Draw a route on the map and get its elevation profile and cumulative elevation gain — total gain and loss, max and min elevation, and the steepest grade. Feet-first, no app, no sign-up.
Type a start and end above, or click the map to drop points.
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Add at least two points on the map to draw a route and see its elevation profile, total gain and loss, and steepest grade.
An elevation profile is a side-view graph of how the ground rises and falls along a route: distance runs left-to-right, elevation bottom-to-top. Click points along your path and this tool samples the terrain elevation between them (from AWS Terrain Tiles), then works as an elevation gain calculator, reporting cumulative elevation gain (all the climbing added up), total loss, and the steepest grade — the numbers hikers and cyclists use to judge how hard a route is.
How to calculate elevation gain for a route
Type a start and end — set Point A and Point B (say, Denver, CO to Aspen, CO) — or click the map to drop waypoints along your route. Add points along curves for a closer match to a real trail; you can mix typing and clicking freely.
Read the profile chart and the stat cards: total gain and loss, max and min elevation, and the steepest grade.
Copy the URL to share the exact route — the waypoints are encoded in the link. Drag a point to fine-tune it, or use the waypoint list to remove or reorder.
A worked example
Say you draw a route from a trailhead up to a summit — about 12 miles that climbs from roughly 8,200 ft to 10,600 ft. The netchange is 2,400 ft (top minus bottom). But the profile shows the trail dips and rises along the way, so the tool might report a cumulative gain of ~3,100 ft — the sum of every uphill stretch — plus a few hundred feet of loss on the descents. That larger cumulative number is what tells you how hard the route really is, and the steepest grade flags the toughest pitch.
Cumulative gain vs net elevation change
This is the number that trips people up. Net elevation change is just the finish elevation minus the start (or the highest point minus the lowest) — one subtraction. Cumulative elevation gain adds up every uphill section along the route. On rolling terrain the two can be wildly different: a loop that ends where it began has a net change of zero but can still rack up thousands of feet of cumulative gain from all the ups and downs in between. Cumulative gain is the honest measure of effort — which is why hiking and cycling apps report it, and why this tool does too.
When to use an elevation profile
Route planning — see the climb before you commit to a hike, run, or ride, and spot where the steep sections are.
Comparing routes — two ways to the same place can have very different gain; the profile shows which is genuinely easier, not just shorter.
Training— pick a route with the total ascent you’re aiming for.
Curiosity — how much does that scenic drive or bike commute actually climb?
Frequently asked questions
Click points along your route on the map above (a trailhead, a few turns, the summit). The tool reads the terrain elevation at many points between your waypoints and adds up every uphill section — that running total is the cumulative elevation gain, shown in feet and meters. Total loss is the cumulative descent back down.
An elevation profile is a side-view graph of a route: distance along the path runs left-to-right, and elevation runs bottom-to-top. It shows where a route climbs, where it descends, and how steep each section is — the same chart you see on a hiking or cycling route page.
Cumulative elevation gain is the total of every uphill section along a route added together — all the climbing, not just the difference between the start and the highest point. A rolling route that ends where it began can still have thousands of feet of cumulative gain. This tool sums it from many samples along your path, applying a small (4 m) threshold so terrain-model jitter doesn't inflate the number — the same idea GPS apps use.
Elevation comes from AWS Terrain Tiles — roughly ~2 m vertical accuracy in the contiguous US and Hawaii (USGS 3DEP) and ~9 m elsewhere (SRTM). Gain totals are best for real-world trend, not survey-grade numbers, and this samples the straight-line terrain between your waypoints rather than a road or trail centerline, so add more waypoints along curves for a closer match.
Yes — the URL updates with your waypoints as you draw, so you can copy the link to share the exact route and its profile, or bookmark it.
Related elevation tools
To look up the elevation of a single point (address, coordinate, or map click), use the Elevation Finder. To get your current altitude from GPS with one tap, use What Is My Elevation?. All three read the same AWS Terrain Tiles elevation data.