Welcome to RecPath

RecPath lets you draw a route across a map and tells you how far the route goes. Simple, right? For more information, read on and check the FAQs and help.

I just put out version 2.0.  It's got most of the same goodness you've come to expect with some features people have been asking for since they saw version 1:

Now with Geocoded Goodness!

Enter an address and the map will center on it. Once this started working in Firefox, geocoding was the most requested feature. Thanks to the good people at geocoder.us for the fantastic service. Go to the map and hit the button to see it in action.

Firefox compatibility

This was the most requested feature.  Thanks to the hard work of the good people of Google, the tool now works in Firefox.  

Maps other than Phoenix

Version 1 had a big map of Phoenix by default.  It could use other maps, but the process wasn't very user-friendly.  It also turns out that finding a good map is the hard part.  I had a tool that could use any map, but nobody had any maps. The new version uses Google Maps, so you can plan your route anywhere on the globe.   You can zoom or pan and your route stays right where you put it.

An Undo Button

Now there's a button that you can use when you mis-click instead of redrawing your whole route.  Just inserting an accidentally-deleted point or removing an extraneous one isn't that tough, but an errant click of the "Delete All" button used to be a real pain.

New Controls

I am still not a graphic designer, so the controls still aren't great, but they are better than the green wing-ding-grams that controlled version 1.  I've also moved them off of the map so they don't get in the way of anything.

Go There :

URL Linking

Now you can create a URL that links directly to a map at the right location and zoom level showing your route in all of its glory.  It will be the right color, line weight, and opacity.  There is also a compact link available.   It reduces precision by a couple of feet and discards points in the middle of a straight line, so it comes out about ½ the size.

You can use this feature to plan runs or bike rides with friends. The links can be sent via email (or if you keep them to less than 30 points, via IM).  This also means you can use your Favorites to just bookmark routes and keep them organized that way.

Line Opacity

To avoid having an important part of the map obscured by the route line, it can now be made a little transparent.