Although our site sometimes offers hiking suggestions or regions to explore, there are many online resources for finding a hiking route idea. Many sites pool topographic data, GPS tracks that you can download, or route descriptions. But the choice is so vast that it can be difficult to find your way around. Here is an overview and our advice on choosing your hiking site and finding the right hiking trail for next weekend or your next holiday.
Comparison of the main hiking sites
| Website | Cover | GPS tracks | Key strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| FFRandonnée | France, waymarked trails | No, topoguide reference | Official waymarking reference |
| Visorando | France, extensive coverage in the south-east | Yes, depending on the route sheets | Very detailed descriptions |
| TraceGPS | France | Yes | Extensive database, original routes |
| RandoGPS | France | Yes | High-quality map layers, IGN option |
| Sentiers en France | France, 16,000 hiking routes | No, PDF sheets | Rural hiking and countryside |
| Altituderando | Mountains, 5,300 routes | Yes, GPX on most route sheets | Search by summit or mountain range |
| Pyrandonnées | Pyrenees only | Yes, GPX, KML and DVE | In-depth mountain range expertise |
| Randozone | France and international | Yes, dedicated section | Reports and gear tests |
| France Rando | France, 88,000 km listed | No | Gîtes and tourism nearby |
| Camptocamp | Mountains, international | Yes | Multi-activity, climbing reference |
| Openrunner | France and international | Yes | Route planner |
The services offered by these platforms change regularly. Check access conditions and track availability directly on each site before using them to prepare an outing.
The advantage of the internet is that you can find everything there for free. The main drawback is that quality is often inconsistent, and you risk wasting time on fruitless searches. You may even trust recommendations that prove unreliable or uninteresting once you are out in the field. That is why we wanted to recommend only websites where you can find reliable routes, documented and tested by other users. We have focused mainly on hiking routes in France, although some of these websites offer international options.
A hiking site for finding hiking route ideas
Most of the sites we recommend are collaborative platforms. This means that anyone can upload a hiking route and share it with the whole community. Most of the time, you can leave comments or reviews. Over time, you can see which hikes receive positive feedback, a sign of quality, and which ones to avoid. Most of these sites also offer filter options to make your searches easier and, of course, allow you to download GPS tracks or a map for personal use.
Specialist sites
FFRandonnée: the website of the French Hiking Federation lets you search for waymarked hiking routes in France. You will find all the waymarked trails, with information about the hiking area and the associated guidebook. You can also search for hiking routes using different criteria: length, region and type of environment. This tool is better suited to choosing a hiking idea than getting precise route details. You will only find links to guidebooks to buy rather than the exact route, but you will at least know the starting point. To understand trail markings in the field, see our guide to waymarking for hiking.
TraceGPS.com: this site has a slightly dated interface, but it is very practical and fully functional, with a huge database of hiking routes. You can search for a route using multiple criteria: via the map, or by distance, elevation gain, duration or required level.
You can then view the route on a map, see it in 3D on Google Earth or download the GPS track. It is one of the most comprehensive websites available, and the quality of the hiking routes on offer is genuinely very good. They are often original and off the beaten track, and some cannot be found on other websites.
Visorando: a very interesting hiking website with an extensive library of routes across France, especially in the south-east. You can search by duration, difficulty and type of hiking, whether on foot, on horseback or otherwise. You can also search directly on the map by region. The descriptions of each hiking route are fairly detailed and provide plenty of additional information. Each time, you can download and print the map or use a GPS track if one has been uploaded.
It is also worth noting that this site has a tool to find the corresponding IGN maps for a given location, as well as built-in software for plotting your hiking routes. We explain how it works in our guide on how to use the Visorando app.
Randozone: another very comprehensive website listing hiking routes and treks in France and around the world. You can search for a hiking route using different criteria, such as location, town or map reference. The site also offers in-depth reports and gear test sections to help you plan your next outdoor outing. You will also find IGN maps for the best hiking routes, as well as a Services section with, for example, lists of mountain huts and practical information.
Worth highlighting: Randozone hosts an entire section dedicated to GPS tracks, classified by department and mountain range, available for free download in GPX format. Anyone can share their own tracks there.
RandoGPS : this site also offers a large route database. You are sure to find something that suits you. The map display is very clear: if you have an IGN package, you can activate it and view your route on an IGN map background. Even without it, the map background is genuinely very good and allows high-quality printouts for navigation. Of course, GPS tracks are also available. However, descriptions are often brief, depending on the authors, and the information provided can sometimes be confusing.
Pyrandonnées: as its name suggests, this site offers routes in the Pyrenees only. That said, you will find a considerable number of them, with genuinely high-quality information. What is more, it is clear that experienced hikers have created or commented on these routes. Each route is available in three track formats: GPX for GPS devices, KML for Google Earth and DVE for elevation profiles. The site also offers a forum and plenty of other information about the Pyrenean range. Worth checking if you plan to spend time walking in the Pyrenees.
Altituderando: a modern website offering more than 5,300 hiking routes. You can search for one using the map or other criteria. You can also search by a specific summit or by mountain range. These are particularly useful features for those used to mountain hiking. Most route pages offer a downloadable track, while a few remain in an older format that the site is gradually converting. Overall, the comments and advice provided for each route are very comprehensive and detailed. They have clearly been written by genuine enthusiasts, with a strong focus on safety and the mountains. Many summit ascents are described in great detail, with plenty of useful opinions and advice.
