Info

Trailmap is a map and route planning service that originated in Finland. It is developed and operated by Finomena Oy. I am Markus Suomi, an entrepreneur and the builder behind Trailmap.

Trailmap brings together things that matter to me: moving in nature, endurance sports, maps and building useful digital services.

Mission: better maps, more adventures

The mission of Trailmap and its related projects is to help people discover new trails, quiet roads and landscapes—and to make exploring nature easier, more inspiring and safer.

I build maps and tools that help you understand a route before setting out: what kind of trail or road to expect, how demanding the route will be and what interesting places you might find along the way. The goal is not simply to get from one place to another, but to help people find routes and experiences they might otherwise miss.

Another part of the mission is to improve open map data and make it easier to use. Trailmap supports OpenStreetMap mapping by making the community's work visible and useful, and by providing mappers with tools, guides and communities. As the map improves, the results benefit not only Trailmap users but everyone who uses open map data.

My goal is to make Trailmap the map and route planning service best suited to northern conditions—building first on the strong foundation created in Finland and then expanding across the Nordic countries.

From a personal need to a long-term service

Trailmap began in 2018, when I built an app called Bikemap for my own use. For mountain biking, gravel cycling and trail running, I needed maps and features that other apps did not offer. Word about the new trail map spread quickly, and other outdoor enthusiasts began using it too.

In 2023, I launched Trailmap's largest development phase to date. The app and its backend systems were thoroughly renewed, while a more stable foundation was built for long-term development.

In spring 2025, Trailmap officially became my full-time work and I became a full-time entrepreneur.

Delivering the mission also requires a sustainable business. Paid subscriptions fund development, operation of the service and the costs of map data and the technical environment. They make it possible to develop Trailmap ambitiously and for the long term in the years ahead.

Experience from the trails and the software industry

I am an active multi-sport endurance athlete, although competition is not my goal. My main sports are gravel and mountain biking, trail running and cross-country skiing. I constantly use the same maps and features that I build for others.

I am also a long-time software industry professional. For most of my earlier career, I worked in leadership roles with business responsibility. I have gained experience across several industries and areas of expertise, including geospatial data, maps and digital services that make use of them.

Trailmap therefore combines the first-hand experience of an active user, the expertise of a software professional and an entrepreneur's responsibility for the service's future.

OpenStreetMap and the mapping community

Trailmap has its roots in Finnish OpenStreetMap trail mapping. Community-based trail mapping began in Tampere in 2013, largely through the initiative of Antti Nissinen, and later grew into a movement spanning the whole of Finland.

Trailmap has made the results of this mapping work easy to use while supporting the community through map services, guides, discussion groups, tools and mapping work of my own. Using and improving the map create a positive cycle: a better map attracts new users, some of whom go on to add more information to it.

This work received significant recognition in 2025, when ProGIS, the Finnish association for geospatial professionals, presented Trailmap with the 2025 ProGIS Award. In addition to combining open geospatial datasets, the award citation highlighted the active OSM mapping community that has formed around Trailmap.

Trailmap is built on the work of many people. Tapio Kaasalainen has made an especially significant contribution by developing Trailmap's MTB map style in its raster, vector and Garmin versions. Antti Nissinen initiated Finnish trail mapping, while the work of Jarkko Ryyppö and the MapAnt team is visible in Trailmap's 3D MTB map.

Above all, my thanks go to the entire OpenStreetMap mapping community for the thousands of hours of volunteer work that have put trails, minor roads and their characteristics on the map.

You can find more information about the data, licences and contributors on the licences and credits page.

See you on the trails!

Best regards,
Markus

Markus