Glossary

Offroad score

The offroad score is the share of a route's distance that runs on unpaved ways, shown as a percentage. The paved approach at the very start or end of the track, the grey excluded section on the map, is left out of both sides of that ratio.

To compute it, every uploaded or planned track is matched against the road network in our data source. Segments that follow tracks, paths, forest roads and unsurfaced roads count as offroad; segments on asphalt or other sealed surfaces count as paved. A score of 100% means the entire route stays off the tarmac; 50% means half of the distance does.

Two things the score does not measure:

• Technical difficulty. A flat, dry forest track and a rocky mountain climb can both score 100%. The score describes the surface, not how hard it is to drive.
• Legal access. Our data source does not always know whether a track is open to vehicles. Check local rules before you go.

Routes with an offroad score of 10% or less are not shown on the browse pages, because they are essentially road trips.

No known restrictions

No known restrictions is the share of a route's distance where our data knows of no ban or restriction on driving a motor vehicle. We work it out every 25 metres along the route, leaving out the paved approach, and check each point against public registers: national parks and reserves, State Forest land (the Forest Data Bank), public roads (BDOT10k), private land from the land register where the county publishes it, and no-entry signs marked on the map.

Every stretch falls into one of four groups:

• Public roads: a public road according to the official road register or the map.
• No known restrictions: the data knows of no restriction.
• To check: State Forest off public roads, private forest or private land. Here the signs or the owner decide.
• No-entry: a national park, a reserve or a road signed as closed to motor vehicles.

The percentage is the first two groups together. We never show 100%, because no data knows every sign and every permission: it is a hint before you go, not legal advice or a permit. Signs on the ground and the land owner always come first. The detail, with the stretches on the map, is in the Before you go part of the route page. To check your own route from a GPX or KML file, use the free check.

The filter on the route listing leaves out routes we have not worked out yet, instead of treating them as free of restrictions. The data is refreshed at least once a year; the route page shows when it was last analysed.

Access levels

Every route whose access has been worked out gets one of four levels:

A stop route shows a warning on its page and sits lower in the route listings, as do routes with a lower share of no known restrictions. The level is a hint from data, not a legal judgement: always check the signs on site.

Public road

A public road is one anyone may drive a motor vehicle on: municipal, county, regional and national roads. Stretches of a route on such a road count towards the share with no known restrictions.

We recognise them from the official register of public roads and from the road class on the map. A public road can run through a forest, a national park or private land, and it wins there: a public road stays open to drive. Local signs, such as a weight limit or a closure after heavy rain, still come first.

National park and nature reserve

A national park and a nature reserve are the most strictly protected land in Poland. Motor vehicles may use only public roads and roads the park or reserve designates; anywhere else, driving is banned.

A stretch of a route inside a park or reserve that is not on a public road counts as no-entry. The exception is a road the map marks as open to motor vehicles: that is most likely one the park designated, so it counts as to check rather than no-entry, and the signs on site decide. If there is more than 500 metres of it, the route gets the stop level and its page shows a warning naming the park or reserve. Each park sets its own detailed rules, so check them before you go.

The buffer zone of a national park or a reserve, and a landscape park, are different: on their own they close no road.

No-entry

No-entry on a route marks a road where the map records a ban on motor vehicles: a no-entry sign, a barrier, a forest or farm road closed to traffic, or a private road. We count it only when it runs for at least 100 metres, so a single sign at a junction does not change the result.

On private land such a stretch goes to to check, since the owner may allow you through. Anywhere else it is no-entry. The map can be out of date either way, so the signs on site always decide; if the route runs through a ban, plan a way around.

State Forest

State Forest is forest managed by the Polish State Forests. Motor vehicles may use only public roads and forest roads signed as open; every other forest road is closed, even without a barrier.

Stretches of a route in State Forest off public roads count as to check, because we cannot know which roads the local forest district has opened. The route page names the forest district: it decides which roads are open, and it is the one to ask before you go. On site, follow the signs.

Private forest and land

Private forest and private land are parcels the land register lists as privately owned: forests, fields, meadows, farmyards. Driving onto them needs the owner's permission, unless a public road runs there.

Such stretches count as to check. The data comes from the land register and exists only where the county publishes it, so a blank spot on the map does not mean the land is public.

Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is the European network of areas protecting birds and habitats. On its own it closes no road, so it does not lower the share with no known restrictions; we show it as information only.

Each Natura 2000 site has its own protection plan, and some restrict traffic off roads, for example in the nesting season. Stay on the tracks and do not drive off them.

Last analysed

Last analysed is the date we last worked out everything the data tells us about a route: the offroad score and distance, the regions it runs through, and its access: no-entry roads, State Forest and protected areas.

