A route card is a simple written plan of your walk: each leg from point to point, with grid
references, distances, bearings, height gained, estimated times and escape routes. Writing one
takes a few minutes and is one of the best safety habits in the hills.
It makes you plan properly. Working through the route leg by leg makes
you study the map, spot steep ground, rivers and tricky navigation, and check the walk is
realistic for your group before you set off.
You know how long it will take. Realistic timings tell you when to
start, whether you'll finish in daylight, and when you're falling behind and should turn
back.
Someone knows where you are. Leave a copy with someone at home, with your
expected return time and who to call if you're late. If something goes wrong, Mountain Rescue
knows where to start looking.
It helps you navigate on the hill. Grid references, bearings and
distances for each leg are ready when you need them, especially in poor visibility.
You've thought about plan B. Escape routes on each leg mean you've already
decided how to get off the hill safely if the weather turns or someone is struggling.
It's often required. Scout activities, DofE expeditions, schools and many
clubs expect a route card for walks.
Plan My Walk does the slow parts for you: it works out the distances, height, bearings,
grid references and walking times, and prints a route card you can take
with you and leave at home. You still need to check the route yourself; please
read the safety notice below.
⚠ Important safety notice — please read
This tool helps you plan and estimate a walking route. It does not
replace a proper map, sound navigation, or human judgement, and it must not be your only
source of information.
Always check the route yourself against an up-to-date, large-scale map
(e.g. Ordnance Survey 1:25 000) before you go and while you are out.
All figures are estimates and may be wrong — distances, ascent/descent,
walking times and daylight times are approximations from modelled data.
Snapped paths come from crowd-sourced map data (OpenStreetMap) and may
be incomplete, out of date, impassable, cross private land, or be unsafe. A line on the
screen does not mean a safe, legal or existing route on the ground.
Walking-time estimates assume reasonable conditions. Weather, terrain,
navigation, rest stops, group fitness and fatigue all change real times significantly.
The leader / user remains fully responsible for the route, for checking
it, for conditions on the day, and for all decisions in the field.
Carry proper equipment, know how to navigate with map and compass, check the weather
forecast, and have an escape plan and emergency contacts.
If you are running a Scout activity, this tool is an aid to producing a route
card — it does not replace the requirements, approvals and supervision set out
in The Scout Association's Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR). See the references below.
For a DofE expedition, remember that planning your own route and
navigating unaided are part of what is assessed. Use this tool to
learn, practise and check your own planning, or for leader / supervisor /
assessor planning — not to produce a route card you have not planned yourself.
Friendly user guide
Welcome! Here's everything you need to plan a walk and produce a route card.
1. Find your start
Use the Find a place box (top-left) to jump to a grid reference such as
SU 122 422 or an easting/northing like 438600, 113700. Or just pan
and zoom the map to your area.
2. Drop waypoints
With the map in ✛ Add mode (top-right of the map), click to drop waypoints
along your route. They connect in order. Switch to ✋ Pan mode when you just
want to move the map around without adding points.
S the first point is your Start,
E the last is the End, and the
1 middle ones are numbered.
Drag a pin to move it. Use the ↑↓ buttons to
reorder, ✕ to delete, or Remove last to undo the last point.
Insert a point mid-route by clicking on a route line between two
waypoints.
Rename any waypoint by typing over its name; clear the name to return to the default.
3. Snap to paths (or not)
With ⤳ Snap on, each leg follows real footpaths/tracks from the map data,
and distances/ascent are measured along that path. Where there's no suitable path (open
moorland or fell), use the per-leg Snap / Straight toggle in the sidebar, or
right-click a leg on the map, to force a straight line. Line colours:
orange = snapped,
blue = forced straight,
grey dashed = no path found.
4. Set your walk
Under Walk settings, choose the date and
start time (used for sunrise/sunset/darkness), your party's
fitness and flat pace (these drive the time estimate), and
the routing profile.
5. Read the route summary
The sidebar shows total distance, estimated time, ascent and descent, and a daylight strip
(first light, sunrise, sunset, dark and your estimated finish). If your estimated finish is
after dark, you'll get a warning to start earlier or shorten the route.
6. Fill in the route card details
Open Route card details and add your group/section, leader, party size,
home contact and call-by time, plus weather, equipment and notes. Add per-waypoint
escape route notes too.
7. Export
Open route card (print / PDF) — a printable A4 landscape route card.
For the cleanest PDF, the page already removes browser headers/footers and prints without
heavy colour fills.
Export GPX — save the route to open in other apps or a GPS unit.
Import GPX — load a route someone else made; dense tracks are reduced to
editable planning waypoints.
Your plan is saved automatically in your browser, so it's still there when you
come back. Use Clear all to start fresh.
Walking times explained: Naismith, Langmuir & Tranter
General information only, not training. These rules of thumb give a starting
estimate; real walking times depend on terrain, weather, navigation, stops and your party.
