Create a
GPX Route.
Planning your own route means you decide where the day goes. Here's how to turn a few points on a map into a GPX file with real distance and elevation numbers, ready for your phone or GPS.
TrailX Guides · Updated
Planned routes vs recorded tracks
There are two ways to end up with a GPX file: record one by moving with a GPS, or plan one on a map before you go. A planned route has no timestamps, because nobody has travelled it yet, but it does have a precise line, and with a good planner, elevation for every point. That's all a navigation app needs to show you where to go and how much climbing is left.
Good route planners do the tedious part for you. Instead of clicking hundreds of points along every bend, you place a handful of waypoints and a routing engine follows the path, track or road network between them.
Step by step with the TrailX Composer
The TrailX Composer is a browser-based route planner built for trails, gravel and off-road tracks as well as roads.
- 1
Open the TrailX Composer
Go to the TrailX Composer. The map opens ready for you to place points.
- 2
Set your start point
Search for a place name, use your current location, or click anywhere on the map to drop the first waypoint.
- 3
Add waypoints
Click the map or use Add Waypoint to add via points and the finish. Drag markers to fine-tune where the route must pass.
- 4
Choose a terrain profile
Pick Hiking, Cycling, Off-Road or On-Road so the route follows paths and tracks suited to how you travel.
- 5
Generate the route
Click Generate. TrailX routes between your waypoints and shows distance, estimated time, ascent, descent and an elevation profile.
- 6
Export the GPX
Sign in and click Download GPX Data to save the route as a GPX 1.1 track with elevation and your waypoints.
Choosing the right terrain profile
The profile tells the routing engine which kinds of ways it may use and how to weigh them. Picking the wrong one is the most common reason a planned route looks strange.
| Profile | Routes along | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Hiking | Footpaths and trails | Day hikes, treks, trail running |
| Cycling | Mountain-bike trails and unpaved roads | MTB and gravel rides |
| Off-Road | Rugged tracks suitable for heavy vehicles | 4x4 and overland routes |
| On-Road | The standard road network | Road trips and access drives |
The exported GPX records the profile as the trail type (Hiking, Cycling, Off-Road or On-Road), so it stays with the file.
Check the plan before you export
Numbers on a screen are cheap; mistakes on the trail are not. Before downloading, look at:
- Total ascent vs distance. 1,000 m of climbing over 10 km is a very different day from the same climb over 30 km. Use the elevation profile to find the steep sections.
- Estimated time. Treat it as a baseline for moving time only. Add breaks, navigation stops and a margin for weather and daylight.
- The line itself. Zoom in on junctions and river crossings. Routing data comes from open map data and can include private tracks, closed paths or ways that exist on the map but not on the ground.
- Resupply.Switch on the Composer's map layers (Stay, Fuel, Fix, Signal and medical) to see accommodation, fuel stops, mechanics and other help along the way.
What's in the exported GPX
Download GPX Data saves a standard GPX 1.1 file containing:
- One
<trk>with the full routed line, including elevation on each point. - Your waypoints as
<wpt>entries, plus any points of interest loaded from the map layers you switched on. - A name built from your start and end points, the profile and the date.
Because it's plain GPX 1.1, it imports into virtually any outdoor app or GPS device. See GPX on iPhone & Android for loading it onto your phone. You can also publish a planned route to TrailX directly from the Composer so others can find it.
Tips for cleaner routes
- Use as few waypoints as possible. Place them only where the route must go a specific way, such as a pass, a bridge or a viewpoint, and let the router do the rest.
- Put waypoints on the path, not beside it. A point dropped in a field may snap to a different track than the one you meant.
- For loops, finish next to the start. Place the last waypoint back at the trailhead so the GPX closes the loop.
- Split multi-day trips. One GPX per day keeps files small, makes daily distance and climb obvious, and is easier to follow on a small screen.
Other ways to create a GPX route
Google My Maps or Google Earth
In Google My Maps you can draw a line or a walking, cycling or driving route, then export the map to KML/KMZ. Convert that file with the TrailX converter (step-by-step in KML to GPX). Be aware that lines drawn in My Maps usually export with zero elevation, so the resulting GPX has no useful elevation profile.
From a spreadsheet of coordinates
If you have surveyed points in a spreadsheet, save it as CSV with latitude and longitude columns (optionally elevation and name) and convert it to GPX. Rows with a name are treated as waypoints; rows without form the track. Add a type column with trackpoint or waypoint to control this explicitly.
By editing an existing track
Often the fastest route is someone else's. Find a trail on TrailX, export it as GPX (reversed if you're going the other way), and adjust it in a GPX editor if you need to add a detour.