The data behind it keeps changing: roads appear on and disappear from the map, protected-area boundaries and land registers change. So every route is analysed again at least once a year, and a new or edited route right after it is saved. The results on the route page come from the analysis on this date.

The route's track itself does not change. What can change is how we describe it: a stretch that had no known restrictions a year ago moves to no-entry once a new ban appears on the map.

Difficulty

The difficulty label on a route card is derived from the offroad score alone:

It is a quick hint about how much of the trip leaves the pavement. It is not a terrain or obstacle grade: it says nothing about mud, rocks, water crossings, gradients or the vehicle you need. Read the route description and comments, and look at the elevation profile, before deciding whether a route suits you.

Distance

The distance is the length of the route from where the trail begins to where it ends, in kilometres, measured along the recorded line.

It counts the offroad sections and any paved connections between them. It does not count the paved approach at the very start or end of the track, the drive from town to the trailhead and back, which the map shows as a grey excluded section. To see how much of the distance leaves the pavement, look at the offroad distance and the offroad score.

For a loop that returns to its starting point the distance is the full lap. For an out-and-back track that was recorded in one direction only, the distance is one way.

Offroad distance

The offroad distance is the number of kilometres of the route that are classified as unpaved.

It is the same classification that produces the offroad score: the score is simply the offroad distance divided by the distance. A 40 km route with 30 km offroad has a score of 75%.

The two numbers together tell you more than either alone. A short route with a high score may contain less actual offroad driving than a long route with a lower one.

Highest peak

The highest peak is the highest elevation reached anywhere along the track, in metres above sea level.

It comes from the elevation data in the uploaded track itself, so it reflects the recording device and can differ by a few metres from the official height of a summit. It is the maximum point of the route, not the total climb; a route can have a high peak and very little ascent if it starts high up.

Use it together with the elevation profile on the route page to judge how mountainous a trip is.

Elevation gain

The elevation gain is the total number of metres climbed over the whole route, in metres. Every uphill stretch is added up; descents are not subtracted.

It is different from the highest peak: a route can reach a high point with little gain if it starts high, and a rolling route in the lowlands can accumulate a large gain without ever getting far above sea level.

The value comes from the elevation data recorded in the track, so short, noisy ups and downs from the GPS receiver can inflate it slightly. Treat it as a good indication of how much climbing to expect, not a surveyed figure.

Altitude profile

The altitude profile is the chart of elevation along the route: the horizontal axis is the distance from the start, the vertical axis is the height above sea level at that point.

Reading it tells you where the climbs and descents are, how steep they are, and how the highest peak and the elevation gain are distributed over the trip. A long, gentle rise and a short, steep wall can add up to the same gain but feel very different behind the wheel.

Hover over or tap the chart to see the exact height at a point; the marker on the map follows, so you can match a climb to the place where it happens. Click to lock the marker in place.

Listing order

By default the browse pages sort routes by a popularity score, shown as the "Score" option next to "Latest".

The score combines many signals into one number: how much of the route is offroad, how long it is, how recently it was added, how many photos it has, and how the community has responded to it through likes, downloads, comments and lists. Very short routes and routes with little offroad content are ranked lower.

The score is recalculated regularly, so the order changes as routes are added and used. Switch to Latest to see the newest routes first regardless of popularity.

Region counts

The number next to a region in the sidebar is how many routes shown on the browse pages pass through that region.

A route is counted in every region it touches. A trip that crosses three voivodeships counts once in each of them, and once in the country, so the numbers of sub-regions add up to more than their parent.

Only routes that appear on the browse pages are counted. Routes with an offroad score of 10% or less are neither listed nor counted.

Similar routes

Similar routes are other routes that share ground with the one you are looking at.

Two routes count as similar when a large part of their unpaved sections runs over the same terrain: the more they overlap, the higher they rank in the list. A route that follows the same forest tracks for half its length will appear near the top; one that merely starts in the same town will not.

Only the unpaved parts are compared, so two trips that share a long asphalt approach but split off into different terrain are not treated as similar.

Added within

The added within filter keeps only routes that were added to OffPlanner within the chosen number of months.

"Added" means the date the route appeared here, not the date the trip was driven, so an old recording that was uploaded last week counts as recent.

At the far right of the slider the filter is off and routes of any age are shown.

Has image

The has image filter keeps only routes that have at least one photo on their route page.

Photos are added by the route's author and appear in the gallery below the map. Use this filter when you want to see the terrain before you go; a route without photos can still be a great trip, it just has not been illustrated yet.

Has comments

The has comments filter keeps only routes with at least one comment.

A commented route usually carries first-hand notes on conditions, access or hazards from people who have driven it, which makes this filter a quick way to find trips others have actually been on and talked about.