Use them at your own risk and always allow a margin.
Plan My Walk uses all three of these methods together to work out the
walking times on your route card. You don't need to do any of the sums yourself:
Naismith gives a base time for each leg from its distance and how much
you climb, using the flat pace from your Walk settings.
Langmuir then adjusts each leg for the steepness of any descent.
Tranter then corrects the total for your party's fitness setting and for
fatigue over the length of the walk. The corrected total is shared across the legs, so each
leg's time and arrival time on the route card include it.
Here's what each method does and why it matters.
Naismith's rule: the basic estimate
In 1892 the Scottish mountaineer William Naismith suggested a simple rule: allow a steady
walking pace on the flat (classically 5 km/h, about 3 mph), then add
1 minute for every 10 m you climb (an hour per 600 m). It's still the
standard starting point for hill walking in the UK.
In Plan My Walk: this is step one for every leg. It uses the
flat pace you set in Walk settings (4.5 km/h by default, which suits most
groups carrying a day pack) plus 1 min for every 10 m of climb on that leg.
Langmuir's corrections: going downhill
Naismith ignores descent, but descent changes your pace. Eric Langmuir refined the rule:
Gentle descent (5–12°): take off about 10 minutes per 300 m of descent,
because you walk faster.
Steep descent (over 12°): add about 10 minutes per 300 m of descent,
because steep ground is slow and careful going.
In Plan My Walk: this is applied automatically to every leg with a descent,
using the leg's average downhill gradient.
Tranter's corrections: fitness and fatigue
Naismith describes a fit walker on a short day. Tranter's table adjusts the Naismith time
for how fit the party is and for fatigue on longer days. The
longer the walk and the less fit the party, the bigger the correction.
Fitness is measured as the minutes it takes to climb 300 m over 800 m of
horizontal distance at a steady pace. That's the number on the Fitness
setting:
Setting
Roughly who it suits
15–20
Very fit, experienced hill walkers with light packs
25
Active adults who walk regularly
30
A typical mixed group (the default)
40–50
Less fit walkers, young or inexperienced groups, or heavy expedition packs
In Plan My Walk: choose the Fitness level in Walk settings
and the app looks up Tranter's table for your whole walk, then applies the correction to every
leg's time. Always plan for the slowest member of the party, not the average.
Worked example: a 10 km walk with 500 m of ascent at 4.5 km/h.
Flat time: 10 ÷ 4.5 h ≈ 2 h 13 min. Climb: 500 m ÷ 10 = 50 min.
Naismith ≈ 3 hours.
Tranter at fitness 20 gives about 3 h 20 min; at fitness 30, about
4 h 50 min. That's a big difference, which is why the fitness setting matters.
Plan My Walk does exactly this calculation for you, across every leg of your route.
What none of these rules include
Stops: breaks, lunch, photos and regrouping. Add these yourself.
Rough ground: bog, heather, scree, deep snow or pathless terrain can halve
your speed.
Weather and navigation: wind, rain, poor visibility and checking the map all
slow you down.
Heavy loads: expedition packs make everyone slower. Pick a lower fitness
setting.
How the numbers are worked out
Figure
Method & accuracy
Grid references
Lat/lon ↔ OS National Grid via the OSTN15 transformation
(sub-metre) where available, otherwise a Helmert datum shift (±3.5 m).
Distance & bearing
Great-circle calculation between points, or along the
snapped path. Bearings are true north.
Altitude & ascent
From the Open-Meteo terrain model, or along the BRouter
path elevation — modelled values, approximate.
Walking time
Naismith's rule (your flat pace, default 4.5 km/h, + 1 min per 10 m ascent)
with Langmuir's descent correction, then Tranter's corrections for party fitness and
fatigue (see Walking times explained). Estimates only.
Daylight
Sunrise, sunset and civil twilight ("first light"/"dark") computed
for your start point and date (≈1 min accuracy).
Kit checklists: summer & winter
General prompts only, not a complete or safety-vetted list. What you need
depends on the route, the party, the season and the forecast. Choosing suitable kit is your
responsibility, and you use these lists at your own risk.
☀ Summer day walk
Map (1:25 000 or 1:50 000) in a waterproof case, and a compass
Route card, with a copy left with someone at home
Waterproof jacket and trousers (yes, even in summer)
A warm layer, such as a fleece or light insulated jacket
Sturdy boots or shoes with good grip, and walking socks
Sun hat, sunglasses and sun cream
Plenty of water (1–2 litres or more on hot days) and food, plus spare snacks
Head torch with spare batteries
First aid kit, including blister plasters
Whistle, and a survival bag or group shelter
Fully charged phone in a waterproof bag, plus a power bank
Insect repellent or a midge net (especially in Scotland)
❄ Winter day walk
Everything on the summer list, plus:
Extra warm layers, including an insulated jacket for stops
Warm hat and two pairs of gloves (one spare)
Goggles for wind-driven snow
A flask with a hot drink, and extra food
Stiffer winter boots, and gaiters
A second head torch or spare batteries. It can be dark by 4 pm.
