A route's difficulty depends on who is running it. Twenty miles on a ridge means one thing three weeks out from a 50K and another six months into training. Most apps stop at distance and gain. nstride reads the route section by section and, once you add three of your runs, tells you what it will take you.
Every route page shows the climbs, the descents, the steep ground, the runnable share, and a 3D flyover. Routes come from public GPX files and race courses, over 100,000 of them, each processed the same way: elevation in, a readable course out.
nstride is free to use. Some features are a one-time $10 unlock. There is no subscription.
nstride shows what a trail route will demand of you: the climbs, descents and steep ground, and a finishing time fitted to your own runs. It covers over 100,000 routes and races.
Yes. Finding routes, elevation profiles, terrain stats, 3D flyovers and your own time estimate are free with no account. Downloading a GPX file or a prep sheet needs a free account. Uploading or drawing your own routes, projected pace and snow-risk views, and flyover video downloads are a one-time $10 unlock.
Algorithms read the elevation data of each route and identify climbs, descents, and flat sections. The analysis produces difficulty scores, runnable percentages, longest climbs, elevation gain per mile, grade percentages, and terrain character.
The same terrain analysis works at any pace. Elevation profiles, difficulty ratings, and segment breakdowns apply to hiking as much as running. Routes with singletrack, dirt, and gravel surfaces are popular with both groups.
nstride includes trail races from 5K to 200+ miles: 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, marathons, and ultras (50K, 50 mile, 100K, 100 mile), plus training routes and point-to-point courses.
Use the interactive map on the homepage to explore routes by location, or browse by state and distance in the route directory. Routes can be filtered by distance category and sorted by popularity.
A route prep sheet is a downloadable one-page plan for a route: section-by-section pacing strategy, terrain notes, weather considerations, and equipment options, generated from the route's analysis and a runner's pacing profile.
Runnable percentage estimates how much of a route can be run at normal effort versus hiked because of steep grades. It sets realistic pacing expectations before the run.
Difficulty scores combine distance, elevation gain, gain per mile, longest single climb, maximum grade, surface, and runnable percentage. Scores are relative to routes of similar distance.
Yes, with the $10 unlock. Upload a GPX file or draw a route on the map; it gets the same analysis as every other route and saves to your profile.
California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, and Vermont have the largest collections of analyzed routes on nstride.
Questions or a route to report: hi@nstrideapp.com