is simply create my route in bikehike, save it is a KML and upload into into google earth.  From google earth I can then zoom into street view, and check the essential points where my route goes from offroad track to road, then find where the next track entrance is.  This is very handy and gives you a little insight into your route before you physically go there.  It is perfect for picking out gaps in walls, public footpath signs and potentially, footpaths that have been forgotten about and might not be accessible.