At REVER, we set out to create the most-intuitive, easy-to-plan-on route-mapping tool possible. Over the last five years, we’ve worked to constantly improve the interface, add new features, and provide content and tools, to give our users the best experience possible. In our support channels, we get lots of feedback about the planner, and have tried to apply that information to our development process. In an effort to ensure our users are getting the most out of the system, we’ve put together a list of tips and tricks to make your planning experience as slick as possible.
1. Zoom Way In
The entire point of planning a route is so you can navigate it either on your smartphone, GPS device, or in-dash unit (like Apple CarPlay, Bosch MySpin). Making the route as accurate as possible is key to seamless navigation. It’s so easy to click along the map laying down waypoints, that users tend to rush the process. Our suggestion is to plan your route at a zoom level where you can easily see most of your route from start to finish, then go back in and adjust the waypoints while zoomed all the way in for accuracy.
We can almost guarantee that you will have waypoints plotted that are significantly off your intended placement if you never zoom in and adjust their position. The reason this is critical is that you might be placing waypoints on the wrong side of the road, which will trigger U-turns from the navigation software, or placing them on side streets or frontage roads that weren’t visible when zoomed out. Not only will the mileage be inaccurate, but it’s very likely that you will be given inaccurate directions, or being directed on detours that you never intended.
2. Utilize Twisty Roads, Butler Maps, or our Recommended Rides
Planning rides somewhere you are unfamiliar with, or looking for somewhere fresh to explore? PRO users can utilize the Twisty Roads algorithm to find the most curvy and fun route between Point A and Point B. Just enter your starting point, then destination, toggle on Twisty Roads and see what it finds. If you like a bit more control, PRO users can switch on the Butler Maps layers and then plan custom routes over the top to utilize the curated roads in our database: Gold (best), Red (better), and Orange (good), while there are also Lost Highways (desolate and off the beaten path), Paved Mountain Trails, Featured Dirt Roads. But you don’t have to be PRO to get some route suggestions, you can also check out our growing list of REVER Recommended Rides, you can plan over them or around them and put together your ideal route.
3. Use Specific Addresses and/or GPS coordinates To Build Route
We’ve recently upgraded REVER’s start and destination address-entry boxes for a more logical way to build routes with specific addresses. It’s a subtle change, but we felt the solution is more logical for building routes with one or more stops between your starting location and destination. Step 1: enter your starting location address or GPS coordinates; Step 2: enter your next stop on the route (if this is your final destination, you’re finished!), 3: if you have additional stops enter them in order, and unlike Google Maps, you won’t have to reorder them after the fact, although if you do want to reorder them, you can by grabbing the the three bars at the right of the address entry boxes and shuffling them into the order you would like. Additionally, you can use a mixture of GPS coordinates and addresses to build your route.
4. Points of Interest
Another feature that we’ve recently added (for PRO users) are Points of Interest (POIs) for planning. These help users determine stops along the way and/or destinations such as Campgrounds (powered by The Dyrt), Lodging, Fuel, Food, or Challenge points. The POIs are available in a dropdown menu on the planning site and can be selected one category at a time and can be used to plan. Simply toggle on your selection and let the map populate, in some areas there may be a very large number of POIs, so be patient and let them render on screen.
The three basics (Lodging, Fuel, Food) are pretty self explanatory, but the Campground category deserves a bit more explanation. Our new partner The Dyrt, provides REVER with a vast database of more than a million camping sites, reviews and photos around the U.S. with details about each location including amenities, restrictions, access information, photos, on-site weather forecasts, detailed location information, pricing and links to reservation websites and phone numbers.
Lastly, if you are participating in one of REVER’s POI challenges such as The Pass Bagger Challenge, or the Park Ranger Challenge, you can plan a route to hit as many POIs along the way as possible by toggling on the POIs for that challenge.
.png)
.png)
