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Guide

User guide
Markus
2026-06-12
Machine translated

These instructions are for Trailmap's web version, i.e. the website that runs in a browser at https://web.trailmap.fi. By adapting these you can also get support for using the mobile app, which is simpler in its functions. The icons on the mobile app's buttons and the app's structure differ from the web version in places.

Tutorial videos for the app can be found on Trailmap's YouTube channel (TrailmapSuomi); you can start watching with the map functions and continue with the basics of route planning.

From the app's "Info" menu you'll also find the Quick guide (a short introduction to the app), the map legend, and links to the user guides and the support site.

General information about the app

The interface is optimised for route planning and navigation. The main view has the map, the route drawn on it, or the tracks opened on the map. Supporting the main view are a few other screens, for listing and using the user's own routes, places, tracks and Strava activities.

The app is at its best on a big screen, either on a computer or a tablet. The app also works well on a smartphone, but the functions are simplified there and the small screen does of course limit working with the map. See the instructions for mobile use in this guide.

Trailmap's native mobile app "Trailmap Suomi" is optimised for phone use and navigation. It has big buttons and an interface that's more suitable for terrain use generally. It also has many functions useful for navigation that the web version lacks: compass, map turning, switching the screen to "always on" mode, ride recording, offline maps and so on. On the other hand it lacks some functions, among them the my maps function.

The web version and the mobile app play well together: for example, when you plan a route in the web version it's immediately available in the mobile app, as long as you're logged in to both with the same user account.

The app's maps cover the countries of Europe. The most detailed map is available only for Finland. The traditional topographic maps of various countries ("raster map") are available for selected countries: the Nordics, Estonia and Spain. Route drawing works widely in the various countries of Europe.

The app is available in Finnish for the time being.

User account

If you haven't logged in to the app yet, the right edge of the navigation bar reads "log in / register". It isn't compulsory, but saving your own routes or places, as well as syncing routes with Garmin / Wahoo / Suunto devices or viewing the tracks of Strava activities, is only possible if you're logged in.

Logging in works directly with Google or Apple sign-in, or by first registering with the help of an email address and a password. Google sign-in is generally the easiest way to use the app on different devices, and the email & password combination is flexible too. Apple sign-in often involves difficulties, because it only works with the same account you've used to log in to the Apple device.

After logging in, the app normally opens on the same computer and browser so that you're logged straight in. Note. If you want to log in both with an email address & password and with Google or Apple, you have to create the account with email first, and only after that can you also log in with Google's or Apple's sign-in service (if you use the same email address in those services as the one you registered with).

With the email & password option you can change your password or reset a forgotten password on the "log in" page: right at the bottom of the page is a "Forgot your password?" button. Note. This button is only visible when you're logged out. So if you want to change your password, log out first.

When you're logged in, an "avatar" figure is visible on the right edge of the navigation bar. Clicking it opens a menu, from which you can get to the settings, among other things. From the settings you can link the app to the Garmin Connect, Wahoo, Suunto and Strava services. Routes can be synced to Garmin and Wahoo devices, routes and tracks can be sent to Suunto (no automatic syncing), and the Strava link enables showing the tracks of Strava activities on the map. From the settings you can also delete your user account.

If you're an OpenStreetMap (OSM) mapper, select the "OSM mapper" setting: with it you get one more option in the top bar menu, "mapping", under which you'll find functions to support OSM mapping.

The "Your subscription" section on the settings page tells you whether you have the paid Plus package. The Plus package unlocks all the app's functions; more on that in the next section.

The Plus package

Most of the app's functions are free: among them viewing maps, opening the tracks of GPX & KML files and Strava activities onto the map, route planning and the mapping functions. Note that in the mobile app, opening routes and tracks onto the map requires a Trailmap package subscription, unless it's a route shared by another user. To make developing and maintaining the app possible, some functions are paid; you get them by subscribing to the Plus package or the Navi package available in the mobile app.

