How Accurate Is Our Trail Data?

Every walk on this site lists a distance, an elevation gain and loss, a maximum height, a moving time and a difficulty rating. We want to be upfront about exactly where those numbers come from, how much you can trust them, and why they sometimes won’t match what you see elsewhere.

The short version: we do our best, and the figures are a reliable guide for planning — but they are not survey-grade, and some numbers (especially total elevation gain) genuinely vary depending on how they’re measured.

Where Our Numbers Come From

Each route’s data is built from two sources:

1. Publicly available route information — the documented line of the trail, official trail-association descriptions, park information and mapping data.
2. Our own GPS recordings — we walk the route and record the track using GPS on a mobile phone, then calculate the stats directly from that recorded track rather than estimating them.

Where the two disagree, we use judgement: the recorded track usually wins for the shape and distance of the route, while public sources help sanity-check the overall picture.

Why the Numbers Can Vary

If you record the same walk on a different device — or compare our figure to another website, app or trail sign — you will often see different numbers. That’s normal, and it’s not a mistake by either side. Here’s why.

Distance

Phone GPS samples your position every few seconds. In open terrain that’s very accurate; under tree cover, in gullies or beside cliffs the signal scatters slightly, which can add or shave a few percent over a long walk. Different apps also smooth the track differently. Expect distance to be accurate to within a few hundred metres on a typical day walk — close, but not exact.

Elevation Gain — the big one

Total elevation gain is the least reliable number on any walking site, anywhere — including this one. This isn’t unique to us; it’s a well-known limitation of GPS.

The reason: “total ascent” is the sum of every small upward movement across the whole route. Tiny GPS elevation wobble — even a metre or two of noise while you’re walking on flat ground — gets added up thousands of times. Two recordings of the identical walk can differ by 100 metres or more purely from how each device and app filters that noise. Phone barometric and GPS elevation readings also drift with weather and conditions.

We calculate ascent from the actual recorded track, which we think is the most honest approach, but treat the elevation gain figure as indicative, not precise.

Moving Time

Our “moving time” is how long the walk took us, moving, at a steady but unhurried pace — not including long breaks. Your time will depend on your fitness, the conditions, how many photos you stop for, and how busy the trail is. Use it for relative comparison between walks rather than as a promise.

Difficulty

Difficulty is a judgement call, calibrated for a reasonably fit but non-specialist walker. It factors in distance, climb, terrain and exposure. Reasonable people will disagree at the margins.

What We Do to Keep It Honest

• Every stat is computed from a real GPS recording of the actual route, not copied from elsewhere or estimated from a map.
• We cross-check the recorded route against public trail information for obvious errors.
• We don’t round numbers to make a walk sound easier or harder than it is.
• There is no sponsored content and nothing is paid to appear — the data has no reason to flatter anything.

What This Means for You

• Use the figures to plan and compare walks — they’re good for that.
• Don’t treat elevation gain as exact; if a number looks dramatically different to another source, the truth is usually somewhere in between.
• Trail conditions, signage, water and access change over time. Always check current conditions before you head out.
• Carry the GPX track on your device and use your own judgement on the day. A recorded track is a guide, not a guarantee.

Found Something Wrong?

If a figure looks off, a track is clearly wrong, or conditions have changed on the ground, please tell us via the Contact page. Corrections from people who’ve actually walked the route are the best way this site improves — and they’re always taken seriously.

We’d rather tell you honestly that elevation gain can wobble by 10% than pretend our numbers are perfect. Everything here is recorded in good faith, calculated transparently, and offered free — but the trail itself is always the final authority.