Komoot seems to be the ideal way to plan trail routes. Komoot uses the OSM map material and has a built-in “snap-to-map” function. Add to that the turn-by-turn navigation, the information about road types & surfaces, the integration with Garmin and the “discovery” functions and you have a complete package for planning cycling, walking & trail routes.
Why is Komoot just not the solution for the perfectionist trail runner?
1. The OSM data used by Komoot is incomplete. There are paths that are in OSM which Komoot misses or discards for whatever reason. Take the official DMT komoot route as an example:
(Bron: https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/tour/806894650 )
The route here just follows the black winding path. However, komoot can’t connect it. It sees this part as unknown territory. And the route contains several of these kinds of errors.
2. You can’t import gpx files without Komoot making supposedly smart changes. These changes happen even if you use the option “follow original route”!
Suppose you take the 100% perfect dmt.gpx that we downloaded from waymarkedtrails and you import it into komoot, with “Follow original route”:
Aha, that looks much better! But if you look further at the route, Komoot has made unsolicited changes, such as at the Wijngracht crossing in Kerkrade:
blue = DMT, orange = Komoot adjustment
In itself Komoot has a point here, why would you walk 50 meters of asphalt on a busy road? But it adjusts routes without asking, while I clearly tell Komoot that I do not want this. The same thing happens with the Swiss Alps 100:
orange=gpx organization, blue=Komoot
You can see that again, Komoot is making changes without asking. One day I was running with a friend who had shared the course gpx the day before. I loaded this into komoot – keep original route – and then to the watch (Komoot synchronizes well with Garmin). During the run, our watches disagreed a few times. My watch had discrepancies because Komoot made these unwanted changes.
Can you live with these two limitations? Definitely, especially if you are aware of them. But still, this perfectionist map lover will now plan his longer trails on plotaroute instead. That will be the topic for the next article.