Methodology: how Offroad Pilot finds unpaved and avoids nature & military terrain

Offroad Pilot plans motorcycle routes over as much unpaved as possible, such as sand roads, gravel, forest tracks and green lanes, and keeps protected nature and military terrain out by default. This page explains honestly how that works: which data we use, how the route seeks out unpaved, and, just as important, where the limits of that approach lie.

1. Detecting unpaved: what the map says

Offroad Pilot doesn't decide by itself which roads are unpaved. That comes from OpenStreetMap, an open map maintained by volunteers worldwide, which records for many roads what they are made of and what kind of way they are. From that open map data we work out, road by road, whether a stretch is unpaved:

• What the road is made of, such as gravel, sand, dirt or a firm compacted base, as opposed to asphalt or paving.
• Field and forest tracks, the classic unpaved country lanes.
• Narrower paths, sometimes rideable, sometimes not, depending on the kind of way.
• How firm a track is, from a solid compacted base down to little more than ruts.

Taken together, that tells the planner, for every stretch of a route, whether it counts as unpaved. The percentage unpaved you see in the app is simply the share of unpaved metres across the whole route. So before you set off you know roughly how much of your ride runs over sand and gravel instead of asphalt.

2. Route selection: how the route seeks out unpaved

Knowing which roads are unpaved is one thing; planning a pleasant route along them is another. The difference lies in how each type of road is weighed up: how attractive or unattractive it is to include in a route.

An ordinary car route treats unpaved as something to avoid; it prefers to keep you on asphalt. Offroad Pilot flips that around: it gives gravel, sand and field tracks a preference, so the route seeks them out instead of routing around them. The result is a ride that strings together the unpaved public roads rather than taking the fastest through-road.

How hard the route hunts for unpaved is handled automatically; there is nothing for you to set. How much longer than the direct line your route may be is a separate choice, made with the Adventure slider. Slide it high and the route may take a generous detour to string together more good unpaved stretches; slide it low and the route stays closer to the direct line. You can also set a minimum distance if you want one. So the app takes care of finding the unpaved and the Adventure slider decides the length, a choice that can differ for every ride.

3. Avoiding: nature and military terrain out by default

Not every unpaved road belongs in a route. Many forest tracks lie in protected nature that is closed to motor vehicles, and military training areas are off-limits outside opened hours and can be dangerous. That's why Offroad Pilot treats these areas as no-go by default: the planner tries not to lay a route through them.

• Protected nature: land of managers such as Staatsbosbeheer and Natuurmonumenten and other protected nature areas stay out of your route by default.
• Military zones: training and firing ranges are avoided, so your route doesn't cross them.

This relies entirely on the available map data about where those areas are. The aim is to lay the route in advance so you don't accidentally end up somewhere riding isn't allowed or isn't possible. What the signs and decisions on the ground say, however, always remains decisive, and there is more on that below.

4. What we deliberately don't claim: the limits

This is the most important part for us. An Offroad Pilot route is a good starting point, but not a guarantee and certainly not a permission. The approach has real limits, and we don't hide them:

• The data can be incomplete or outdated. OpenStreetMap is made by volunteers. Not every road records what it is made of, and what is recorded can lag behind reality. A road the map calls unpaved may since have been paved, or the other way around.
• Unpaved in the data does not prove access. The fact that a road is unpaved says nothing about its legal status. It might well be a private road, a closed forest track or a non-public connection. Unpaved ≠ accessible.
• Access changes. A road can be closed by season (breeding season, wet periods) or shut by a decision of the road authority. Such changes are far from always (promptly) reflected in the map data.
• No-go boundaries aren't perfect. Avoiding nature and military terrain is only as good as the data marking where those areas are. If an area is missing from the data, it could unintentionally end up in a route.

From map data to route: the steps in order

Simplified overview. Details of the map data and the routing may change as we improve the app.

Plan a route yourself

Want to see how this works in practice? Open the planner and set a start and end point (or leave the destination out for a loop); the route then automatically seeks out as much unpaved as possible. Use the Adventure slider to set how much longer than the direct line your route may be. You immediately see the percentage unpaved and what each stretch is made of, and you download the route as GPX for Calimoto, Kurviger, TomTom Rider, OsmAnd or Gaia.

Plan your unpaved route →

Further reading: where can you ride unpaved, green laning in the Netherlands and the Trans Euro Trail (TET) in the Netherlands. See also our press page.