Group shelter (essential for stops in wind)
Ice axe and crampons on snowy or icy hills, but only if you
have been trained to use them
Winter conditions on UK mountains are serious: snow, ice, whiteouts and
avalanches. If you're new to winter walking, do a winter skills course first (see
Learn to navigate) and check the avalanche forecast in Scotland.
This planner doesn't teach navigation. The links below are to independent
organisations, for information only. We don't endorse or check any course or provider, and
you use external resources at your own risk.
Being able to read a map and use a compass is the most important hill skill. Phones and
GPS units are useful, but batteries run out, signals drop and screens are hard to read in the
rain. If you aren't sure of your navigation, do a course before you head into the
hills. A day with an instructor is worth more than any app.
National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) — find a course.
Bronze, Silver and Gold awards take you from basic map reading to navigating in remote
country. Bronze is a great first step.
Mountain Training — find a course
to search for skills courses and qualifications near you.
Local walking clubs and the Ramblers are a friendly way to learn from experienced walkers.
Leading groups: walking leader qualifications
If you lead groups (for example as a Scout leader, DofE supervisor or teacher), Mountain
Training's walking qualifications
are the recognised UK and Ireland awards:
Call 999 or 112, ask for the Police,
then ask for Mountain Rescue. Give your grid reference, the number of people
and what's happened. The route card's grid references help here.
Register your phone for emergency SMS before you go by texting
register to 999. You can then text 999 when there isn't enough
signal for a call.
Leave your route card and expected return time with someone at home, and tell them who to
call if you're late.
These are external sites maintained by third parties; links may change over
time. They're provided so you can learn the methods and rules behind the tool.
The Scout Association — Running things safely (risk assessment, InTouch, activity rules)
DofE
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award — Expedition section (the participants plan their own route — route planning and self-reliant navigation are part of the assessment)
This project is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed
by The Scout Association, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, Ordnance Survey, OpenStreetMap,
Mountain Training, NNAS, or any other organisation named on this page. "Scouts", "DofE" and "POR" are referenced for guidance only.
Terms of use
This tool is provided free of charge and "as is", for personal,
non-commercial route-planning assistance.
It is provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied,
including as to accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, or availability.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the authors and contributors accept no
liability for any loss, injury, damage or cost arising from use of, or reliance on,
this tool or its output.
The explanations, checklists and links on this page are general information
only. They are not training, professional advice or a substitute for a qualified
instructor, and you use them at your own risk. External sites are run by
third parties; we don't control or endorse their content, and links may change.
The tool is an aid to planning only and does not replace human oversight,
navigation skill, an up-to-date map, official guidance, or the responsibilities of a group
leader.
You are responsible for complying with any rules that apply to your activity (for example
The Scout Association's POR), and with access, landowner and right-of-way restrictions.
Source code is released under the MIT licence (see Credits). The MIT licence
governs the software; it does not extend any warranty to route plans you create.
Support & affiliate links
This tool is free to use. To help cover its running costs, the optional
Suggested kit panel in the sidebar and the
Walking kit checklist page contain affiliate links:
if you buy something after following one, we may earn a small commission
at no extra cost to you. You can also support the project directly through the
Ko-fi “Support” button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The suggested items are general prompts, not safety-vetted recommendations or
endorsements of any particular product or retailer.
Choosing kit that suits your party, route and conditions on the day is the
leader’s responsibility — see the safety notice above.
We have no control over, and accept no responsibility for,
the goods, prices, availability or services of any third-party retailer.
Whether the Suggested kit panel is shown is a setting that may be on or off; the
tool works fully without it, and following these links is entirely optional.
Data & privacy
The app runs in your browser. There is no account and no sign-in.
Your route and settings are saved only in your browser (local storage)
on your device. They are not sent to or stored by us. Clearing your browser data removes
them.
To provide its features, your browser makes requests to third-party services, which
receive the coordinates needed to answer them:
Please see those services' own privacy terms. The grid-reference lookup is handled by this
site and is not shared.
There are no ads, and the site sets no cookies.
We use Vercel
Web Analytics to count page views, so we can see which pages are used and how people find the
site. It is anonymous and cookie-free: it records the page visited, the referring
site, country or region, browser, operating system and device type. Visits are told apart by a
temporary hash that is discarded after 24 hours, and nothing is linked to you or used to follow you
across other sites. Your route is never sent: shared-route links are stripped
before anything is recorded.
Some kit links are affiliate links. If you follow one, the retailer or
affiliate network (currently Amazon) may record the click and set its own
cookies so it can credit us with a commission. This happens on their site, under their privacy
policy.
Like any website, our hosting provider (Vercel) keeps standard server logs of page requests,
including the address of the page visited.