RidgeSyncHow to Plan a Backpacking Route Online, Start to Finish
You can plan a backpacking route online from scratch in about 15 minutes: start a trip, draw each day's line snapped to real trails, drop camps and water sources, add a meal plan, check the weather, and share the finished itinerary as a link. RidgeSync handles all of it on one map, no separate apps for routing, food, and weather.
This walks through the full sequence for a multi-day trip, from the moment you click New trip to the moment you hand a link to whoever's picking you up at the trailhead.
Step by step: plan your route from scratch
- Start a new trip
From /trips/new, name your trip and set a start date with the "First trail day" date picker. Use the day-count stepper to set how many days you're out, 1 to 14, defaulting to 3 — a note reminds you "You can add or remove days later", so don't overthink the number now.
- Draw your first day's route
Click Draw route, then click on the map to drop your Start point. Each further click adds a waypoint, and every leg snaps live to real OSM trail geometry, with a dashed preview and a "Next segment" HUD showing distance and elevation before you commit to the click.
Tip Shift-click to keep appending points fast without re-selecting the tool, and drag any waypoint afterward to reshape the line if the snap took an odd path.
- Place a campsite for each night
Click the Campsite tool, then click your intended camp spot on the map — the cursor shows "Click to place campsite" while active. Repeat for each night of the trip, one campsite per day where you plan to sleep.
- Add water sources and meal stops
Use the Water source and Meal stop tools the same way — select the tool, click the map. Placing a Meal stop opens a "What meal is this?" prompt where you tag it Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, or Snack before continuing.
- Build your food pantry
Open the Food panel's Pantry button to open the Food Dashboard. Add items from the Catalog tab or build your own in Pantry, then assign items to each Meal stop from that stop's Food Meal Picker so calories and weight are tracked per day.
- Repeat for each remaining day
Click "+ Day" to add the next day, or use the day pager (‹ ›) to move between days you've already started. Draw that day's route, place its camp, and add water and meal markers the same way as day one.
- Check the weather
Open the Weather panel to see a per-day forecast at each day's route start and camp, pulled from Open-Meteo. This requires your trip's start date to be set, which you already did in step one.
Tip Free accounts see forecasts for the first 2 days only; the rest stay behind an "Unlock full forecast" prompt.
- Share the finished plan
Click the ↗ Share pill in the sidebar header to open the Share modal. Pick a card design, then copy the link or send it directly through the Share-to row. Recipients see a preview card and can click "Save to my trips" to get their own editable copy.
Why draw one day at a time
RidgeSync routes each day separately rather than one long line for the whole trip, because a multi-day itinerary needs a campsite, water, and meal plan attached to a specific day, not just a mile marker on a continuous track. Drawing day by day also keeps each day's stats — distance, elevation gain and loss, high and low points, estimated time — accurate and easy to check before you move to the next.
Estimated hiking time uses Naismith's rule: 1 hour per 3 miles plus 1 hour per 2,000 ft of elevation gain, calculated as moving time and not adjustable to your personal pace. Use it as a baseline and pad it with your own break time when you're deciding how many miles to put in a day.
Check the terrain before you commit
Before finalizing a route, switch the Basemap menu to 3D relief or Terrain heat and toggle 3D pitch to look at the terrain your line actually crosses. A route that looks reasonable on a flat topo layer can hide a steep, exposed climb that only becomes obvious once you tilt the map.
Use the This day / Whole trip toggle to check how one day's mileage sits against the rest of the trip, and the elevation profile under the day stats to spot the steepest stretch before you're standing at the bottom of it. Adjust camp placement or day boundaries if one day is carrying far more elevation gain than the others.
Try it live
Frequently asked questions
What's the fastest way to plan a backpacking route online?
Start a trip with a name and start date, then draw each day's route with the Draw route tool, which snaps automatically to real OSM trails. A full multi-day route with camps, water, and meal markers takes about 15 minutes in RidgeSync.
Does RidgeSync calculate mileage and elevation automatically?
Yes. Every route snaps to real trail geometry, and each day shows distance, elevation gain and loss, high and low points, and estimated time using Naismith's rule (1 hour per 3 miles plus 1 hour per 2,000 ft gain).
Can I plan a multi-day route without downloading anything?
Yes, RidgeSync is a free, browser-based web app. There's nothing to install to draw routes, place camps and markers, plan food, check weather, and share the finished itinerary.
How do I share my finished route with someone else?
Click the ↗ Share pill in the sidebar header to open the Share modal, pick a card design, and copy the link or send it directly. Recipients can view the plan or click "Save to my trips" for their own copy.