Route creation software

[Mick F]

I use BikeHikeUk quite a lot, and wondered if there was a software package to install on my Mac that would do the same.
Does such a thing exist?
I would like my own BikeHike sort of thing in my own computer.

Why do we have to go online to create a route?

[meic]

I used to use Anquet before the online stuff was available.
Garmin Basecamp will allow you to do some route planning on your PC, I dont know if it is me or Basecamp to blame but it doesnt work out well.

[Psamathe]

Do you have a Linux installed? I've no experience of them but I believe there are such systems for Linux (or Windows if you have that installed as well)

Ian

[bohrsatom]

Basecamp's all I've used on my Mac. It does what you want - routing with offline maps - but I've always found it more hassle to use compared with online mapping sites.

To make your life easier, get the OpenFietsMap maps (www.openfietsmap.nl) and follow their instructions on creating a routing profile to choose the best routes for cycling. Would link direct to the page but the website is down.

[Mick F]

Thanks guys.

Garmin Basecamp is horrible to use, or at least it isn't easy to use and I don't like it. If you can do stuff online with route creation, I don't see why you can't download a system just as good.

My Garmin Montana will create a route using Route Planner and it's not even connected to the internet, so I don't see why my computer can't do it.

[Psamathe]

Thanks guys.

Garmin Basecamp is horrible to use, or at least it isn't easy to use and I don't like it. If you can do stuff online with route creation, I don't see why you can't download a system just as good.

My Garmin Montana will create a route using Route Planner and it's not even connected to the internet, so I don't see why my computer can't do it.

There are systems available, I know of but have no experience of one but you need to have Linux within your macOS. Or you could try loading up Android and running OSMAnd (again, not done it but it would be to see if it worked).

Ian

[Paulatic]

Comprehensive guide? https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Software/Desktop

[Mick F]

Thanks.
Looks interesting!

Busy this afternoon, so I'll get back to this later or tomorrow.

[al_yrpal]

I have found cycle.travel amazingly good. It chooses the quietest cycle friendly routes which you can tweak how you like and its a doddle to create a route file for a Garmin or anything else. I know it does it online but you can save and later retreive your own routes. Great for circular routes too.

Osmand is fairly useless in cycle mode, it will put you on footpaths so you have to use it to create car routes.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=83831&p=1287316#p1287316

All

[Psamathe]

I have found cycle.travel amazingly good. It chooses the quietest cycle friendly routes which you can tweak how you like and its a doddle to create a route file for a Garmin or anything else. I know it does it online but you can save and later retreive your own routes. Great for circular routes too. ....

I agree. And given it's continuous improvement from an already excellent position I doubt any other systems will give you such good cycle routes.

....
Osmand is fairly useless in cycle mode, it will put you on footpaths so you have to use it to create car routes.

I've tried OSMAnd a few times as experiments and the routes were not terrible but the route creation keeps locking-up the app reproducible (i.e. it always locks up at the same point). To avoid this you have to add via points which becomes something of a faff as you are then starting to limit the routes considered and specifying the route yourself. I found the lock-ups on test routes of 60 miles (probably 40 "as the crow flies", 60 as travelled on roads).

Ian

[sjs]

I use BikeHikeUk quite a lot, and wondered if there was a software package to install on my Mac that would do the same.
Does such a thing exist?
I would like my own BikeHike sort of thing in my own computer.

Why do we have to go online to create a route?

Do you want a route to be created automatically (as in cycle.travel), or just by manual creation of points to be joined together, as per clicking on bikehike's OS map? If the latter I think MOBAC can work on a Mac, and can use offline maps if you have them.

[landsurfer]

I use ... https://cycle.travel ... on my MacBook Pro ... its good ...

[mjr]

Osmand works for me. No lockups and I have to force it with via points to go along footpaths and their elk.

For manual route drawing on a computer, I've used Viking.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Possibly QMapShack? It appears to have a Mac version available for download - https://bitbucket.org/maproom/qmapshack/downloads/ - and documentation at https://bitbucket.org/maproom/qmapshack/wiki/DocMain . I suspect it might not be the simplest program to use, but who knows. It appears to be able to read Garmin-format maps (.img) which are of course extensively available for free.

(and thank you al, Psamathe and landsurfer for the kind comments, of course!)

[Psamathe]

Osmand works for me. No lockups and I have to force it with via points to go along footpaths and their elk.
.....

I was using it on an iPhone. Though their help pages document the need for intermediate via points when lock-ups occur in a general (no specific platforms) help.

I've not tried it recently as I've used other routing systems but looked a bit like a general algorithm issue. http://osmand.net/help-online/faq#routing_slow

Ian