How to use Plotaroute

All of our routes – walking, running and cycling – can be found on our Plotaroute Home Page along with interactive route profiles, multiple download options and many other useful features. All files are freely accessible and can easily be downloaded and modified. Please remember however, that although we do our best to keep to permissive routes outside of open access land, responsibility ultimately lies with YOU.

How to use the interactive maps on The Durham Cow

Click the big arrow in the middle of a map to play the route and see the profile (you can switch between miles and kilometres by clicking the buttons on the map).
Click the crossed-arrows icon in the corner of the map to work in expanded, full-screen view (where the menus work better).
Icons in the top left of the map are zoom controls.
On the right-hand side are two menus: Display and Menu. Options in the Display menu can be turned on and off as can the sub-menu features. Particularly useful is Gradient (a bird’s-eye view of the steep bits), Road Type and Surface – all are off by default.
Play around with the Menu to see how it works.
Photographs can be clicked on the map as well as being available from the menu (additional information is also available by clicking icons on the map)
Directions are usually available as long as they’re generic. Detailed directions, where they’re necessary, take longer to produce however.
Click on the arrows in the top right corner, to minimize the Plotaroute map and return to The Durham Cow web page.

TIP: If you’re not sure what something on the map does you can see a brief explanation by hovering your cursor over it – whether the map is minimised or expanded.

How to download routes from Plotaroute

Downloads are easy on Plotaroute. On the Plotaroute website, scroll down from the map to see links for various GPS formats (GPX; KML; TCX; FIT) as well as options for image files (JPG; PDF) if you prefer printed output. You can share routes socially and even get a weather forecast.