There are three subscription levels: the free Map and the paid Navi and Plus. The Navi package can only be bought in the mobile app. Navi brings, among other things, GPX export and route sharing, limited route saving and syncing, and the basic-level mobile navigation functions (offline maps, map turning etc.). Plus unlocks all the functions, among them the 3D map, Google Street View, "my places", route collections, Strava activities on the map, as well as unlimited route saving, device syncing and the mobile app's voice-guided navigation. All subscriptions include a 5-day free trial period. You'll find more information about the Plus and Navi packages in the app on the Plus package's subscription page.

The main view (map)

The main view's 2 states: viewing & route drawing

You can always get back to the main view by clicking the Trailmap logo or the "house" button, which are in the navigation bar at the very top of the screen. The main view has two states:

  1. Map state, i.e. the so-called viewing state / basic state
  2. Action state, in which there's a sidebar on the left edge of the screen. The action states are: route drawing, my places, Strava activities & my tracks, and OSM mapping.

In the route drawing state, the functions needed for drawing your own route are visible on the left edge of the screen, and clicking the map with the mouse cursor edits the route.

You can move between the map state and the action states in a few different ways:

From the map state you can get to route drawing in three alternative ways:

  1. Click the "+" button in the top left corner of the screen and choose "route". In the mobile app the "+" button is on the right edge of the map.
  2. If you've already drawn a route, first move the mouse cursor over the route: it turns red and clicking opens a menu, from which you can choose "edit route"
  3. Choose the navigation bar's "Routes" menu and, from the menu list, "Create route", or if you already have a route open, "Edit route"

From route drawing and the other action states you can get back to the map state in two alternative ways:

  1. At the top of the sidebar on the left edge of the screen there's a "cross" button, and on a phone, at the bottom edge of the screen, an "end route drawing" button
  2. Click the Trailmap logo or the "home" button in the navigation bar at the top edge of the screen

Note. You can move freely between the different states and you can return to continue editing the route if you wish. The route stays in the app's memory until you open a new route, close the app in the browser, or, if you start doing something else on your computer, the browser may after some time close the app to save memory. When you later return to the Trailmap page with the same browser, the app first asks whether you want to restore the route you were editing earlier. Remember to save the route before you move away from the Trailmap app for a longer time.

The map view's functions

The map view's functions work in both the map state and the action states.

The top right corner's buttons: Zoom & full screen view. The place search function, the map legend (info button) and positioning of your own location. In addition, the map controls have the 3D terrain map button, which tilts the map into a three-dimensional terrain model (a Plus function).

Country selection: When several countries are visible on the map, the app offers country selection buttons (e.g. Finland, Sweden, Global), with which you change the maps and functions of the country in use.

The top left corner's buttons: The map settings selection and the traditional topographic map selection. Below these buttons is the hiding of tracks: hiding tracks momentarily (the tracks aren't deleted, they're just hidden) makes it possible to examine the map under the tracks, e.g. what kind of path a track goes along.

Shortcuts: <The space bar, i.e. "space"> briefly hides the route lines and dims the main map layer; this helps in viewing the overlays, for example if the overlay is Digiroad's "Paved road" layer. <The number key "2"> briefly hides tracks other than your own route, and <The number key "1"> hides all tracks — with these two keys it's quick to glance at what's on the map under the tracks. <The Esc key, i.e. "Escape"> briefly dims the overlays; this is handy if you have strong overlays selected such as Digiroad "DR Paved road" or the Strava heatmaps, which prevent you from seeing the base map underneath at the roads & paths. <The number key "3"> is the same function as the Esc key, but it works slightly differently: successive presses hide and restore the overlays. <The letter key "S"> opens and closes Google's Street View view at the mouse cursor.

The context menu: Open a context menu on the map at the cursor with the right mouse button, or on touch devices by pressing the map for a long time with your finger. With the context menu you can look at, among other things, detailed information from the OpenStreetMap map, the place's coordinates, open the Google Street View view or add your own place.

