Waypoints

Waypoints mark key locations along your route — campsites, water sources, resupply towns, summits, road crossings, or any point worth planning around. They appear as pins on the map and are listed in the daily itinerary.

Adding a waypoint

Inside a trip, open the Waypoints tab and click Add waypoint. You can set:

Waypoint types

Tagging a waypoint with a specific type adds a distinct icon to the map pin and lets you filter by type:

• Campsite — overnight stop
• Water source — creek, spring, or water cache
• Resupply point — town, post office, or cache location
• Travel — marks a transit section (bus, shuttle, hitch)

Water sources and resupply points also appear in a dedicated summary view alongside the itinerary, so you can answer "where is the next water?" without scrolling through all waypoints.

Inserting a waypoint between two existing waypoints

If you forgot a stop between two waypoints you have already added, use the + button that appears between waypoint rows. This inserts a new empty waypoint at that position without disturbing the ones above or below it.

The inserted waypoint appears immediately in the list at the correct position. Fill in the name and any other details as you would for any new waypoint.

The waypoint connector line

When waypoints are present, the Trip Planner draws a connector line between them on the map to show the intended sequence. This line is drawn in a separate colour from the GPX track so you can tell them apart — the GPX track shows the actual recorded or planned route, while the connector shows the logical sequence of stops.

Placing a waypoint on the map

Once a GPX route is uploaded, every waypoint can have a precise coordinate set by clicking directly on the interactive map.

Open the waypoint, then click Place on map. A map dialog opens using the MapTiler Outdoor basemap — a topographic style that shows hiking trails, contour lines, and terrain. Click anywhere on or near the trail to place the marker. The marker snaps automatically to the nearest point on the route — you don't need to click the trail exactly.

A few map features worth knowing:

• Rubber-band preview — a live dashed line follows your cursor from the last placed marker to your current position, snapping to the route on-trail and going straight off-trail. It disappears once you confirm a placement.
• Google Maps link — after placing a waypoint in standard mode, the status bar shows the coordinates and a Google Maps icon. Click it to verify the location in a new tab.
• Expand button (desktop) — an expand/minimize icon in the top-right fills the screen with the map for precise placement.
• Legend — the ⓘ button in the bottom-right opens a colour key for map markers.
• Position memory — the map remembers your pan and zoom position within the session. Navigate to a remote trailhead, close the dialog, and it returns to the same view when you reopen it. Resets on page reload.
• Context marker — the previous day's last waypoint appears as a grey "LAST" marker for reference. It is not interactive and does not affect placement.

Distance HUD

While moving the cursor across the map, a live readout appears in the bottom-left corner showing:

• Distance from the previous waypoint along the trail (not straight-line)
• Cumulative total for the day so far
• Elevation at the cursor position — live as you move, only shown if the uploaded GPX file includes elevation data

This updates in real time so you can see exactly how far a proposed camp is from the last water source before committing.

Off Route

Toggle Off Route in the control bar to place a waypoint away from the trail — a resupply town, a hut accessible across a field, or any point that requires leaving the trail.

In Off Route mode, the first point of your path is automatically set to the previous marker's location — you start drawing from where you left the trail. Each subsequent click adds a point to the breadcrumb path. When you reach the destination, press Enter (↵) to finish — the status bar shows a "Press ↵ to finish" hint as a reminder. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Z at any time to undo the last point (pressing it when only the auto-set departure point remains clears the entire trace). Once finished, click Set to save. The drawn path is stored and visualised on the map as a dotted line so your navigation app can lead you there exactly as you planned.

Reverse (loop trails)

On loop trails, the shortest path between two points may not be the direction you intend to hike. The Reverse button in the control bar flips the routing direction — segments and distance calculations immediately update to reflect the opposite arc of the loop.

The button stays highlighted (filled) while active so you always know which mode is on. The Reverse setting persists within the session — if you set it for one waypoint, it stays active when you move to the next. It resets to forward direction when you reload the page.

Connector line colours

Navigator

The map dialog includes a navigator bar at the top showing all items for the current day — the start point and each waypoint in order. Click any item in the navigator to switch to it without closing the dialog. This lets you place all points for a day in one session.

Each navigator chip shows its placement status at a glance:

Connector lines between chips are green when both adjacent items are placed, grey otherwise — a quick read of how much of the day is mapped.

A + Add waypoint button at the end of the navigator adds a new waypoint to the day and immediately switches to it, so you can place it on the map straight away.

Auto-advance

When you place a coordinate for the first time (not re-placing an existing one), the map automatically advances to the next unplaced item in the day. This means you can work through all items in sequence — click, place, advance — without manually switching between them.

Start point

Each day has a start point — a separate coordinate that marks where that day begins on the map. The start point appears at the top of the navigator. It is distinct from the first waypoint and is used to anchor the day's route segment on the map.

To set or move a start point, select it in the navigator and click on the map as you would for any waypoint. If Off Route is toggled on when editing a start point, the mode simplifies: a single click places the marker anywhere (no multi-point path needed).

Editing a waypoint

Click a waypoint in the list to select it, then click the Edit button. All fields can be updated. Changes save immediately.

To move a waypoint's map location, open it and click Place on map again. Placing a new coordinate replaces the previous one and recalculates the distance automatically.

Deleting a waypoint

Select a waypoint and click the Delete button, or use the context menu (three-dot icon). The pin is removed from the map immediately. Deletion is instant with no confirmation dialog.