Free route planner
Plan a running route
Draw a run, or get a loop from your door sized for today's session. See every hill before you get there, then send it to Moonstride or download the GPX. Free, with no account.
Tap the map to set your start.
- Steep down
- Down
- Flat
- 2–5%
- 5–8%
- 8%+
- Trails on the map
- 1
Draw it, or have it made
Tap your way round, or pick a run and a distance or time and get three loops from your door whose hills suit it. Routes follow paths, parks and trails, coloured by how steep they get.
- 2
Send it to your iPhone
On your iPhone, tap Open in Moonstride. On a computer, download the GPX and open it on your iPhone. Moonstride saves it as a route.
- 3
Run it
Race your best on it from the Guide tab, with a call before every climb and turn by turn directions.
The planner runs on free services kept going by the OpenStreetMap community, so to share them fairly each browser gets20 loop searches and 30 place searches a day. Drawing your own route has no limit.
Nothing you draw is saved by us. The points you tap go to BRouter to find the paths between them, and anything you search for goes to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim. Your route, and what you've searched for in the last week, are kept in this browser until you clear them. Heights come from satellite terrain data, which can count tall buildings and bridges as hills in a city centre, so check a climb you don't recognise on the ground. Maps © OpenStreetMapcontributors, served by OpenFreeMap.
What it does
A route planner made for runners
Most route planners are made for cycling or driving. This one plans for the run you're doing today.
A loop from your door
Pick a distance or a time and get three circular routes that start and finish where you are, without running back the way you came.
Hills that suit the run
Easy runs and tempo stay flat, long runs roll, and hill sessions find a proper climb to repeat.
Road, trail or both
Keep to pavements and roads, head for the trails and parks, or mix the two. Trails are marked on the map.
Every hill before you get there
The route is coloured by gradient, with an elevation profile, the total climb, the biggest climb, and a time that allows for every one.
Turn by turn, in your ear
Run somewhere new without stopping to check your phone. Moonstride calls every turn, by street name where it has signal, and tells you the way back if you go wrong.
Free, with no account
No sign-up, no email, no subscription. Your route stays in your browser until you clear it.
Questions
How do I plan a running route?
Search for a place or tap the map to set your start, then keep tapping to add points. The route follows paths and streets between them and shows the distance, climb and time as you go. Back to start closes the loop, and Out and back turns it around at your last point.
Can it make a running loop for me?
Yes. Choose Make me a loop, pick an easy, long, tempo or hill run and how far or how long you want to go, then Find loops. You get up to three circular routes from your start, each sized to your run and picked for hills that suit it and for not doubling back.
Is the route planner free?
Yes, and there's no account. It runs on free services kept going by the OpenStreetMap community, so each browser gets 20 loop searches and 30 place searches a day. Drawing your own route has no limit.
Can I plan a trail run?
Set Runs on to Trail and routes keep to footpaths, tracks and parks where there are any, and loops head for the nearest trails. The page shows how much of the route is on trails.
How do I get the route onto my phone or watch?
On an iPhone, tap Open in Moonstride and it's saved as a route, ready to run with directions and a call before every climb. Anywhere else, download the GPX: most running watches and apps can import one.
Can I get turn by turn directions while I run?
Yes, in Moonstride for iPhone. Open the route in the app and run it from the Guide tab: it calls each turn 150 metres ahead, by street name where it has signal, warns you before every climb, and if you take a wrong turn it says so and tells you the way back. Your music dips while it talks.
How far is my run?
Tap along the way you ran and the planner adds it up as you go, with the climb. Turn off Follow paths to draw straight lines across a field, a beach or round a track.
How accurate are the hills?
Heights come from satellite terrain data and are smoothed, so small bumps don't count as climbs. In a city centre it can read tall buildings and bridges as hills, so check a climb you don't recognise.
Does it work where I live?
Anywhere OpenStreetMap has mapped, which is almost everywhere people run.
Then run it
As your runs get longer, you outgrow the loops you know. Plan a new one here and Moonstride for iPhone talks you round it: every turn called before you reach it, a call before every climb, and the way back if you go wrong.
Ask for an invite