Help & Documentation

Multi-Route Support

PitStopper supports loading multiple routes simultaneously, perfect for planning multi-day trips, comparing route options, or organizing event stages. You can have up to 20 routes loaded at once. Try to load a twenty-first and PitStopper tells you the limit has been reached and leaves your existing routes alone, rather than quietly dropping the file.

Adding Routes

After loading your first route, you can add more routes in several ways:

  • Routes Panel - Click the button in the Routes box in the sidebar. You can pick several files at once and they load one after another.
  • File Menu - Use File > Add Another Route
  • Drag & Drop - Drop route files onto the upload box on the start screen. The box is the drop target, not the map, and it is only on screen before your first route loads.

The two options above always add, so they ask nothing. Uploading or dropping a file while routes are already loaded is the case that asks: choose whether to Add it alongside your existing routes or Replace them all.

Each route is automatically assigned a color from a palette of eight, so they are easy to tell apart on the map. Past eight routes the colors start repeating; you can set any route's color yourself in its settings.

Managing Routes

The Routes panel in the sidebar provides controls for managing multiple routes:

A compact bar showing the route count, a calendar icon, the current route name, and buttons to add a route and expand the list.
The route bar at the top of the sidebar. With more than one route loaded, each gets a card here and one of them is active.

More on the blog: Multi-Route Support for Multi-Day Trip Planning.

Route Cards

Each route appears as a card showing:

  • Color indicator - The route's color on the map
  • Name - Click anywhere on the card to make this the active route; double-click the name to rename it in place
  • Distance & elevation - Quick stats for the route
  • Details - Expands the card for average ascent and descent per km or mile, total elevation loss, and any score you have given the route

Multi-Route Controls

When multiple routes are loaded, additional controls appear:

  • Drag Handle - Drag routes to reorder them. Routes at the top appear on top on the map.
  • POI Visibility - Show/hide POIs for individual routes
  • Route Visibility - Show/hide routes on the map
  • Checkbox - Select which routes to include in POI searches and the POI list. A hidden route cannot be searched, so its checkbox is greyed out until you show the route again.
  • Settings - Rename the route, change its color, give it a score, split it into days of a set distance, or delete it

The button in the panel header says what these routes are: days of one trip, or alternative options for the same ride. It changes what the panel and the Compare button show, so set it to match what you are planning. Splitting a route into days from its settings turns it on for you.

Route Selection

The colored line below the Routes panel indicates which routes are currently selected for POI operations. Use the checkboxes to control:

  • Which routes are searched when finding POIs
  • Which routes' POIs appear in the sidebar list
  • Which routes are dimmed on the map (unselected routes appear faded)

Active Route

Click on a route card to make it the active route. The active route determines:

  • Which route's elevation profile is shown in the chart. With several routes loaded, tabs appear above the chart - clicking one both shows that profile and makes the route active.
  • Which route the map's right-click menu reads: distance from the start, elevation and time at that point, and which route Split Route Here and Route Settings act on
  • The default route for new manually-added POIs

The statistics under the Info menu are not per-route: distance, elevation gain and loss are the totals for every route currently visible on the map. Hide a route with its button to take it out of those figures. For a per-route breakdown, use the route cards or the comparison view.

How POIs Attach to Routes

When more than one route is loaded, every POI has a primary route - the one its distances (distance from start, from finish, which side) are measured against. That primary is set from how you added the POI:

  • Searched POIs - attached to the nearest route: whichever route runs closest to the POI. Only routes that are ticked for search are considered.
  • “Search this area” POIs - also attached to the nearest route.
  • Manually added POIs - attached to the active route (the highlighted card), regardless of which route is nearest - so activate the route you want a manual POI on before adding it.

A POI can also belong to more than one route at once. Open any POI's popup and, with two or more routes loaded, a Routes section lists every route with a tick box - tick a route to attach the POI, untick to detach it (a POI always stays on at least one). The route it was measured from is marked primary.

In List & Manage, a thin coloured bar down the left of each POI shows the route it belongs to (matching that route's colour); a POI shared across several routes shows one bar per route. The route checkboxes in the Routes panel control both which routes are searched and whose POIs appear in the list, so you can focus on one route's stops at a time - a shared POI appears whenever any of its routes is shown.

Overlapping routes (wet/dry variants): where two routes share the same roads - a “dry day” and a shorter “wet day” variant, say - you'll usually want the shared stops on both. Instead of ticking each POI by hand, use the Link shared POIs button in the Routes panel: it summarises how many POIs sit on each route and how many are already shared, then lets you pick how close a route has to pass (with a live preview of how many POIs will link) and attaches every stop within that distance to each nearby route in one step. It's a single undo away if you change your mind.

Splitting Routes

You can split any route into two separate segments at any point along the route.

More on the blog: Split Route - Divide Long Routes into Daily Stages.

Why Split a Route?

There are two ways to build a multi-day trip, depending on which end you start from. If you already have the whole route, split it into days. If you are building it day by day, plan the first day in the route planner and press Finish & plan next day - the planner reopens with your start already placed where that day finished, so you only choose the next stop. Repeat for as many days as you need. Either way the days are named for the places they run between, and each one starts the same time the following morning.

The Compare button in the Routes panel adapts to a trip too: instead of picking a winner between route options, it becomes a Trip Summary - every day's distance, where it starts in the trip, climb, descent, high point, start time and duration, with a whole-trip totals row. No day is crowned the winner, because days are not competing. The chart offers two views: Continuous draws the days end to end as one journey with the overnight stops marked, and Separate gives each day its own profile. Both views share one elevation scale, and Separate also scales the days by length, so a short flat day looks short and flat next to a long mountainous one.

