The Pedometer tool in Google Maps combines cool mapping features with a digital pedometer in order to help walkers, runners, and cyclists track their distance. This tool is found at www.gmap-pedometer.com. Its homepage offers a pedometer feature to the left and a U.S. map to the right.
The Gmaps Pedometer section calculates distances and draws routes automatically for runners, cyclists, and manually (as the crow flies). It offers information on elevations. And it takes this information and offers it as a print map or as an external GPX link for loading onto a GPS in mobile devices.
Before you start, read the Gmap Usage Instructions. There are many ways to use this tool, but the easiest is to:
- Zoom in on the desired location.
- Select your recording options and click the Start recording button.
- Double-click at each point on the route that you want to map. (A colored line will be created, and will increment as you double-click.)
- Save your route. A URL (web address) will be provided that you can bookmark and link to your route.
For example, if a person were to jog around the entire K-State campus, what would the circumference be? First, get the map with the entire locale of the walk visually within the map range. Then, start the recording and place the markers along the walking path. If you want to draw the route manually, click the button next to manually (straight lines).
Routes may be saved to a particular web address for later use. For example, see a route across Manhattan at www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2550570.
Map formats may be the default street maps, satellite maps, a hybrid view (satellite overlaid with street names), topographical maps, and terrain maps. See the sample screenshots below, which were used with the permission of Google according to terms available at Permission Guidelines for Google Maps and Google Earth.
