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Distance & area

Measure distance on a map

Click the map to drop the points of your path and see how long it is, leg by leg, and how long it takes on foot, by bike, by car or at your own pace.

By the All Map Tools Team

Example A walk along the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. Tap the map to start your own line.

  • Drag a point to move it.
  • Drag or tap the small dot in the middle of a leg to add a point there.
  • Tap a point to select it and remove it.
  • Switch on “Aerial photo” for USGS imagery in the US, official imagery in much of Europe and in Japan, and satellite imagery everywhere else.

Loading the map…

Distance
3.15mi

5.08 km · 5,077 m · 16,658 ft · 5,553 yd · 2.74 NM

Points
7
Legs
6
Longest leg
0.915 mi

Travel time

Type your speed, or your pace in minutes per mile or per kilometer (“8:30”).

Travel time
1 h 3 min
at 3 mph · a pace of 20:00 min/mi

It’s moving time along the line you draw, with no stops, hills or traffic.

Points on the line

PointLegRunning totalTimeCoordinatesRemove this point
—0 ft—38.88973, -77.00905
0.915 mi0.915 mi18 min38.88878, -77.02598
0.502 mi1.42 mi28 min38.88949, -77.03524
0.283 mi1.7 mi34 min38.88941, -77.04049
0.52 mi2.22 mi44 min38.88929, -77.05013
995 ft2.41 mi48 min38.89126, -77.04771
0.747 mi3.15 mi1 h 3 min38.89768, -77.03655

Keep going with your line

More measurements that go well with a distance.

Elevation profileHow much your path climbs and drops, with the elevation of every point. Multi-stop route plannerThe real route by road, bike or on foot, with several stops. Area calculatorThe area of a lot, a field or any shape.

Save or share the line

See its elevation profile

How to use it

  1. Drop your points

    Click the map at the start and then at each point along the way, as many as you like. You can also search for a place or type its coordinates.

  2. Fine-tune the line

    Drag a point to move it, or the small dot in the middle of a leg to add one there. Tap a point to remove it, and use “Undo” if you slip.

  3. Pick units and speed

    See the distance in miles, feet, yards, kilometers, meters or nautical miles, and the time walking, running, cycling, driving, by boat, flying or at your own speed or pace.

  4. Save or share it

    Download the line as KML, GPX, CSV or GeoJSON, copy the link, or open it in the elevation profile to see the climbs and descents.

What it’s for

  • Running and walking

    Measure your loop before you head out and see how long it takes at your pace, in minutes per mile.

  • Hiking and bike rides

    Trace the trail over the aerial photo and open it in the elevation profile to see the climb.

  • Fences, pipes and projects

    Measure a property line, a cable run, a trench or a fence in feet, point by point, over the imagery.

  • Boats and planes

    Work out nautical miles between ports, or a flight along the shortest path, with the time in knots.

How it’s calculated

Each leg is the geodesic between its two points, the shortest path on the WGS84 ellipsoid, calculated with GeographicLib (Karney’s method, accurate to nanometers). The total is the sum of the legs, and each point shows the running total up to it.

Long legs look curved, because on a flat map the shortest path over the Earth isn’t a straight line: between two distant cities it bends toward the pole. It’s the path a plane follows.

The time is the distance divided by the speed, with no stops, hills or traffic. A pace (minutes per mile or per kilometer) is turned into a speed: 10:00 min/mi is 6 mph.

Travel time

t = d ÷ v

d is the distance and v the speed. 3 miles at 3 mph is 1 hour; at an 8:30 min/mi pace (7.1 mph), 25 min 30 s.

Units

1 mi = 5,280 ft = 1.609344 km · 1 NM = 1.852 km

The mile, the yard (0.9144 m) and the foot (0.3048 m) are the 1959 international ones, and the nautical mile is exactly 1,852 m. One knot is one nautical mile per hour.

Speeds for each mode

Walking, 3 mph; running, 6 mph; cycling, 11 mph; driving, 55 mph, a typical highway average; by boat, 20 knots (23 mph), and flying, 530 mph, a jet’s cruising speed. In kilometers they’re 5, 10, 18, 90 and 850 km/h. If you’re faster or slower, type your own speed or pace and the time updates right away.

This tool measures in a straight line between the points you drop, like a ruler: add more points on the bends to follow a path. For the route along streets and roads, with real travel time, use “Multi-stop route planner” or “Distance between two points”.

Accuracy

The math adds no error: what matters is where you drop the points. Zoomed in to street level, a tap lands within a few feet of where you mean, and the aerial photo lets you be even more precise.

The length is measured flat, like on a map: it doesn’t include the slope. On a 20% grade the real path is 2% longer, and on a 50% grade, 12% longer.

Frequently asked questions

How do I measure the distance between several points on a map?

Click the map at the starting point and then at each point along the way, in order. You’ll see the total distance and, in the list, the length of each leg and the running total at each point, which is also written on the map.

How do I remove or move a point?

Drag it to move it. To remove it, tap it and press “Remove this point” (or the Delete key), or use the button on its row in the list. “Undo” reverses any change.

Can I add a point in the middle of a leg?

Yes: each leg has a small dot in its middle. Drag it to create a new point wherever you drop it, or tap it to add one right in the middle.

How is the time worked out?

The distance is divided by the speed: the one for the mode you pick (walking, running, cycling, driving, by boat or flying) or your own, in mph, km/h, knots or as a pace in minutes per mile or per kilometer. It doesn’t include stops, hills or traffic.

Does the line follow the roads?

No: it measures in a straight line between the points you drop. Add more points on the bends to follow a path, or use the “Multi-stop route planner” for the driving route.

Can I open the line in Google Earth or on my GPS?

Yes: download it as KML for Google Earth, GPX for a GPS, Strava or Garmin, CSV for Excel, or GeoJSON. The copied link keeps the points, the units and the speed.

What about elevation gain?

“See its elevation profile” opens the same line in the elevation profile tool, with terrain elevation for every point and the total climb and descent.

Related tools

All tools
Distance between two points Measure the distance between any two places or points on the map, in miles or kilometers. Distance between cities Pick two US cities and get the distance between them, both in a straight line and by road. Distance between ZIP codes Enter two US ZIP codes to get the distance between them and see both areas on the map. Flight distance calculator Get the flight distance and time between airports by IATA code, with great circle routes on a map. Straight line vs driving distance Compare the as-the-crow-flies distance with the real driving distance and see how much the road adds. Area calculator Draw around a field, a plot or any shape on the map to get its area in acres, hectares or square feet.

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