Best online or app map for non-road routes?

[TheWho]

I'm thinking of getting a bike and getting out riding again after 20 years. I live in a rural area where the hedges and walls are high, roads wind and several people have been killed or permanently disabled by something coming round a tight corner or not seeing them.

Before I get a new bike I'd like to see if I can cycle around using non-road routes - paths, bridleways, cycle paths (not seen any round here), off road routes, etc. or if that's not possible.

What site or app can I go to to find out UK routes that avoid roads?

Thanks very much!

[Jdsk]

Welcome

I suggest starting with cycle.travel, with the routing options set to your preferences:
https://cycle.travel

Support is available here:
viewtopic.php?t=128273

And there's a vast amount of relevant experience in the archives of this forum.

Jonathan

[Nearholmer]

Cycle.travel set to “gravel” will give you such routes, and if you get heavily into it then it’s also worth subscribing to OS maps, because they give a lot more/clearer info about Rights of Way, the lie of the land etc, which come in really useful.

CycleStreets set to “quietest” gives you a mix of very quiet roads and the less arduous off-road paths.

A lot depends on how good/dense the path and RoW networks are where you live though, because that varies hugely across the UK, and a lot depends on your appetite for riding over rough ground, up and down difficult slopes, and through quagmires ……. If you are lucky in terms of networks, and enjoy slightly challenging routes, this can all be immense fun and very good exercise.

[531colin]

I think I’m right in saying you can get access to OS maps via Cycle.travel; cheaper than subscribing to OS on line.

[TheWho]

Thanks very much, that's all really helpful! Quite a lot of routes near me on roads, but more than I'd realised through field's, etc. Two questions:

First, are the cycle paths through field's often blocked? E.g. gate closed or there's a stile.

Second, quite a few routes near me go onto public access land or dead end at the top of a hill or something. What are the rules for bikes on public access land? Could I cycle from the end of one route across the hill on public access land and then meet up with the dead end of another route?

[Psamathe]

Sorry my response is not what you were asking but I felt it was relevant to what you are seeking.

...I live in a rural area where the hedges and walls are high, roads wind and several people have been killed or permanently disabled by something coming round a tight corner or not seeing them....

Without questioning your info (I have no idea where you are based) be careful where you get such "statistics" from. I've found on several occasions people who know nothing about cycling telling "scare stories" which on checking have no basis what so ever. Even caused but problems for my aged Mum when I resumed cycling who was told by a friend how dangerous cycling was and how many people are killed or injured ... so my Mum was them petrified about my safety for years, she got really negative when I started cycle touring in Europe, etc.

I also live in an area of narrow twisty single track roads with tall hedges and trees and in over 10 years the few issues have all been on long straight wide roads with plenty of visibility (and no falls, no injuries, etc.).

Before I resumed cycling (10+ years ago) I was concerned about safety and got told about dangers so ended-up stopping passing cyclists and asking them and they all said "no issues".

I cannot know the statistics for your area but be careful about these warnings from others.

Ian

[531colin]

Thanks very much, that's all really helpful! Quite a lot of routes near me on roads, but more than I'd realised through field's, etc. Two questions:

First, are the cycle paths through field's often blocked? E.g. gate closed or there's a stile.

Second, quite a few routes near me go onto public access land or dead end at the top of a hill or something. What are the rules for bikes on public access land? Could I cycle from the end of one route across the hill on public access land and then meet up with the dead end of another route?

Not my specialty subject, but nobody has picked this up.

You are allowed to cycle on roads and byways. There are also “restricted byways” where access to the byway is restricted to certain groups of users. I’ve never seen a restricted byway where cycles are not permitted but you never know.
The countryside act amendment of 1980 ( I think) gave cyclists permission to cycle on bridleways.
Cycle paths are designed and implemented by the local authority I believe. They range from shared pavement to converted railway tracks, with a few newly constructed paths .
Cycle paths won’t have stiles and locked gates, but they won’t often go across fields either.
Because somebody has recorded a route on a website doesn’t mean it’s legally useable.
Access land is accessible on foot, not on bikes or horseback.

[Jdsk]

...
Second, quite a few routes near me go onto public access land or dead end at the top of a hill or something. What are the rules for bikes on public access land? Could I cycle from the end of one route across the hill on public access land and then meet up with the dead end of another route?

Recent discussion:
viewtopic.php?t=160200

Jonathan

[Nearholmer]

From the government site about access land:

“What you can and cannot do
You can use access land for walking, running, watching wildlife and climbing.

There are certain activities you cannot usually do on open access land, including:

horse-riding
cycling
camping
taking animals other than dogs on to the land
driving a vehicle (except mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs)
water sports
But you can use access land for horse-riding and cycling if:

the landowner allows it
public bridleways or byways cross the land – horse riders and cyclists can ride along these
there are local traditions, or rights, of access”

Regarding bridleways that just stop in the middle of nowhere: some do! Where they continue as footpaths, that’s often because they cross a parish boundary, and the two parishes designated them differently (in 1947, I think), but some just stop altogether, often at a parish boundary, but sometimes for no obvious reason at all, in the middle of a field. Having led myself up such garden paths a few times, I now make doubly sure that I’m not going to need to double-back!

[gazza_d]

For general routing and navigation I find Komoot to be very good and generally reliable for plotting routes, both A-B and circular.

If you want something more detailed especially for public rights of way information, than frankly the gold standard is OS online mapping. You can buy a paper map and use the code in it to access the online version. You'll need to do your own navigation though.

[Pendodave]

I think I’m right in saying you can get access to OS maps via Cycle.travel; cheaper than subscribing to OS on line.

Bing maps has OS maps as a free layer on my PC and tablet.
There's some other fres options out there, but I cba to trawl the internet for them.

[Mtb tourer]

Komoot has issues, touring in Portugal. We are trying to get a fair bit of our cycling on dirt tracks. Komoot does not know if tracks are on locked up private tracks. Its been trying to send us through locked gates etc. Now we are looking at the Veloviewer heatmap to check, if it's on a GR all is well.