I'm looking for a "Roads I've Driven" type app.
April 7, 2014 8:41 AM Subscribe
You know those websites and apps that let you color-in a state or a country after you've visited? I realized this weekend after a long road-trip that I'd love to a see a map of all the highway routes I've driven across the country. Does any such website or app exist?
Thank you!
You can use Google Maps Classic for this, at least until they stop supporting Google Maps Classic. Many mapping tools are good with lists of waypoints, but this routing thing is crucial to me and I have not found another site that does it well, which is why I still use Google Maps Classic. (I could not find a way to do this successfully in the new Google Maps or Google Maps Engine Lite.)
Basic directions to doing this:
- Create a new map (with Classic Maps). Give it a name if you like.
- Type your route into the search bar ("St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois" or use specific addresses).
- When the directions pop up, scroll down on the left side bar and click on "Save to My Maps". Choose your map from the drop-down menu.
- Go back to your map. Three items will have been saved: the starting point, the ending point, and the route itself. You can delete the starting & ending points if you want a cleaner list of routes. You can also rename the route itself. You can also change the route if you realize that you took a detour that you want to record- just drag and drop on the line, and it will snap to roads.
- There are a few tools here that you can use as well, such as drawing your route (which will snap to roads) instead of doing it with directions. I like to save off our stopping places.
Example maps from my most recent trip: part one, two, three.
I like to create these maps to illustrate blog posts on trips I've taken. I tend to break down the maps into multiple parts to keep them from being too busy, and they can be loaded into Google Maps together if I want to see the whole trip at once. I have not tried to make a full map of all my routes, but you could definitely try to do it!
This is purely a website exercise, as the Google Maps app for iOS will not load it. Google Earth for iOS can display it, but I don't think you could do much in terms of editing the routes on your phone.
(I'll be keeping an eye on this thread in the hopes that another option is available.)
posted by aabbbiee at 11:10 AM on April 7, 2014
Basic directions to doing this:
- Create a new map (with Classic Maps). Give it a name if you like.
- Type your route into the search bar ("St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois" or use specific addresses).
- When the directions pop up, scroll down on the left side bar and click on "Save to My Maps". Choose your map from the drop-down menu.
- Go back to your map. Three items will have been saved: the starting point, the ending point, and the route itself. You can delete the starting & ending points if you want a cleaner list of routes. You can also rename the route itself. You can also change the route if you realize that you took a detour that you want to record- just drag and drop on the line, and it will snap to roads.
- There are a few tools here that you can use as well, such as drawing your route (which will snap to roads) instead of doing it with directions. I like to save off our stopping places.
Example maps from my most recent trip: part one, two, three.
I like to create these maps to illustrate blog posts on trips I've taken. I tend to break down the maps into multiple parts to keep them from being too busy, and they can be loaded into Google Maps together if I want to see the whole trip at once. I have not tried to make a full map of all my routes, but you could definitely try to do it!
This is purely a website exercise, as the Google Maps app for iOS will not load it. Google Earth for iOS can display it, but I don't think you could do much in terms of editing the routes on your phone.
(I'll be keeping an eye on this thread in the hopes that another option is available.)
posted by aabbbiee at 11:10 AM on April 7, 2014
The Waze app saves your drives, that you can then pull up on an interactive map afterwards. I do not know how long they're stored for, but it seems pretty cool.
posted by Lafe at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2014
posted by Lafe at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
#traveled {line-color: yellow;
}
or something. I don't have time to play around with it right now but you have a great idea.
posted by desjardins at 9:48 AM on April 7, 2014