Once a project is marked as a trip - with the button in the Routes panel header, or automatically when you split a route into days - the Routes panel also offers Plan next day (the signpost button). It opens the route planner with the start already placed at the previous day's finish, so you only choose where you're stopping - the new day is added to the trip rather than replacing it, is named for the places it runs between, and picks up the next morning's start time automatically.

Splitting is particularly useful for multi-day events and long tours. Start with your complete route, then split it at logical stopping points to create daily stages. This allows you to:

  • Plan overnight stops and identify accommodation at each split point
  • View distance and elevation statistics for each day separately
  • Search for POIs specific to each stage
  • Export individual daily GPX files for your GPS device

How to Split a Route

  1. Select the route - Click on the route card in the Routes panel to make it the active route (highlighted)
  2. Right-click on the map - Right-click at the point where you want to split the route
  3. Choose "Split Route Here" - Select Split Route Here from the context menu

What Happens When You Split

  • The original route is replaced by two segments: "Route Name (Part 1)" and "Route Name (Part 2)"
  • The first segment keeps the original route's color
  • The second segment is assigned a new color automatically
  • Both segments share the split point (it becomes the end of Part 1 and start of Part 2)
  • Your POIs are kept - each one moves onto the segment it falls on (keeping its starred/flagged status), so nothing is lost when you split. Their distance-from-start is recalculated for the new segment.
  • Turn instructions are kept - if the route carried turn-by-turn directions, each segment keeps the cues that sit on its own stretch, so both halves still export as a navigable route. (Splitting used to drop them silently; it no longer does.)
  • Distance and elevation statistics are recalculated for each segment
  • If the route had start and finish times, they are divided at the split point too, so each segment gets its own timings

Important Notes

  • It always splits the active route - the cut is made at the point on the active route nearest where you right-clicked, whichever route you clicked on. With several routes overlapping the same road, make the one you mean active first.
  • Cannot split at endpoints - The "Split Route Here" option is hidden when clicking near the start or end of the route
  • Split repeatedly - You can split the resulting segments again to create multiple sections
  • You can put them back - Expand a segment's card in the Routes panel and use Join with previous or Join with next. The buttons only appear where one route genuinely ends where the other begins, and the POIs from both come across onto the joined route.

Comparing Routes

When you have 2 or more routes loaded, a comparison button appears next to the route count. Click it to open the Route Comparison modal:

  • Elevation Chart - All routes overlaid on a single chart for easy visual comparison
  • Statistics Table - Side-by-side comparison of distance, elevation gain/loss, and min/max elevation
  • Winner summary - A line at the top names the shortest route, and a trophy marks the winning figure in the distance and climbing columns

Export Options

Multi-route support extends to exports:

  • GPX Export - Export selected routes as combined or separate files
  • Print Report - Generate reports with separate pages per route
  • Projects - Save all routes and POIs together for later use

Operating Modes

Route Mode (GPX Upload)

The primary mode for planning trips along a specific route.

  • Load a route file (GPX, FIT, KML or KMZ) containing a track or route
  • POIs are searched within a specified distance from the route path
  • View elevation profile with gradient-colored climbs and descents
  • Add distance markers at regular intervals
  • Export enhanced GPX with POI waypoints
  • Reverse route direction if needed

Location Mode

Ideal for exploring POIs around a specific location.

  • Set the centre point from the start screen (Use My Current Location, or an address, coordinates or Plus Code), or from POI > Search Location once the app is open. Clicking the map does not move the centre.
  • Define search radius (circular area)
  • Find POIs within the specified radius
  • No elevation profile available in this mode
  • Useful for finding services in a new city or area

Live Location Tracking

Track your real-time GPS position on the map while viewing routes or exploring locations.

Show My Location (Route Mode)

While viewing a loaded route, you can see your current position overlaid on the map.

  • Open the Settings menu and click Show My Location
  • Your browser will request location permission (allow it)
  • The map zooms to your position with a pulsing blue marker
  • A message confirms that tracking has started, and another confirms when it stops
  • Click Show My Location again to stop tracking

This is useful for following along your planned route in real-time, checking how far you've come, or identifying which POI you're approaching.

Live Tracking (Location Mode)

When entering Location Mode via "Use My Location" on the landing page, you can enable continuous tracking.

  • Check the Enable live tracking checkbox before clicking "Use My Current Location"
  • Your position will update automatically as you move
  • The search radius circle follows your position
  • A small battery warning reminds you that GPS tracking uses additional power

Tracking Features

  • Pulsing Marker - A blue pulsing dot shows your current position, with a small arrow pointing the way you are travelling once you are moving and your device reports a heading
  • Breadcrumb Trail - A blue line traces your movement path (points added every 10+ meters)
  • Accuracy Circle - When GPS accuracy is low (>20m), a faint circle shows the uncertainty range

Stopping tracking

Tracking stays on until you turn it off:

  • Settings > Show My Location is the on/off switch - the same menu option starts and stops tracking, whichever mode you are in. There is no separate tracking toolbar.
  • The map follows you while tracking is on, panning to keep your position in view as you move.
  • The breadcrumb trail stays put when you stop. It is cleared when you leave Location Mode, not when you stop tracking.
  • Tracking can stop itself - if you deny location permission, or if the browser fails to get a fix three times in a row, PitStopper stops tracking and tells you why.

Battery Considerations

Live tracking uses your device's GPS, which consumes battery. To minimize impact:

  • PitStopper uses battery-friendly GPS settings (not high-accuracy mode)
  • Position is cached for 5 seconds to reduce GPS polling
  • Stop tracking when not needed, from Settings > Show My Location