Frequently asked questions

A route card is a written plan used in hill walking and mountaineering that describes each leg of a journey — the bearing, distance, estimated time, and height gained. It is left with a responsible person so that if you are overdue, rescuers know where to look. RouteCard Maker generates this document automatically from your planned route.

The late back time is the time by which, if you have not returned or made contact, your emergency contact should call mountain rescue. A common rule of thumb is your estimated finish time plus one to two hours. Set this conservatively — the cost of an unnecessary call-out is much lower than a delayed rescue.

Yes. Click Print Route Card to open a print-optimised view including the waypoint table, timing, elevation gain, group information, medical notes, and emergency instructions. This is designed to be left with a responsible person before you set out.

RouteCard Maker uses Naismith's Rule: allow one hour per 5 km of distance on flat ground, plus one additional hour for every 600 m of ascent. You can adjust the flat speed and climb rate in the route settings to match your group's fitness and terrain conditions.

Naismith's Rule is a formula devised by Scottish mountaineer William Naismith in 1892 for estimating walking time in hilly terrain. The standard formula allows 1 hour per 5 km horizontal distance plus 1 hour per 600 m of ascent. RouteCard Maker applies this automatically to each leg of your route.

Elevation data comes from the EU Copernicus Digital Elevation Model (30 m resolution) with SRTM as a fallback. Accuracy is generally within 5–15 m for open terrain. Dense forest, cliffs, and urban areas can reduce accuracy. Always treat elevation figures as estimates and verify against printed maps for critical navigation.

RouteCard Maker uses OpenStreetMap for the base map and OpenTopoMap for terrain. Elevation data comes from the EU Copernicus DEM and SRTM datasets. Road and trail routing is powered by GraphHopper using OpenStreetMap data.

Yes. By default each leg is a straight line. Toggle Route to here on any waypoint to snap that leg to the nearest road, track, or trail using GraphHopper routing. You can mix routed and straight-line legs in the same route.

Click the bookmark icon in the toolbar to save your route. If you are signed in, your route is saved to the cloud and accessible from any device. Unsigned users save locally to their browser. To reload, click the folder icon and select from your saved routes.

Yes. Use the Export button and choose GPX. The file contains both a route (waypoints in order) and a track (the detailed path with elevation data). You can load it into GPS devices or mapping apps like OsmAnd, OS Maps, or Komoot.

Partially. The map tiles require an internet connection to load. However, once a route is planned and saved, the printed route card can be used offline. For full offline use in the field, export your route as GPX and load it into a dedicated offline mapping app.

Yes, RouteCard Maker is free. There is no subscription or payment required. Sign in with a Google account to unlock cloud saving so your routes are available across devices.