Draw and edit a route

Place points, follow trails, and check the elevation profile.

A route is a line you plan to follow. Open Saved in Explore and tap Draw a Route to tap one out point by point, or Plan a Route to pick a start and an end and choose from routes along the trails between them.

The planner doesn't plan along a trail the map data marks closed or private. When one is the only way between your start and end, the planner says so instead of listing routes.

On glassing.app, a start that's a town or a street address, or anything more than 36 km (22 miles) from your end, is where you drive from. The planner lists the trailheads toward your end with the drive to each, then plans the walk from the one you choose, with the drive's time and length above the routes. When a road goes all the way to your end, the planner shows that drive instead of trailheads. Drive times assume no traffic and read today's gates and seasonal road closures. Glassing keeps that start in your browser, never in your account, and uses it for Route to here and for the drive time on a place's page. Clear the start field to forget it.

To see how far a place is by road without planning a hike, tap it and choose Drive time, then pick a town or street address. The place's page shows the drive time and miles from there, and where you'd park when the place is off the road. Glassing keeps that start too, so the next place you tap shows its drive right away. Choose Drive time again to drive from somewhere else. Choose Directions under the drive to see it on the map with each turn; point at a turn to find it on the drive, or click it to zoom to it. The planner shows the same Directions above the routes, and under the drive when a road goes all the way to your end.

When the planner finds more than one route, tap one to see it on the map, then tap Use this route. All routes takes you back to the list.

In the planner, Edit route opens the chosen route here so you can change it. Cancel takes you back to the planner with your start, end and routes as you left them.

Draw the line

Tap the map to add points. Each point extends the route. You can also start a route by holding two fingers still on the map; Glassing places a point under each finger.

The magnet makes new sections follow nearby trails. Turn it off to draw straight sections. Changing the magnet affects the next points you add, not sections already drawn.

A point off the trail is joined to the trail by a straight walk. That walk goes around lakes, cliffs, and other people's land where the map has parcels, so a walk from a house leaves by its own street. A section stays straight when walking straight is quicker, or when no trail connects its points. A straight line is not a checked path.

Change a point

Drag a point to move it. With the magnet on, a dragged point sticks to a trail within a thumb's width, the same as a tap. The first and last points go exactly where you drop them, so you can set the start at your car or the end at camp. Tap a point to select it, then tap the map to insert another point after it. Delete point removes the selected point. Undo reverses the last edit.

Check and save

The panel above the bar shows the route's distance, ascent, descent, and time as you draw. Pull it up to see the elevation profile. Tap Done once the route has at least two points. Review the profile, add a name or notes, and tap Save. Planning and drawing a route are free; saving a new one needs a subscription, and editing a route you already saved stays free.

Drag across the elevation profile to mark the corresponding spot on the map. Gaps in the profile mean terrain data is missing on this device. Download a map covering the route to get its terrain.

Edit or follow a saved route

Tap the route on the map or open it from Saved. Edit route returns to its points. You can also change its name, color, notes, and trip from its panel.

Tap the navigation arrow to follow the route. You can follow a recorded track too, but a track cannot be converted into an editable route.

Closures and fires

A planned route that runs into closed ground, or along a closed road or trail, says Crosses a closure on its row and on the chosen route, and a saved one says so on its panel. A route through an active fire says Crosses an active fire. The planner doesn't route around either, so check the order on the map before you go. Staying on a trail the order leaves open, such as the Pacific Crest Trail through the Bull Run watershed, isn't a crossing, on a planned route or a saved one. A saved route's trails are recognized from the trail network on your phone, so where you haven't downloaded the area, a route on an open trail still says it crosses.

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