What online tools do you use for long (road) trip planning?

[Herbie]

Hey all, I'm in the midst of planning our summer adventure travel, and I'm running into the limits of the online tools that I've used, so I'm hoping to pick everyone's brains to find some better ones. When I plan trips, I tend to work to find a general path/plan that hits the things I want to hit, and then try to refine that into roughly "day long" chunks - not that I'm necessarily trying to plan the trip down to that granularity, but mostly just trying to estimate distances/drive times so that I don't over commit the family. It's easy to connect a bunch of nearby dots on the map, but when you realistically look at transit times (even on-road only), you can quickly sign yourself up for 6-8 hours of daily driving which leaves zero time for actual exploration, happy accidents, and improvisation.

I like using Google maps because it's relatively easy to drag waypoints up and down the path list and get a general idea of the distance/drive time for each segment. (Again, not that I need to-the-minute calculations, but roughly summing 3 segments to within an hour is good.)

The problem with Google maps is that it limits you to 10 waypoints on a route, so I end up having to break a trip up in to 5-7 day chunks in order to get even the major waypoints in the loop. This works fine for estimating the day-to-day travel, but is a pain when I'm trying to share the travel plans with others, as I end up having to send them multiple share links with the trip divided into segments.

I've also tried the roadtrip planner from myscenicdrives.com - to it's credit it seems to have no limit on the number of waypoints. However, sharing the trip plan requires that each person I share with create their own login to the site. It also doesn't seem to have as big of a database for POIs, so a lot of the campgrounds or other points that I want to include on the route do not come up in the search - I have to manually find the appropriate point on the map and just drop a generic waypoint pin.

I use Gaia for offroad route planning/mapping, but it operates at a level that I don't need for this kind of general gross estimation for road travel.


Anyone got any other tools they like to use for sketching out a road trip?

 

[Ozarker]

I was asking Copilot about different routes yesterday!

I was asking about stuff that's probably hard to find, like asking about campgrounds on routes to and from military installations, SCCA circuits, lakes and riverways. I thought it was pretty good, gave some good info, but it also gave me some glitches, like saying to take I 44 out of Kansas City!

It will sketch a route given if you ask, I didn't print any, but I guess you could.

edited; it gave traffic updates, food, gas, motels, art museums or anything else I'd ask for.

 

[plh]

Google maps - I like the traffic updates.

 

[driveby]

I tend to use google maps but save waypoints on their own lists. You can have 100s of waypoints on a list then build a day by day on the day of and see traffic/construction etc. You can share lists with others then they build based on waypoint order in their device of choice. you can also skip a few local waypoints and show the longer trip. IE Seattle to LA might have 100's of stops but you could put in Portland and make the map keep you on I5. Or put in Astoria that then gets you onto 101. General enough for folks to get the idea. Then each day just make a route for the day. That's the road part the off road bits would be Gaia and such.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Maybe I'm missing something on Google Maps. Whenever I plot a route then send the directions to my phone or email, it cancels out all my stops and just sends the fastest route directions... Am I missing something? Tried using the app, but it would only let me pick waypoints. Meaning I can't pick my route on how I want to get from point A to B, the app just picks the fastest route between those points.

 

[Herbie]

Maybe I'm missing something on Google Maps. Whenever I plot a route then send the directions to my phone or email, it cancels out all my stops and just sends the fastest route directions... Am I missing something? Tried using the app, but it would only let me pick waypoints. Meaning I can't pick my route on how I want to get from point A to B, the app just picks the fastest route between those points.

You're not wrong. If you use Google Maps for live navigation, it's constantly trying to optimize your route based on traffic, road conditions, etc. One way to sort-of defeat this behavior is to build a route with a LOT of waypoints, so it keeps the algorithm from trying to re-route you via a different city, freeway, etc. (It should respect all your added stops - this works for me, where when I get to waypoint 'A', it asks me whether to "Continue" to waypoint 'B', etc.)

For my purposes in this thread, though, I'm less concerned about the realtime updating, I'm just trying to build (and share with others) a general route plan with 20-30 waypoints without having to use multiple google maps links.

 

[Howard70]

We use IOverlander and cell service coverage maps. Look for the blank spots on both and head there. Keeps us away from the crowds.....

 

[Todd n Natalie]

For my purposes in this thread, though, I'm less concerned about the realtime updating, I'm just trying to build (and share with others) a general route plan with 20-30 waypoints without having to use multiple google maps links.

