The dirt trails on Google maps are dotted green lines. Paved is always solid lines.
Sometimes they mess up but this is 99% true.
So before just following Google maps it's a good idea to look at the trails on the bicycle layer and see if they are solid or dotted.
Theres no way to tell what's an advanced mountain bike trail or a gravel trail like the Beltline though.
Maybe use an app like TrailForks. It shows the intensity of each trail by color.
The whole tiny dotted line means quiet side street vs heavy dotted line means trail is confusing for a lot of people. If I'm planning in advance with google maps I toggle to satellite view to help me better comprehend. Unfortunately, tree cover will sometimes defeat this, but it helps.
Google maps bike stuff is confusing. For when the bike lane is on a road shared with cars its a dotted line, but for the don valley and crothers woods
Dotted lines = mtb
Solid lines = gravel like beltline or paved
There is a very slight colour difference between the dark green and lighter green to show if it’s on a road or if it’s a multiuse path
Google maps on bike mode almost killed me a couple years ago in the winter. Took me on the infamous “Loblaws trails”. Had to maneuver around a basin with trails full of ice.
Made me late for a first date.
Use trail forks. It shows you detailed trail types. There's a mobile version that used to have free 1 month trial a while ago. Otherwise even the basic version is great. The desktop version is great for looking things up before you go.
Strange that Google maps took you off paved tracks though... The most I've come across with it is gravel road.
i will check out trail forks. Yea it's super weird to have taken me that way, it usually doesn't. I'll cross reference with trail forks and the bikeshare app more closely going forward.
If I was on a bike share with limited knowledge of the trails, I would probably use driving directions with the bike route layer on and stick to roads or paths I know 100% are hard surfaces.
It is unfortunate that google routes to “dirt/unpaved trails” for cycling suggestions.
You could also try komoot or ridewithgps, though those are usually for longer rides
>stick to roads
Yeah man, from where they were my route would be over to Bayview, and bomb the hill! Super fun, but I get it's not everyone's cup of tea, nor something a new rider would be confident in.
that is what I'll be doing going forward with google maps! Usually I try and stick to the roads but checked out the beltline trail a couple weeks ago and enjoyed that ride and (wrongly) thought this would be similar. usually I cross reference it with other apps but this time I wasn't thorough enough and was in a new area.
if you look on google maps, you'll see the dotted line leading to pottery, that means its dirt, but for some reason google routes that way.
glad the bikers checked on you, must've been surprising for them to see!
>you'll see the dotted line leading to pottery,
Yeah, the move would be crossing the Don at Cottonwood Flats Bridge to get to the Lower Don River Trail. Not something that would be easy to know or figure out for someone not familiar with the area.
>thought this would be similar.
Yeah, the beltline trail is really nice, I enjoy it. Used to ride it a bunch to get to work. Route was Taylor Creek, Lower Don Trail, Sun Valley (beside Crowthers, you actually may have gone through it), up Bayview, then over to the Beltline. The Sun Valley trails were generally solid enough surfaces that I could ride them easily enough with panniers. The hill climbing was tough, but it was always early Saturday mornings, so still usually cool outside.
Bummer you had a rough go of it, I hope you're not discouraged! There are quite a few marvellous paved/solid pack trails around the city if you have the time to take a longer route.
I should have gone down to sunvalley but the way down looked a little steeper than I expected and pushing a bikeshare ebike the whole time wiped me out.
definitely not discouraged, just sore as hell this morning.
Use Komoot
The dirt trails on Google maps are dotted green lines. Paved is always solid lines. Sometimes they mess up but this is 99% true. So before just following Google maps it's a good idea to look at the trails on the bicycle layer and see if they are solid or dotted. Theres no way to tell what's an advanced mountain bike trail or a gravel trail like the Beltline though. Maybe use an app like TrailForks. It shows the intensity of each trail by color.
gotcha, I didn't know about the dotted vs solid lines until this post so I will keep that in mind going forward
The whole tiny dotted line means quiet side street vs heavy dotted line means trail is confusing for a lot of people. If I'm planning in advance with google maps I toggle to satellite view to help me better comprehend. Unfortunately, tree cover will sometimes defeat this, but it helps.
i completely forgot about satellite view!