Sentiers en France: this is an exceptional website. Fairly discreet online, yet packed with more than 16,000 hiking routes across France. Each route comes with a very well-produced PDF sheet featuring an introduction, a description of the hiking route and a map. The site offers both free and paid content, but the work done is remarkable. It is a great choice for those who enjoy rural France and the countryside, as it gives pride of place to straightforward hiking routes and is less focused on long-distance hiking or mountains, although it includes many routes in mountain ranges.
France Rando: this site is also aimed at those who want to hike in every department of France. Its advantage is that you can find route ideas, with maps and elevation profiles but without GPS tracks, and find a selection of gîtes and things to see and do nearby. More clearly geared towards tourist hiking than sporting hiking, this site still offers an interesting, user-friendly interface and lists over 88,000 kilometres of hiking routes.
More general-purpose sites or sites open to other activities
Camptocamp: a hiking website that is not limited to hiking. You will find thousands of pieces of information and activity ideas of all kinds for mountains around the world. Hiking is not the main focus, but there are plenty of routes available. Route pages include their GPX track, available to download page by page. For climbing enthusiasts, this site is a real treasure trove, with a wealth of extensively described routes.
Finally, this site has a very comprehensive documentation section under the topoguide heading, where you will find plenty of information. For example, if you search for the calanques, you will find a very detailed page on the Marseille calanques, packed with useful information. A real encyclopaedia with maps, photos and plenty of advice.
I-trekkings: this is not strictly a route website, but rather a collection of trekking reports from different regions around the world. Its international scope is quite strong, though you will still find more than a hundred reports covering routes in France.
Tracerando: another comprehensive website with a dedicated category for hiking routes, as well as snowshoeing and mountain biking. The selection is not huge and the interface may seem dated, but everything works very well. You will find a good variety of possible hiking routes, including a good proportion of culturally themed routes that are less sport-focused.
Openrunner: this is more of a multi-purpose GPS track-sharing website than a hiking website. However, you should be able to find a route there quite easily. Easy to use, it has the advantage of being popular, with many users sharing their discoveries. On the other hand, people share all sorts of things there, so you will find a lower concentration of genuinely high-quality hiking routes.
Routeyou : an interesting general-purpose GPS track-sharing site, with the advantage of growing popularity and many hiking routes. The route presentation is well designed and packed with information, including plenty of photos and tourist information. The Routeyou community is fairly active, and the comments are useful for getting a clear idea of the quality of the hiking route on offer.
Other resources for finding a hiking trail
Beyond these fairly general route-sharing websites, you can also find more specialised sites. Some are created by tourism boards or local authorities, while others are run by individuals, such as Nous randonnons, launched in 2019 by enthusiasts of hiking, treks and outdoor adventures.
Another example is the blog Trace Ta Route, run since 2013 by three outdoor and travel enthusiasts, Edouard, Julie and Tristan. Other bloggers have joined them since. What makes them distinctive? Each has their own character and perspective, allowing you to explore the world through different approaches. Listing them all here would take far too long, so search using the chosen region followed by the phrase “hiking route”. Not all are particularly rich or comprehensive, but you can often find good resources.
Official websites often have plenty of information to share. For example, if you are planning to visit a national park, you can find many hiking routes on the park’s website. In the case of Mercantour, you will find an official dedicated website listing high-quality hiking routes. Rich in content and very well written, each route is described in detail, with all the information needed to prepare your outing.
Finally, you can also find plenty of information and route suggestions on specialist forums. Many hiking sites have forum sections where users can share and exchange information. Users often post comprehensive reports of their hikes, with GPS tracks, maps and other information. This can be a real goldmine for finding an original, little-known route.
You can also find this kind of information on travel websites, where forums allow users to share hiking routes. This is especially true of websites dedicated to travel abroad, where some hikers gather local information, translate it and share routes and advice in sections organised by country or theme.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best website for finding a hiking route?
There is no single answer: it all depends on your terrain. Visorando and TraceGPS cover all of France well with GPS tracks. Altituderando is more relevant in the mountains, Pyrandonnées in the Pyrenees, and FFRandonnée remains the reference for officially waymarked trails.
Where can you download hiking GPS tracks for free?
Visorando, TraceGPS, RandoGPS, Altituderando, Randozone and Openrunner offer downloadable GPX tracks, free for most of their catalogue. Pyrandonnées also adds KML and DVE formats. Some reserve IGN map layers or advanced features for paid subscriptions.
How can you tell whether an online route is reliable?
Always cross-check sources and read comments from other users, as they are the best indicator of quality. Check the date of the latest feedback: a trail may have been changed or closed. And compare the route with an IGN map before setting off.
One final tip: never set off without a paper map
Whatever the case, the web makes it possible to find countless routes. However, you need to remain cautious, check sources and cross-reference information. Comments from other users are a good indicator of route quality, so do not jump on the first hiking route you find without doing some research yourself.
Finally, whatever information or GPS tracks you collect, it is advisable to hike with a paper map. It is a real support and a valuable source of information, but also a safety measure, as electronics can fail. It is also the best way to learn how to read an IGN map and build your navigation skills.
Photo credit: Delphine Daniélou