Route drawing

Route drawing has developed significantly from the earlier Trailmap app. The goal is to make possible a fast, exploratory way of drawing a route, which you can then refine and edit into the final route. Typically you first quickly draw the route's "skeleton" by clicking waypoints onto the map, so you can see how long some route idea would come out. With the undo function you can quickly delete the last waypoint so you can try new alternatives for the route. By dragging waypoints you can quickly edit the track.

Once the route's skeleton is ready, the route can be edited in versatile ways, making e.g. precise choices about the paths along the route. The route editing features in particular are more capable than the earlier Trailmap app and in practice remove the need to start drawing the route from scratch if it needs significant editing. A route with a lot of waypoints is often faster to edit by deleting a batch of waypoints with the "Cut" function (more on that further down).

As a basis for a route you can also use a track (a GPX file, a Strava activity or your own track): first open the track you want on the map, click it with the mouse / finger and choose "Convert to route" from the pop-up menu. The route profile selection determines how the conversion to a route is done — it's a slightly more complicated operation than you'd immediately guess, in order to get an editable route (defined by editable waypoints) out of a track (coordinates).

In the "Route drawing" state the map view changes as follows:

The drawing action bar on the left edge: The route's name (if saved), "saved" / "not saved" information, the route's length and the routing settings: "Follow roads" routes according to the routing profile along the paths (roads and trails) of the OpenStreetMap map; without it a straight route line is drawn, which is sometimes necessary if, for example, there are gaps in the map data. The routing profile selection affects how the routing "follows roads", i.e. how it favours different paths.

The sidebar also has the route's summary and the warnings / notes sections: you get them open by pressing the chevron on the right edge. The warnings / notes tell you about sections on the route worth noting, which are worth checking if the route doesn't go along ways you already know. By pressing the warnings list you get the warning type in question showing on the route line, i.e. those spots on the route the warning concerns. When you then further press the spot coloured yellow or red with the mouse or finger, you get more information about the warning, in practice the information on how the way has been recorded into OpenStreetMap — interpreting this information requires a bit of knowledge about OpenStreetMap's way of describing roads and trails.

The route's warnings / notes are also always visible directly on the map's track with a faint yellow and red colouring. Likewise, the way's surface is visible on the route line: asphalt (a solid red line) and other surfaces (among them gravel / earth) (a red dotted line). These help you interpret the route quickly, and you can look at more detailed information at the spots you choose either from the sidebar sections mentioned above, by zooming very close to the route line, in which case it turns translucent and you see the map markings underneath it, or you can also look at the OSM information of the way underneath with the context menu described earlier.

The sidebar also has buttons for saving the route to Trailmap's route library, saving a GPX file, sending the route to a device (Garmin, Wahoo or Suunto) and sharing the route with other users. Note! Remember to save the route if you want to keep it for later use — the route isn't saved automatically. In the save dialog you give a name and a description, and you can additionally choose the activity type, the collection and the visibility (private, public or published). With the "star" button in the top right corner the route is marked for device syncing: marked routes are synced automatically to the Garmin and Wahoo devices connected to the service. When sharing a route you get a share link; there's also an alternative "fresh link", which helps if, for example, WhatsApp doesn't refresh the link's preview image.

You can end route drawing either from the cross in the top right of the sidebar or from the "end route drawing" button further down in the sidebar. Note. Ending route drawing doesn't delete the route on the map; it only changes the app's state to the basic state, i.e. the map viewing state. You can get to continuing route drawing in the ways described earlier in the guide. When you want to delete the route from the map, press the "delete from map" button (or the "wastebasket" button of the drawing action bar described further down). Note. Deleting a route from the map isn't restorable, so if you want to keep the route you've edited, save it to the app's route library first.

The drawing action barThe drawing action bar

Routing profiles:

  1. On foot: Chooses the most direct (shortest) routes. Also suits e.g. mountain biking when you want to choose the paths yourself.
  2. Mountain bike: Favours trails and forest roads.
  3. Gravel: Makes versatile use of different ways, from gravel and small roads to easy trails.
  4. Road bike: Favours paved roads and avoids trails and gravel.
  5. Winter: For skiing and other winter sports. Under the profile you choose Skiing or Winter MTB.

