My Adventure Maps
Loop, out-and-back, or one-way?

Out-and-Back Route Trimmer

Upload a route and find out how it's shaped, then download just the outbound or return leg to get a clean one-way file.

Drop your GPX, TCX or FIT file here

or click to browse

or
Auto-detects route shape
Direct, in your browser
Free, no account

Good to know

Why route shape matters

Plenty of runs and rides go out to some point and come straight back the same way. That's a perfectly normal route to do, but it's an awkward one to plot: the same line gets drawn twice, right on top of itself, which looks messy on a poster and roughly doubles the distance shown for what's really a single stretch of road or trail.

This tool looks at where a route starts, ends, and how far it gets from that start, works out whether it's a loop, an out-and-back, or a one-way route, and finds the turnaround point in the middle. From there you can download just the outbound half, or just the return half, as a clean file with the doubled-back overlap gone. Nothing about the kept points changes: positions, elevation and timestamps all stay exactly as they were.

How it works

  1. Upload your route. Drop in a GPX, TCX or FIT file.
  2. Shape worked out automatically. Loop, out-and-back or one-way, based on where it starts, ends and turns around.
  3. Download just one leg. Get a clean one-way file if it's an out-and-back.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How does it tell a loop from an out-and-back?

If the route doesn't come back close to where it started, it's treated as one-way. Otherwise it finds the point farthest from the start, splits the route there, and checks how much of the way back runs along the same path as the way out. Mostly the same path means out-and-back; a different path back to the same spot means a loop.

Why would I want just one leg of an out-and-back?

An out-and-back doubles the same line back over itself, which looks cluttered on a poster and roughly doubles the plotted distance for what's really one route. Downloading just the outbound leg gives you a clean one-way file.

What happens with a one-way route?

If your route already starts and ends in different places, there's nothing to split, and the tool just tells you so.

Does this change my GPS data?

No. It only classifies the route and, if you ask it to, crops out one leg as a new file, the points it keeps are untouched, including their original timestamps.

Is my route data uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no account is required.

Does it work on GPX, TCX and FIT files?

Yes. Upload any of the three; only the route's coordinates are needed to work out its shape.

What if a route is part loop, part out-and-back?

The classification is based on the single farthest point from the start, so a mixed-shape route gets sorted into whichever pattern that midpoint fits best; a genuinely mixed route may classify as a loop even if part of it retraces itself.

More tools

Pairs well with this one

Turn that route into a poster

The same file you just checked works straight in the map editor.

Open the editor →