How to make custom routes on google maps

A few months ago, Google Maps started supporting offline maps. This means you can use Google Maps even without a data connection and still see yourself show up as that little blue dot on a map. You can know exactly where you are in relation to everything else on the map. You can save areas of about 35 square miles to your phone. It's a brilliant use of technology, but it might not fulfill all your offline direction needs. That doesn't mean you can't make it work for your special case, however, as long as you're willing to follow a few simple steps.

Phil asked, "Is there a way to save a route and be able to use it later on a trip [with] the app giving directions? If Google Maps will not do this, what is a good app that can? I am going to Washington, D.C., in two weeks via bicycle and could use this in town to get from my place of stay to the train station."

Phil was getting ready to ride the C&O Canal bike trail(Opens in a new window), 184.5 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, to the District. The trail would be easy enough to follow, but once he hit city ground, he needed a reliable method for getting around safely by bicycle, with no data required.

What he really wanted was the ability to create a custom route, not merely the shortest way to get between points A and B, that he could save offline with turn-by-turn directions. After some hands-on testing, research, and outreach, I did find some options for Phil. I also discovered that there are a lot of nuances to saving maps offline. Depending on where you're going, how you're getting there, and what device you own, the best solution varies. Here are some options.

How to Create a Custom Route and Send It to Your Phone

Using Google Maps, you can create a custom route and send it to your phone. You can save it offline if you have an Android device, but not with an iOS device as of this writing. However, iOS users can cheat it, as I'll explain.

In this scenario, we want to make a custom route between two or more points using Google Maps on a laptop or desktop computer. Then we want to save that handmade route and send it to the phone. An example: You want to take a scenic route from one point to another that passes at least one specific landmark, and the most direct route does not pass the landmark.

1. Go to maps.google.com on your computer. You need a Wi-Fi or data connection for this part.
2. Make sure you're signed into Google.
3. Search for point A and find directions to point B.
4. Once the route appears on screen, hover your mouse over the route starting at the point you want to diverge from the fastest route. A dot will appear with the text "Drag to change route." Drag that dot to your first landmark.
5. Repeat for as many landmarks as necessary until you have your desired route.
6. On the left side of the screen you'll see a link that say "Send directions to your phone." Click it, and you might see a few options for how to send the route, such as email, text, or a specific phone that you have signed into Google services. Select your method, and you should soon receive a link that will open your custom route in the Google Maps mobile app.
7. If your phone has a Wi-Fi or data signal at this point, you should be able to open the custom route.

I tested using a OnePlus 2 Android phone and an iPhone. On the Android phone, I was able to save the route itself offline by opening the directions preview and scrolling to the bottom. There was a link to save the route offline. Beautiful!

On the iPhone, there was no option to save the route offline. However, if I left the route and list of directions on the screen and then disconnected from Wi-Fi and data, I could still see the directions and the map, as long as I didn't close or quit the app. That's what I mean when I said earlier that you can cheat it. It's not foolproof, though, and it wasn't something I felt comfortable recommending to Phil the cyclist. What if he accidentally closed the app or cycled the power on his iPhone?

Save the Map, Not the Route

You can, of course, save the map offline on an iPhone, and if your route is short enough that you could easily trace it on the map from memory, the map alone may be good enough.

All you need to do in this scenario is save an area of a map offline. (This was the subject matter of the column I linked in paragraph 1.)

To summarize: Fire up the Google Maps iPhone app. Search for a point. You need to find a point first to save a map. It can be a generic point, such as Washington, D.C., or a specific point, like the Lincoln Memorial. Once you have a point, you can save the map around that area, up to about 35 square miles, for offline use. Just tap on the place when Google Maps finds it, then tap the three stacked dots in the upper right corner. Choose Download offline area, and you're all set. That map will stay on your phone for 30 days. After 30 days it will automatically be deleted to free up space.

As I said, you'll now have a detailed map, and you'll be able to see your GPS location on the map, even without data, but you won't have any custom routes. This option is great for exploring places by foot, and it's a wonderful safety net if you're traveling to an unfamiliar area. But it's not ideal for cyclists.

Note that a wonderful alternative to Google Maps is Maps.me. It lets you save rather large maps offline and get driving directions offline, but you can't make your own custom routes in that app and save them offline. In my experience, it's more accurate for less traveled places than Google Maps is.

How to Save Custom Routes With CycleMaps

I searched around and found a tip on a bicycling forum to check out the CycleMaps app(Opens in a new window), and so I wrote to the team and asked directly whether the app could save custom routes offline.

Yes, yes it can.

The support team member who answered my email, Stefanos Zachariadis, noted that CycleMaps uses maps provided by the OpenCycleMap(Opens in a new window) project. To make an offline route, Zachariadis wrote, "select the OpenCycleMap map type, construct a custom route using CycleMaps, by searching for landmarks and waypoints, tapping particular locations and modifying the result as you please, save it as a favorite, and when it's time to ride, load it up and start pedaling."

Additionally, if you have GPX or KML files, which are mapping file formats commonly shared among cycling clubs, you can import routes from other apps and modify them in CycleMaps. Mark them as a favorite, and they'll also be available offline.

One shortcoming is that CycleMaps doesn't have spoken turn-by-turn instructions, only printed directions that you can read from a smartphone or connected smartwatch. Cyclist sometimes ride with one earbud in to hear directions, or they'll jack the audio on a smartphone after it's mounted to their handlebars. I'd rather hear directions than take my eyes off the road to read them, but both options work.

Ride Safely!

The primary reason bicyclists need custom routes is not for sightseeing, but to find ways to get to their destination without hitting major highways, bridges, and tunnels that aren't safe or are off-limits to cyclists. Additionally, some roads that technically allow cyclists aren't well suited to every type of rider. It's safer for cyclists to find custom routes that meet their needs, and it's safer for other vehicle traffic, too. Saving routes offline helps cyclists ride safely in the event that they can't get a data signal.

Last I heard from Phil, he had completed the 184.5-mile journey over four days, camping along the way. He made it to D.C. safely where he met up with a friend who helped him get around safely by bike. They took hundreds of photos, he said, of him and his bike at famous landmarks. Eventually, he made his way to the train station, and got a long rest on the journey home.

For more, see PCMag's reviews of the best fitness apps and fitness trackers.

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