New Zealand Hiking and Cycling 3D Route Planner

Plan Your Next Adventure, Your Way

This map is built to make planning your hiking and cycling trips simple and enjoyable. With easy tools for creating multi-step routes, you can shape your journey exactly how you want it — while detailed profiles show you both the distance and elevation changes along the way.

Route Planning Made Easy

Design routes that fit your style, whether it’s a gentle ride or a challenging multi-day trek. As you add steps, the map generates clear profiles for each section, giving you a sense of how far you’ll go and how much climbing is involved. No surprises — just a clear picture of the adventure ahead.

Explore in 3D

Get to know the landscape before you set out. Rotate, tilt, and explore the map in 3D for a real sense of the terrain. It’s a great way to spot the tricky climbs, enjoy a virtual preview, and plan with confidence. Switch between topographic map and satellite views.

Explore DOC Huts, Campsites and Tracks

See all of DOC's features at a glance and get the info you need.

  • Blue icons mark DOC huts and campsites. Click on one to see everything you need to know including facilities, capacity and whether bookings are required.
  • Red and dashed lines (black on the topographic map, orange on the satellite view) show DOC tracks. Select a track to reveal more information about the route, helping you decide if it’s the right choice for your journey.

Save, Share, and Inspire

Found a route you love? Save it for later, or share it with friends and family so you can plan together. You might even spark some inspiration for someone else’s next trip.

Take It With You

Every route can be downloaded as a GPX file, making it easy to use with GPS devices and apps. Wherever you go, your plan goes with you.

Getting Started

  • For the best view, click the fa-solid fa-maximize fullscreen button.
  • Right-click (or long press) on the map to add up to 25 route steps.
  • Reorder steps with the drag handle or arrows.
  • Click any waypoint label to rename it.
  • Choose your route type: walking, cycling, or point-to-point.
  • Hit Show Route to see your journey drawn on the map, with a full summary below.

Use the fa-regular fa-circle-question help button for a quick set of guidelines on using the map or see the Help Page for more detailed information.

Disclaimer

A route shown on this map is not a guarantee of right of public access, nor is there any guarantee of conditions on the route, including the suitability for bicycles on the cycle routes.

Users of this map are responsible for ensuring they are properly prepared and possess the necessary skills and information before undertaking any route given by this map.

Data for all routes are published by OpenStreetMap.org.

Data for DOC tracks, huts and campsites are provided by the NZ Department of Conservation.

Help

This is a brief introduction to using the Hiking Planner. For a full description, see the Help Page.

It's recommended to use the map in full-screen mode (click the fa-solid fa-maximize full-screen icon), particularly on mobile screens, as this places everything in the viewable area.

Basic Operation
  • With a mouse
    • Left click, drag to move the map.
    • Right-click, drag left/right to rotate.
    • Right-click, drag up/down to tilt (for a 3D map).
    • Mouse wheel up/down to zoom (or use the +/- buttons in the top right).
  • On touch screen
    • Touch, drag to move the map.
    • Two fingers and twist to rotate the map.
    • Two fingers and drag up/down to tilt.
    • Two fingers and expand/contract to zoom (or use the +/- buttons in the top right).
  • Use the fa-regular fa-compass compass button to set the tilt to vertical and orientation back to North.
  • Show your location using the fa-solid fa-location-crosshairs target button. You need to allow the site to use your location to do this.
  • Click/tap on the fa-solid fa-magnifying-glass search button in the top right to find a location.
Showing Location Information
  • Click/tap on any location to reveal GPS coordinates and elevation data.
  • Featured items (such as DOC huts and tracks) will reveal a panel with detailed information on that item. See the help page for more information. Wherever you see the cursor turn to fa-regular fa-hand-pointer, there is a clickable feature below.
Changing the Map Style
  • Hover with the mouse over the image tile in the bottom left (or tap on touchscreen) to reveal other map styles. Click/tap one of these to change the map style.
Adding Routes to the Map
  • Create a route on the map by adding points ("waypoints"). To do this, right-click on a location (or long press on a touch screen) to show the menu and select "Add Waypoint".
  • The "Route Steps" menu will open in the top left showing your added point.
  • Click on the label for the added waypoint to give it a name. A default name will be pulled from the map if it is on a map feature.
  • Add at least 2, and up to 25, waypoints.
  • Select the route type (walking, cycling or point-to-point) and click on Show Route to draw the route and get a route profile and distance/elevation break down for each leg of your route. The elevations are cumulative ascent and descent over the entire leg of the route. There is also a total for the whole route.
  • In full-screen mode, you can minimise the route summary by clicking on the title bar.
  • Use the "Download GPX" button on the title bar to export a GPX file for use on your navigation app.
  • To re-order waypoints, use the up/down arrows on the left of the waypoint, or drag/drop using the handle in the top right of the waypoint.

TIPS:

  • Add your points with the map in vertical position (no tilt). Adding points with the map tilted can result in the points being placed away from the intended position.
  • Sometimes the route given will not be along your desired path. Add an extra waypoint along that path to try to get your path on the given route. Make sure to put the waypoint in the right order on the Route Steps form before clicking Show Route again.

Unroutable Points

  • If a point lies more than 100m from a path or road (or you have selected Point to Point for the route type), the Waypoint will be marked orange and you will a warning "Waypoint not on routable path". The route to or from this point to the next will be calculated as a straight line with net elevation gain only.
Sharing or Saving Your Map
  • The address bar of your browser is updated each time you change the map view (location, tilt, orientation, zoom) or create a route.
  • You can bookmark this address to reload the same view (and route if present), or share it with others. If a route is included, the zoom setting will be ignored in favour of fitting the route to the browser it's being loaded on.
  • Use the fa-solid fa-share-nodes share button (or your standard browser method) to do this.