What is Quick Route and who is it designed for?

Quick Route is a free, fast web tool for gravel cyclists, mountain bikers, trail runners, and hikers who want to scout local trails and roads without the clutter and paywalls of heavy navigation apps. It instantly calculates total distance, elevation gain, slope gradient percentages, and terrain breakdown (paved vs. unpaved vs. singletrack vs. hike-a-bike).

How does Quick Route show terrain breakdown (paved vs unpaved vs singletrack)?

As you click or tap along trails, Quick Route queries high-resolution OpenStreetMap tags (highway, surface, tracktype, bicycle) to categorize every meter of your route into Paved Road, Unpaved / Gravel Doubletrack, Singletrack Trail, Dedicated Bike Path, or Hike-a-Bike. It displays a segmented multi-color bar along with exact distances and percentages for each surface type.

What does Hike-a-Bike mean in Quick Route?

Hike-a-Bike segments are trail sections where bicycles are prohibited (bicycle=no, dismount, or footway without bike designation) or physically impassable on wheels (such as outdoor stairs and steep boulder staircases). Quick Route flags these in vibrant Bloodstone Crimson so you know beforehand if you'll need to push your bike or avoid the trail.

Can I export GPX files from Quick Route?

Yes. Quick Route generates standard GPX 1.1 files with full latitude, longitude, and elevation data. You can download the GPX file directly to import into Garmin Edge, Wahoo ELEMNT, Hammerhead Karoo, Coros, Apple Watch, Strava, or Ride with GPS.

Why does Quick Route use a grayscale topographic map?

Standard outdoor maps are crowded with multi-colored forest fills, county boundaries, and highway badges that compete visually with your plotted route. Quick Route uses a clean grayscale topographic map with high-contrast elevation contour lines, allowing the vibrant Norse/Rune trail colors to pop vividly with zero distraction.

How do the elevation grade columns work?

Beneath the thick trail path line on the elevation chart, Quick Route draws vertical columns color-coded by slope gradient percentage: Glacial Cyan for descents ( 12%).

Quick Route — Free Trail Scout, Elevation Profile & Trail Surface Tracer

Legend

Trail Surface & Access

Singletrack / Dirt Trail

Gravel Road / Doubletrack

Paved Road / Street

Dedicated Bike Path

Hike-a-Bike (Foot Only / Steps)

Off-Trail (Straight Line)

Grade Columns (Slope %)

■ <0% ■ 0-3% ■ 3-6% ■ 6-9% ■ 9-12% ■ >12%

Elevation Contours (Gray)

✨ Click anywhere on the map to start tracing your trail route

Distance

0.0 mi

Climb

+0 ft

Max Grade

0.0%

Avg Grade

0.0%

Terrain Breakdown Ready to trace

Click on the map to begin route

📍 Tap or drag profile for exact grade & elevation

🎨 Norse / Rune Trail Color Theme

Rune Pine: Singletrack dirt trails and backcountry paths.

Sunstone Amber: Unpaved gravel roads, doubletrack, and forestry tracks.

Glacial Fjord: Paved roads, streets, and asphalt connectors.

Valkyrie Teal: Dedicated separated cycleways and bike paths.

Bloodstone Crimson: Hike-a-Bike (foot only, outdoor steps, or no bikes allowed).

Bifrost Violet: Manual straight line connector for unmapped trail gaps.

📊 Elevation Profile & Grade Columns

The elevation profile combines a thick path line with vertical columns underneath color-coded to the local slope gradient:

Glacial Cyan (<0%): Descents

Rune Pine (0-3%): Flat to gentle rolling

Sunstone Gold (3-6%): Mild climb

Hearth Ember (6-9%): Moderate climb

Bloodstone Crimson (9-12%): Steep pitch

Iron Maroon (>12%): Extreme wall

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Quick Route different from Strava or Ride with GPS?

Quick Route requires no account, loads in milliseconds, does not lock elevation or GPX export behind a subscription, and lets you route across both roads and trails simultaneously while telling you where bikes are legal and where you might hike-a-bike.

How does trail snapping work?

Quick Route connects to OpenStreetMap routing graphs. Clicking on any trail or road automatically calculates the optimal path between waypoints, preserving trail curvature and surface metadata.

How do I export GPX to my bike computer or watch?

Click the green GPX button in the bottom dock. A standard GPX 1.1 file will download immediately. You can upload it to Garmin Connect, Wahoo ELEMNT app, Hammerhead dashboard, Strava, or Apple Watch.

What does Straight Line mode do?

Sometimes trails have unmapped connectors, newly cut paths, or stream crossings. Straight Line mode lets you manually draw a direct segment between two points without snapping to roads.

⚠️ Disclaimer & Assumption of Risk

All current, updated, and future tools and route generators on The Instant represent personal hobby experiments created solely for fun, curiosity, and educational demonstration. Provided strictly on an "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS", and "AS AVAILABLE" basis without warranties of any kind.

Trail surfaces, access permissions, private property lines, bike legality, weather, and backcountry hazards change constantly. Following any route or using exported GPX files is strictly and entirely at your own risk. The site creator and contributors assume zero liability for any injury, accident, trespassing, navigational error, or damages.

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