Where the routes come from, how accurate they are, how the Go arrow works, shelters, offline use, weather and aurora.
One place for every mapped route in Denmark — hiking, MTB, cycling, running and canoe — with the weather where the route starts, shelters nearby and an arrow that points you to the trailhead. Free, no ads.
From OpenStreetMap, the free world map maintained by thousands of volunteers. We fetch every route in Denmark at regular intervals. The featured routes on the front page are partly written by us, partly chosen automatically among national and regional routes.
As accurate as the map. Most major routes are drawn precisely; small local ones may have gaps or be out of date. Length is calculated from the map when OpenStreetMap doesn't state it. Always follow the waymarks on the ground rather than the screen.
Fix it in OpenStreetMap. Anyone can create an account at openstreetmap.org and edit; the change reaches Pathfinders at the next update. Every route page links straight to the route in OpenStreetMap.
It uses your phone's GPS and compass to show direction and distance to a point — a trailhead, a shelter, or a pin you dropped yourself. The link can be shared so everyone gets the same arrow. Nothing is stored on a server; your position never leaves the phone.
Enable the compass when asked and step outside — indoors and near cars or metal the compass drifts. Wave the phone in a figure-eight to calibrate. Open the site in Safari or Chrome, not inside Facebook's or Instagram's built-in browser, which blocks the sensors.
Yes. Add Pathfinders to your home screen and the pages you've opened, your saved routes and the route list work without a connection. Map tiles do need signal.
From Open-Meteo, which combines national weather services' models including DMI's. The forecast is for the route's start point. "Start by" assumes an easy pace — 4 km/h on foot, 12 km/h on an MTB — and a 30-minute margin before sunset.
The Kp number is NOAA's forecast of geomagnetic activity. From Denmark the northern lights are usually visible at Kp 5 and above, and only with clear skies and a dark northern horizon. Look for a faint greenish glow low in the north.
No. Shelters and tent sites come from OpenStreetMap and don't show whether a site is taken or needs booking. Always check udinaturen.dk, where the Danish Nature Agency shows rules and booking.
Yes — "Download GPX" on the route page gives a GPX file for watches, bike computers and apps like Komoot and Garmin.
Nothing on our side. There are no cookies, no analytics and no account. Your phone keeps your saved routes and your view preference in the browser's local storage, which you can clear at any time in the browser settings. Your position is used only in the browser, for the weather and the Go arrow, and is never sent to us. Weather, map and aurora data are fetched directly from Open-Meteo, CARTO, OpenStreetMap and NOAA, which therefore see your IP address as with any other request on the web.
Pathfinders is a private project. It is free, ad-free and doesn't track you. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors and CARTO. Weather: Open-Meteo. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, with photographer and licence shown by each image.