Elevation profiles for North Carolina hikes, runs and rides
Draw a route on the map and see at once how much it climbs and drops. The elevations come from USGS 3DEP lidar, not from a GPS watch. Free to use, no account.
Create an elevation profile now
Tap out the route point by point and get the profile, total climb and descent. Free, no account.
Open Elevation Profile →What is an elevation profile?
An elevation profile is a slice through the terrain along a route. The horizontal axis is the distance from the start, the vertical axis is the elevation. Where the line rises, the route climbs; where it falls, the route descends. At a glance you can see whether a trip has one long climb, a string of short rollers or a steep finish to the top.
A profile also shows grade. The steeper the line on the chart, the steeper the ground. That is far easier to read than counting contour lines on a topographic map.
Why the profile matters more than the distance
- Difficulty: Ten miles on the flat farm roads of the Coastal Plain and ten miles in the foothills of the Blue Ridge are two very different days. The climb decides which is which.
- Time: A common rule of thumb hikers use, Naismith’s rule, allows one hour per 3 miles plus one hour per 2,000 ft of climb. It is a rough planning aid, not something the tool calculates, and without the climb from a profile the estimate is too optimistic.
- Food and water: Long climbs cost a lot of energy. Knowing where they are lets you plan breaks and refills.
- Safety: The profile shows how high you go and for how long. On the high ridges of the Black Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains, weather changes quickly, and steep descents are harder in the wet.
- Pacing: Knowing where the steepest sections come lets you save energy for them and make up time on the flats.
How to create the profile
- Open the tool: Elevation Profile opens the map ready to draw.
- Find the area: Search for a place name or an address, or zoom in. Switch to the USGS Topo basemap to see trails and roads.
- Draw the route: Tap the map at the start and keep tapping along the trail. Each tap becomes a vertex. Put the points close together on bends and switchbacks. Undo removes the last point.
- Finish the line: When you reach the end, finish the line. The tool reads the elevation model along the whole line and draws the profile.
- Read the result: You get the chart and the figures for length, total climb, total descent, low point, high point and elevation range.
The line can be up to 15.5 miles long. Split a longer trip into stages, for example one profile per day of a backpacking trip.
Reading the profile
The chart
The chart scales its elevation axis to the route, so even a fairly flat route can look hilly when the range is small. Always check the figures beside it: a dramatic-looking curve can be a hundred feet of climb.
Total climb and descent
Total climb is the sum of every uphill section; total descent is the sum of every downhill one. A loop that starts and ends in the same place has about as much of one as the other. To keep tiny bumps in the elevation model from adding up to extra climb, the tool counts a rise or fall only once it is larger than the model’s noise.
High and low points
The high point tells you about weather, wind and snow. Together with the low point it gives the elevation range: the most a single climb on the route can be.
Grade
Grade is the change in elevation divided by the distance, as a percentage: a 10% grade climbs 10 ft for every 100 ft forward, or 528 ft in a mile. To see how steep the ground is around the route, not just along it, use Slope & Aspect.
Elevation profiles for different activities
Hiking and backpacking
Check the climb before you head up Mount Mitchell, onto a ridge trail in the Great Smoky Mountains or down into Linville Gorge. See elevation profiles for hiking.
Running
Trail runners training on the greenways of Raleigh or on the trails above Asheville use the profile to see where the climbs come. See elevation profiles for running.
Road and gravel cycling
For road routes, remember that the model is the ground without bridges or tunnels. See elevation profiles for cycling.
Mountain biking
On singletrack, short steep pitches decide whether you ride or push. See elevation profiles for mountain biking.
Already have a GPX file?
The Elevation Profile tool does not take files, but Elevate a File writes 3DEP ground elevations into GPX, KML, GeoJSON and CSV files. The track has to fit inside a square 3.7 miles on a side. The tool needs a pass (US$29 for 24 hours, US$99 for 30 days or US$399 for 12 months; see pricing) and asks for it before the upload; the file is then processed and sent straight back, not stored. Then open the file in Strava, Garmin Connect or any other app that draws profiles. Read more in the guide to adding elevation to GPX files.
If you would rather find a gentler way between two points, try Route Explorer. It suggests a route that stays under a maximum grade you choose and shows its elevation profile. The route and the profile download as GeoJSON and CSV with a pass.
Why lidar makes better profiles
- The ground, not the treetops: Airborne lidar reaches the ground between the trees, so the bare-earth model shows the forest floor even under the dense hardwood and pine forest of the mountains.
- High resolution: 3.3 ft per pixel wherever lidar has been flown. Ridges, gullies and road cuts all show up.
- Stable elevations: GPS altitude varies from trip to trip, and a barometer follows the weather. The elevation model gives the same answer every time.
- Public data: The elevations are from the USGS 3D Elevation Program, in the public domain. North Carolina’s statewide lidar is published through NC OneMap and carried by USGS 3DEP.
One thing to know: the model is the ground without buildings, bridges or tunnels. Where a route crosses a bridge, the profile shows a dip down to the river. Where it goes through a tunnel, the profile shows the hill above. Draw around such places, or allow for them when you read the figures.
See how much the route climbs
Draw the route and get the elevation profile in seconds. Free to use, no account and nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
Is the elevation profile generator free?
Yes. You draw the line, and the profile, the total climb and descent and the high and low points appear on the map for free, with no account. The Elevation Profile tool has no file export, so there is nothing to pay for here. Route Explorer needs a pass to download its files, and Elevate a File needs one to run.
How accurate is the profile?
Ground elevations on this site come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) seamless bare-earth model: 3.3 ft per pixel where a full-resolution lidar survey has been flown, about 9.8 ft per pixel where the model is built from older lidar, and about 33 ft per pixel elsewhere, with elevations above NAVD 88. The data is in the public domain. North Carolina’s statewide lidar is published through NC OneMap and carried by USGS 3DEP. USGS 3DEP serves lidar-derived elevation across North Carolina: 3.3 ft per pixel where a full-resolution lidar survey exists, about 9.8 ft per pixel where the model is built from older lidar. In practice the result depends most on how closely your line follows the trail: a line that cuts across a switchback picks up the slope beside the trail.
Can I upload a GPX file to the profile tool?
No. The Elevation Profile tool is drawn by hand on the map. If you already have a GPX track, Elevate a File, which needs a pass to run, writes 3DEP ground elevations into the file, and Strava, Garmin Connect or any other GPX app can then draw the profile from it.
How long can the line be?
Up to 15.5 miles. Break a longer route into stages and draw one profile per stage. Long lines are read at a somewhat coarser resolution than short ones.
Does it work everywhere in North Carolina?
Yes, anywhere in the state. USGS 3DEP serves lidar-derived elevation across North Carolina: 3.3 ft per pixel where a full-resolution lidar survey exists, about 9.8 ft per pixel where the model is built from older lidar. Where no lidar survey exists at all, the 3DEP seamless model falls back to about 33 ft per pixel and small terrain detail is lost.
Why does my GPS watch show a different total climb?
GPS altitude is noisy and a barometric altimeter drifts with the weather. Both add up small false rises and falls, which inflates total climb. The profile here reads the ground from the lidar model and ignores changes smaller than the model’s noise, so random jitter is not added up as extra feet of climb.