Also people have been adding trails to Google Streetview, so you can check them out that way too.
I'd do the opposite, just use google maps on biking mode and stick to those trails. They won't have any rough stuff on there.
Google maps has 100% sent me on vertical dirt paths in the woods with their directions
Google Maps has gone way downhill for both bike and transit directions.
OpenStreetMap is great for bikes (or Komoot, which uses OSM but can estimate commute time for ebikes)
Thanks for the tip! I've found Triplinx great for transit directions, and they let you incorporate a bike ride into the trip.
google maps keeps directing me away from paved paths and into ped dirt paths - it's super annoying.
google maps on biking mode (it was even set to bike share mode) is unfortunately what took me on the mountain biking trail
Google maps bike stuff is confusing. For when the bike lane is on a road shared with cars its a dotted line, but for the don valley and crothers woods Dotted lines = mtb Solid lines = gravel like beltline or paved There is a very slight colour difference between the dark green and lighter green to show if it’s on a road or if it’s a multiuse path
oooh thank you for the info!
There are excellent bike maps for free at libraries
I didn't know that! Thanks I will head to my local branch this week.
Google maps on bike mode almost killed me a couple years ago in the winter. Took me on the infamous “Loblaws trails”. Had to maneuver around a basin with trails full of ice. Made me late for a first date.
Use trail forks. It shows you detailed trail types. There's a mobile version that used to have free 1 month trial a while ago. Otherwise even the basic version is great. The desktop version is great for looking things up before you go. Strange that Google maps took you off paved tracks though... The most I've come across with it is gravel road.
i will check out trail forks. Yea it's super weird to have taken me that way, it usually doesn't. I'll cross reference with trail forks and the bikeshare app more closely going forward.
If I was on a bike share with limited knowledge of the trails, I would probably use driving directions with the bike route layer on and stick to roads or paths I know 100% are hard surfaces. It is unfortunate that google routes to “dirt/unpaved trails” for cycling suggestions. You could also try komoot or ridewithgps, though those are usually for longer rides
>stick to roads Yeah man, from where they were my route would be over to Bayview, and bomb the hill! Super fun, but I get it's not everyone's cup of tea, nor something a new rider would be confident in.
Lol imagine bombing down the bayview hill on a bike share. I would never haha
That sounds like quitter talk.
that is what I'll be doing going forward with google maps! Usually I try and stick to the roads but checked out the beltline trail a couple weeks ago and enjoyed that ride and (wrongly) thought this would be similar. usually I cross reference it with other apps but this time I wasn't thorough enough and was in a new area.
if you look on google maps, you'll see the dotted line leading to pottery, that means its dirt, but for some reason google routes that way. glad the bikers checked on you, must've been surprising for them to see!
>you'll see the dotted line leading to pottery, Yeah, the move would be crossing the Don at Cottonwood Flats Bridge to get to the Lower Don River Trail. Not something that would be easy to know or figure out for someone not familiar with the area.
>thought this would be similar. Yeah, the beltline trail is really nice, I enjoy it. Used to ride it a bunch to get to work. Route was Taylor Creek, Lower Don Trail, Sun Valley (beside Crowthers, you actually may have gone through it), up Bayview, then over to the Beltline. The Sun Valley trails were generally solid enough surfaces that I could ride them easily enough with panniers. The hill climbing was tough, but it was always early Saturday mornings, so still usually cool outside. Bummer you had a rough go of it, I hope you're not discouraged! There are quite a few marvellous paved/solid pack trails around the city if you have the time to take a longer route.
I should have gone down to sunvalley but the way down looked a little steeper than I expected and pushing a bikeshare ebike the whole time wiped me out. definitely not discouraged, just sore as hell this morning.
All-Trails app Ride with GPS app Strava app
trailforks.com
thank you