Each profile's routing can be fine-tuned in the profile's "Routing settings" menu (e.g. technicality, avoiding asphalt or big roads, favouring cycle paths), and the settings can be restored to the defaults.

The drawing buttons in the top left corner on the map: Starting from the left: Hide the route momentarily (you see what's under the route line), reversing the route i.e. "end to start", continuing the route from its start, deleting a piece from the route ("Cut"), undo, redo and start drawing the route from scratch i.e. "clear".

The "Cut" function opens a slider with which you select a part of the route: you can either delete the selected part or delete everything except the selected part. The "continuing the route from its start" button switches the adding of waypoints to the start of the route (otherwise new points are added to the end of the route). You can make a loop route by clicking the route's first waypoint and choosing "Make a loop route".

Shortcuts: "z" is undo and "t" switches the "follow roads" selection.

Mouse functions:

Note. The small white circles with a red rim on the route line are "waypoints", which determine which way the route line goes.

The elevation profile

From the bottom bar below the route you can open, with the arrow button, the elevation profile, which shows the route's distance–elevation curve. The profile can be coloured with the options "Surface" (way surfaces) or "Warnings". By moving the mouse over the graph you see the corresponding spot on the map and details (distance, elevation, steepness, surface), and by clicking, the map centres on the spot in question.

Automatic route drawing

You can also create a route automatically. Choose "Automatic route drawing" and "Create" from the route drawing's starting view. Set the routing profile, the route's length (slider) and the starting direction (compass selector), then choose the starting point from the map. The app suggests a few alternative routes, from which you can choose one for more detailed editing, or create the suggestions again.

Routes and Collections

By choosing "Routes" from the navigation bar you can see a listing of all your own routes, which are ordered by the most recent editing time, i.e. the newest (last edited) is at the top left. With the help of the route filter you can choose only some of the routes to be visible in the listing: routes can be limited by, among other things, text search, activity type, collection, distance, editing date, visibility and device syncing. By choosing "Show on map" you can examine your route library on the map; in that case it's often worth choosing only some of the routes to be visible with the help of the "route filter". By clicking an individual route on the map you get more information about it and a pop-up menu for the functions.

From the route cards you can choose a route to view it or for editing; by clicking the "star" you can either activate or deactivate syncing to Garmin and Wahoo devices, and the "three dots" button opens a menu with which you can, among other things, delete the route permanently (note, not restorable), make a copy of it, edit it, create a GPX file, share the route, add it to a collection or send it to a device.

On the screen there are also buttons with which you can continue editing the opened route or create an entirely new route (note, that closes the route that was open earlier, and the changes aren't saved!). In the route listing, the route card shows which route you're editing if you're editing an old route (rather than having created a new route).

The route's viewing view has Map, Info and Elevation profile tabs; the Info tab also shows the distribution of the route's road surfaces. You can take a route shared by another user for yourself with the "Copy as my own" function.

Under the "Routes" menu you can also look at the collections you've created. Collections are a handy way of grouping routes, e.g. the route plans for the summer holiday, your best gravel routes, the routes for some particular destination and so on.

Maps

Map settings

From the "map" button in the top left of the map view you open the map settings menu. With it you choose different maps into the map view and edit them.

Map settingsMap settings

The top selection of the map settings is "profile". With it you can save different map settings for different purposes, e.g. for different sports. The default settings are already quite workable for the 4 different sports that are on the profile list, and in addition there are the "other" and "own" profiles. The profiles work as follows: whenever you edit the map settings further down in the menu, they're saved as part of the profile you've chosen, so they're easy to restore quickly. The profiles are, as it were, "memory slots".

