Trail runner on a mountain path overlooking the Cape Town coastline and mountains at golden hour

Route Distance Calculator

Measure Any Route on a Map

Want to know how far a route is?

Use the Map My Distance Route Distance Calculator to draw a route directly on the map and instantly calculate the total distance in kilometres or miles.

Walking

Running

Hiking

Cycling

Events

Routes

Calculate Route Distance Online

A route distance calculator helps you measure the actual distance of a route instead of guessing based on a straight line between two points.

Map My Distance lets you build the route you plan to follow and calculates the full distance as you create it.

This gives you a much more realistic measurement for training, events, travel or general route planning.

Image of an example route mapped out on map my distance .com

How to Measure a Route on a Map

Measuring a route is simple. It only takes a few clicks to measure your route online.

Choose Your Starting Point

Search for the area where your route begins or move around the map manually.

Add Points Along Your Route

As you add points, MMD builds the route between them and calculates the total distance.

Check the Total Distance

The total route distance updates as you build the route, until you reach your target distance.

Check tour Route Elevation

Distance is not always enough to understand a route. MMD also lets you view the route elevation.

Save or Share the Route

Once you are happy with the route, you can save it to your account and share it to friends.

Measure routes for any activity

Use the Route Distance Calculator for running, walking, cycling, hiking and more.

Female trail runner on a forest path surrounded by green trees and foliage

Running

Measure 5km, 10km or up to ultra marathons and more. You can also use Map My Distance for any running-specific route planning.

Woman walking along the side of a quiet road with a lake and distant mountains in the background

Walking

You can use the route calculator to measure walking routes around your neighborhood, parks, cities or any mountain trails.

Two hikers climbing a rocky mountain trail with backpacks and trekking poles at sunset

Hiking

With Map My Distance, you can measure the distance and review the elevation profile of hiking routes before heading out.

Road cyclist riding straight along a flat open country road at golden hour

Cycling

Cycling routes, whether road or off-road, can cover much larger distances, so accurate route measurement is especially useful.

Route Distance vs Straight-Line Distance

A common mistake is measuring the straight-line distance between two locations and assuming that is the actual route distance.

For planning most routes online, it is not.

For example, two places may be only 3 km apart in a straight line, but the actual walking, running or cycling route could be 4 km, 5 km or more.

A map distance calculator that follows the actual route gives you a much more useful result than a simple straight-line measurement.

Straight Line

Image of a straight line on the map

3.0km

Route Actual Distance

Image on a route following paths on the map

4.8km

Popular Uses for Map My Distance

There are many reasons to measure a route before heading out.

Training routes

Build routes to match your target distance

Race preparation

Study distance, elevation and course layout

Compare routes

Compare options and choose the best route

Estimate time

Combine distance with our pace calculator

Group activities

Plan and share routes with your groups