How do I draw and measure a route on Google Maps?

Mapping Your Miles: A Quick Guide to Measuring Routes in Google Maps

Google Maps is more than just turn-by-turn navigation. It’s a powerful tool for planning hikes, bike rides, runs, or even estimating the length of a road trip. One particularly handy feature allows you to draw and measure a custom route, giving you precise distance information. Here’s a simple guide to utilizing this functionality:

Finding Your Starting Point and Initiating Measurement:

1. Open Google Maps: Navigate to maps.google.com in your web browser.
2. Locate Your Starting Point: Use the search bar to find the address or location where your route begins. You can also simply click and drag the map to center it on your desired starting point.
3. Right-Click: Once you’ve pinpointed your starting point, right-click on the exact location on the map.
4. Select “Measure Distance”: A context menu will appear. Choose the “Measure distance” option. A small white circle with a black dot in the center will mark your starting point, and a thin black line will extend from it, ready to follow your route.

Charting Your Course and Calculating Distance:

1. Click Your Way Along the Route: Click along the map, point by point, to draw your desired path. Each click will add a new point and extend the black line. This allows you to follow roads, trails, or even create a straight-line measurement across a body of water.
2. Adjusting the Route: If you make a mistake, don’t worry! You can click and drag any of the points along your route to adjust its position. This gives you fine-grained control over the path you’re measuring.
3. Viewing the Distance: As you add points, the total distance of your route will be continuously updated and displayed in a small box at the bottom of the map. The distance will be shown in both miles and kilometers.

Completing the Measurement:

1. Finishing Up: Once you’ve finished charting your route, you don’t need to click on your starting point again.
2. Click “Close”: Simply click the “Close” button in the distance box at the bottom of the map. This will finalize your measurement and remove the editing interface. The route and its calculated distance will remain visible on the map for future reference.

While seemingly simple, this tool can be incredibly valuable for various purposes. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete planning a training route or just curious about the distance between two points, Google Maps’ measurement feature provides a quick and easy way to get the information you need.