With the settings further down in the menu you edit the map visible on the screen:

My maps

By choosing "Maps" from the navigation bar and, under it, "My raster maps", you can get to defining which raster maps are on offer in the map settings menu. Both as the base maps of the "Other" style, or as overlays in all the styles.

The "Maps" function opens on the screen a list of your own maps, both base maps and overlays. The list shows all the maps that came with the app and your own maps. From the "..." button on the right side of a map you can access the other functions; among other things you can copy the map layer, edit it or delete it if it's your own map.

You can get more maps onto the list from the "+ Add map" button at the bottom of the list. You can read more about maps, their differences and their use in this article. Adding your own maps requires a bit of getting familiar with how map servers work and how they're defined.

The app supports different types of map source:

Examples of map sources:

  1. OpenStreetMap (XYZ) URL: http://c.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
  2. Digiroad (WMS) URL: https://avoinapi.vaylapilvi.fi/vaylatiedot/digiroad/ows and "Layer name": dr_liikennemaara and "Layer style": dr_liikennemaara
  3. MML NLS topographic map (WMTS, but choose the XYZ type) URL: https://avoin-karttakuva.maanmittauslaitos.fi/avoin/wmts/1.0.0/maastokartta/default/WGS84_Pseudo-Mercator/{z}/{y}/{x}.png?api-key=(your own API Key created on MML's OmaTili page)

The map URL requires the use of so-called variables which identify the map tile to be fetched and are of the form {z} i.e. the zoom level, {x} the x coordinate and {y} the y coordinate. In addition you can use {s}, which is replaced when fetching a tile with the letter a, b or c (this is a rudimentary load balancing that some map servers still use). Note. These variables vary between different apps, so be careful if you copy map URLs from elsewhere. In some, for example, {z} is {zoom} and {s} is {switch:a,b,c}.

Other map functions

The navigation bar's "Maps" menu also holds "Maps for other apps", with which you can get Trailmap's maps into use in other apps (e.g. in Garmin, a Plus function), as well as "General maps" for viewing broader area maps.

Mapping

If you take the "OSM mapper" selection into use from the settings, "Mapping" appears in the navigation bar's "Maps" menu. With it you can investigate the information of OpenStreetMap ways: click the map to see the road's or trail's information, and double-click a path you've found to open its OSM history. With the ready-made searches you'll find e.g. unsurfaced roads or missing mtb classifications, and the "Open iD editor" button takes you straight to OSM editing.

Tracks

If you've linked the app to Strava, you get the tracks of Strava activities onto the map by choosing them from the list in the sidebar on the left edge of the screen. The list has the activities of the selected year and quarter / quarters.

By choosing "My own" from the sidebar's tab selection you get "your own tracks" showing. Your own tracks can be saved by, among other things, clicking a track opened on the map and choosing "Save track" from the pop-up menu that opens. With the mobile app you can save your own ride as your "own track".

Note. "My own tracks" isn't intended as a ride library in the same way as those apps (Garmin, Suunto, Polar, Strava etc.) that are intended specifically for saving your own rides. "My own tracks" is quite simple in its functions and suits best for saving individual tracks, e.g. for saving GPX tracks found from various sources into an easily usable form.

With the "Tracks" menu you can also import tracks and so-called POI points onto the map from GPX and KML files.

Places and Photos

With the "Places" menu the sidebar on the left edge opens, with which you can manage your own places and the photos you've published. My places is a Plus function. You can add a new place from the map ("Add place" or the map's context menu) or from an image file, in which case the location is read from the photo's GPS information. You can choose an icon for the place (among them viewpoint, campfire site, shelter, water point, restaurant, accommodation).

By clicking the places or photos visible on the list, the map centres on them. At the same time a map marker appears on the map, by dragging which you can change the place's or photo's location. When you drag the map marker to a new place, it takes a moment before the place's or photo's location changes place: when the location has changed, the icon appears on the map at the same spot as the map marker you dragged.

You can also edit the place's or photo's details or delete it entirely by pressing either the "cogwheel" button (if the place has a photo or it's a published photo) or the "edit" button.