Routes (profile)

The routes figure on a profile is the number of public routes this member has published on OffPlanner.

Private routes and drafts are not counted, and neither are routes the member has only saved to a list. It is a measure of what they have shared with everyone, not of everything they have driven.

Total km (profile)

The total km on a profile is the sum of the distance of every public route this member has published.

It counts each route once, at its route length, without the paved approach at either end. A member with a few long expeditions and one with many short local loops can arrive at the same total.

Elevation (profile)

The elevation figure on a profile is the sum of the elevation gain of every public route this member has published, in metres.

It adds up only the climbing, never the descents, across all their routes. A large number points to a taste for mountains; it says nothing about how high any single route goes.

Offroad Routes layer

The Offroad Routes layer draws the unpaved sections of every public route on OffPlanner directly on the planner map, so you can see at a glance where people actually drive off the tarmac.

Each line is coloured by how recently its route was added: fresh routes in green, older ones fading towards red, with newer lines drawn on top. The max age slider hides routes older than the chosen number of months, which is useful when you only trust recent reports of a track's condition.

The layer shows where routes go, not whether a track is open today. Treat it as a map of what others have driven, and check local rules before you follow it.

OSM Offroad Tracks layer

The OSM Offroad Tracks layer shows unpaved roads, tracks and paths as they are drawn in OpenStreetMap, a community map edited by volunteers. It is shown whether or not anyone on OffPlanner has ever driven them.

Treat this layer as a hint, nothing more. A line here means only that someone once mapped a track at that spot. It does not mean that:

• the track is passable by car, or by any vehicle at all - many are footpaths, cycle tracks or overgrown forest lanes;
• you are allowed to drive there - access rules, gates, bans and private land are often missing from the map;
• the track still exists or looks as mapped - the data can be years out of date.

What the colours mean

Most lines are coloured by tracktype, OpenStreetMap's tag for how firm a track's surface is. It runs from grade1 (solid) to grade5 (soft), and it describes the surface only - not the width, not the ruts, not the gradient, and not whether a car will get through.

Two things worth remembering about these grades. They are a mapper's judgement, recorded on the day they passed, and standards differ between countries and contributors. And tracktype is optional, which is why so much lands in "Other / unknown" - an uncoloured track is not necessarily an easy one.

Use this layer to spot terrain worth investigating, then verify on the ground and check local rules before you drive. For tracks people have actually driven, use the Offroad Routes layer instead.

Access & protection layer

The Access & protection layer shows what is known about the right to drive in an area. Each part switches on separately and can be repainted with its colour swatch. Right-click the map and choose What is here? to see which parts cover a point.

National parks & reserves. Boundaries from Poland's official register of protected areas (GDOŚ). Motor vehicles may use only public roads and roads the park or reserve designates. On a route page, a stretch here off a public road counts as no-entry, and a road the map marks as open to motor vehicles as to check. More: national park and nature reserve.

Military areas. Areas the map marks as military. No entry without the manager's permission, even where there is no barrier.

State forests. Forests managed by the State Forests, from their forest data bank. Motor vehicles may use only public roads and forest roads signed as open. The forest district decides which roads are open; What is here? and the route page name it. More: State Forest.

Private forests. Forests of other owners, from the county land register. The same forest rule applies: only public roads and roads signed as open. The owner may allow the rest.

Private land. Fields, meadows, farmyards and other private plots from the land register. Off a public road you may enter private land only with the owner's permission. This part is off by default, because in many places it covers almost the whole map. More: private land.

Natura 2000. The European network of protected sites, in three kinds, each with its own colour:

• Birds sites (SPA): protect birds and their habitats (the Birds Directive);
• Habitats sites (SAC): protect habitats, plants and animals other than birds (the Habitats Directive);
• Birds and habitats: sites that are both at once.

Natura 2000 on its own closes no road. Each site's own plan sets the rules, so on a route page it is information, not a ban. More: Natura 2000.

Other protection. Landscape parks, protected landscape areas, ecological sites, nature-landscape complexes, and the buffer zones of national parks and reserves, drawn as outlines only. On their own they close no road, but the act that creates one can set its own restrictions, so it is worth checking.

Roads closed to cars. Roads the map marks as closed to motor vehicles (for example forestry or farm access only, or no entry). Clicking one shows when the tag was last checked or edited. More: no-entry.

Roads open to cars. Public roads from the official road register (national, regional, county and municipal roads), and roads the map marks as open to motor vehicles. An internal road is not a public road: its manager decides. This part is off by default. More: public road.

Private land and forests appear only where the county publishes the data, so a blank spot is not permission. The data can be out of date: signs on the ground and the land owner always take precedence over the map.