Yes. That's my purpose as well. I'm trying to pre plan routes for future trips. I will be following this for advise as well.

 

[driveby]

I use lists for this. Plan on PC and get rough drive times. Then on the day of, use my phone to plan the actual route with the stops. otherwise Google gets all fussy and messy. Easier to plan start to big break (lunch or hike etc) then the next stop(s). only challenge is you have to have internet access to route even with local data on the device.

 

[alanymarce]

When planning times for routes we use google maps in Western Europe and North America. In some parts of the world google maps can be out by a lot so we cross check by looking at 'bus timetables (look up the time a 'bus takes then add at least 25%). For "offroad" routes we use experience to estimate times, with different assumptions for different areas.

To have an overall plan to share we use www.tripline.net and then build a new map on tripline once on the road.

 

[donniefitz2]

This topic is near and dear to me. I have had an idea rattling around in my brain for a few years now for an outdoor adventure planning app. Think itinerary (map centric), emergency planning, gear lists, permit and document storage, etc. All in one app that works on and offline (desktop and mobile). The entire trip can be shared with others (emergency contacts) via PDF or read-only web page, which is especially useful if something goes wrong.

The app is under development now, but I'm in the early stages. I'm hoping to get a few alpha testers singed up to get an early look at it once it's more complete. If anyone is interested, you can signup at https://www.wildplan.io

I'm a software engineer and startup founder so this is a solo project.

 

[Todd n Natalie]

This topic is near and dear to me. I have had an idea rattling around in my brain for a few years now for an outdoor adventure planning app. Think itinerary (map centric), emergency planning, gear lists, permit and document storage, etc. All in one app that works on and offline (desktop and mobile). The entire trip can be shared with others (emergency contacts) via PDF or read-only web page, which is especially useful if something goes wrong.

The app is under development now, but I'm in the early stages. I'm hoping to get a few alpha testers singed up to get an early look at it once it's more complete. If anyone is interested, you can signup at https://www.wildplan.io

I'm a software engineer and startup founder so this is a solo project.

Sounds like a great idea.

 

[donniefitz2]

Sounds like a great idea.

I'm hoping so. Building something like this without knowing if it's going to be successful is a bit nerve wracking. But, there's only one way to find out.

 

[JaSAn]

For planning at home:
Paper:

State highway maps​

Delorme and Benchmark Altas'​

National Geographic Atlas - US and Canada​

Appropriate Motor Vehicle Use Maps for National Forests​

Book: Corps of Engineers Campgrounds​

any other maps I find useful (been collecting for 60 years).​

Apps:

Apple Maps (used mostly for distance)​

Avenza Maps​

Campendium.com​

Freecampsites.net​

Recreation.gov​

Allstays​

Garmin Basecamp​

Garmin Earthmate​

State campground websites​

On the road:

All the paper maps for appropriate areas.​

I will sometimes take adjoining state Delorme Atlas too.​

My Mac and iPhone with apps.​

​

The R&M Atlas has old trips marked going back 10 years with used and possible campsites noted (with GPS coordinates).
I use Apple Maps to direct me to campsites.

I start my trip planning in January or February and keep refining it until I leave (major trip in September - November). I have a 'aircraft carrier flight deck' sized desk so I can spread maps out (especially MVUMs).

 

[Todd n Natalie]

Maybe I'm missing something on Google Maps. Whenever I plot a route then send the directions to my phone or email, it cancels out all my stops and just sends the fastest route directions... Am I missing something? Tried using the app, but it would only let me pick waypoints. Meaning I can't pick my route on how I want to get from point A to B, the app just picks the fastest route between those points.

You're not wrong. If you use Google Maps for live navigation, it's constantly trying to optimize your route based on traffic, road conditions, etc. One way to sort-of defeat this behavior is to build a route with a LOT of waypoints, so it keeps the algorithm from trying to re-route you via a different city, freeway, etc. (It should respect all your added stops - this works for me, where when I get to waypoint 'A', it asks me whether to "Continue" to waypoint 'B', etc.)

For my purposes in this thread, though, I'm less concerned about the realtime updating, I'm just trying to build (and share with others) a general route plan with 20-30 waypoints without having to use multiple google maps links.

This is my struggle. Just plotted a route today on Google Maps to ride Alberta oldest road with a couple neat historic pit stops:



Saved and then send to my phone / email and open it on my phone and this is what I get:



So curious what you are all using to plot the route and send to your device with way points saved.

Apps, devices or something? It's frustrating and there must be a better way...