Fitness Route Planner

Thanks to London's new lock-down rules I can now only realistically leave my house for essential shopping or for exercise. To help pass the time, and in an attempt to lose a little weight, I have set myself a goal of walking 10 kilometres a day. To help me achieve this aim I want a route planner which can generate random 10k routes and which, when possible, will pick the most scenic routes.

The new Trail Router interactive map has therefore arrived just in time to support my new exercise regime. The map can help me plot new 10k routes every day which start and finish at my front door. To generate a new route with Trail Router you just need to enter a location into the map and pick the 'round trip' option. You can then enter the distance that you wish to walk, run, or cycle and Trail Router will map a route of your chosen length, which starts and finishes at your selected location.

One feature of the route finder which should appeal to cyclists, joggers and walkers is that the application tries to find scenic and car-free routes. The Trail Router routing algorithm prioritizes routes which go through parks, forests or by water, and avoids busy roads wherever possible. This means that you should be able to generate pleasant routes, away from the pollution and noise of street traffic. 

If you find that Trail Router has generated a route which you don't want or you have already completed you can use the way-point markers to change the route. Trail Router adds numbered markers to each generated route. You can drag these markers around the map to avoid certain locations or to force the router to create a route via a selected location. 

The Trail Router settings allow you to adjust the routing algorithm to preference more or less green areas and to preference more or less flat terrain. It also has options which allow you to avoid 'potentially unsafe roads' and 'avoid unlit streets'.