Routing style: Touring

Touring takes the shortest sensible line and uses tracks and dirt roads when they are about as quick as the asphalt next to them. Use it to get to a trail, between two trails, or when you have a trailer or a tight schedule.

On our test routes it was barely longer than a normal car route, yet where the terrain allowed, most of it still ran off-road.

The route's legality is checked after it is drawn, and the signs on site always come first.

Routing style: Balanced

Balanced is the default. It prefers unpaved roads and tracks and will add a few kilometres to stay on them, but it will not turn a short drive into an expedition. On our test routes it was usually around 5% longer than the direct route.

A good start for most trips: switch to Off-road for more dirt, or to Touring when you just need to get there.

Routing style: Off-road

Off-road is for a day out rather than a way from A to B. It strongly avoids asphalt and goes looking for tracks, so the line can be much longer than the direct one: usually around 10% on our test routes, and over 60% on one trail. Plan fuel and time accordingly.

It uses more forest roads, so check the route's legality before you go, or turn on Avoid protected areas.

Avoid protected areas

The planner never routes through national parks and nature reserves or along roads marked closed to vehicles.

With Avoid protected areas on, it also stays off State Forest roads outside the public road network and off private land. Those are allowed only with a sign or permission, and usually there is none.

The route can get much longer: in one test across a national park it grew by a third or more. It works with every routing style.

Nothing replaces the signs on site: data can be out of date, and a local closure always wins.

Known Places layer

The Known Places layer highlights the ground your own routes have already covered, so you can tell at a glance whether a spot is somewhere you have been or new territory.

It is built from the offroad sections of the routes on your OffPlanner account and is visible only to you when signed in. Turn it on when planning a trip to steer towards unexplored areas, or to find your way back to a track you remember.

The pattern colour can be changed with the swatch next to the toggle.

Name (settings)

Your name is how you appear across OffPlanner: on your routes, in comments, on your public profile and in notifications other members receive about you.

It does not have to be your legal name and it does not need to be unique. Use whatever fellow drivers know you by. You can change it at any time.

Username (settings)

Your username is the short handle in your profile address, for example offplanner.org/user/yourname. It can contain lowercase letters, digits and underscores, and it must be unique.

Because it is part of a link other people may have saved or shared, it can be changed only a few times. When you do change it, the old address keeps redirecting to your profile, so existing links do not break.

Bio (settings)

The bio is a short public introduction shown at the top of your profile.

Say what you drive, where you usually go and what kind of trails you like. It helps other members decide whether to follow you and gives context to the routes you publish. Keep it to a few sentences; links are shown as plain text.

Email address (settings)

Your email address is where sign-in links and the notifications you have opted into are sent. It is never shown on your public profile or to other members.

To change it, enter the new address and open the confirmation link we send there. The change applies only once you do, so a typo cannot lock you out. Signing in with Google, GitHub or another provider keeps working alongside the new address.

Some providers do not share an email address at all. If the field shows no address on file, add one to receive notifications and to be able to sign in with a magic link.

Route map legend

The map on a route page colours the track by surface and can overlay two extra layers.

• Green line: an offroad section, meaning the track runs on an unpaved way according to our data source. These sections add up to the route's offroad score.
• Red line: a paved section, asphalt or another sealed surface. Typically connections between trails.
• Grey line: the excluded section, the paved approach at the start or end of the track. Part of the recording, but not counted and not loaded into the planner.
• Shaded area: the Access & protection layer: national parks and reserves, State and private forests, military areas, and roads closed or open to cars. Switch it on with the shield button; pick its parts and their colours in the planner.
• Hexagons: known places, ground your own routes have already covered. Shown only when you are signed in and the layer is on.

The legend can be collapsed with the arrow; the map remembers that choice in this browser.

Offroad section (map)

A green section of the track runs on an unpaved way according to our data source: a forest road, a field track, a dirt lane or a path.

All green sections added together are the route's offroad distance, and their share of the whole track is the offroad score. Green describes the surface only; it says nothing about how rough the section is or whether driving there is allowed.

Paved section (map)

A red section of the track runs on a sealed surface: asphalt, concrete or paving. Typically a connection between two trails.

Red sections count towards the distance but not towards the offroad distance, so a route with long red stretches has a lower offroad score even if its trails are excellent. The paved approach at the very start or end of the track is different: it is shown grey as an excluded section and is not counted at all.

Excluded section (map)

A grey section at the start or the end of the track is the paved approach: the road driven to reach the trail and to get back from it.

It is part of the recorded track, so you can still follow it, but it is not counted in the distance, in the offroad score or in the coloured surface breakdown, and it is left out when you open the route in the planner. A route that starts and ends off-road has no grey section.