GPX Viewer

Open a GPX file from a watch, bike computer, or phone and see the track drawn as a path, with the numbers that matter worked out for you: total distance, elevation gain and loss, point count, and duration. Tracks, routes, and waypoints are all read, with the start and end of each segment marked. The map is drawn locally with no basemap tiles, so a recorded run, ride, or hike is parsed entirely in your browser and never uploaded — useful when a GPS trace reveals exactly where you live or train.

How to use the GPX Viewer

Paste GPX text into the box or load a .gpx file exported from Strava, Garmin Connect, Komoot, a Wahoo or Garmin device, or any app that records GPS. The viewer parses the XML, then reads every <trkpt> inside the track segments, every <rtept> inside routes, and every standalone <wpt> waypoint.

The track is drawn onto a compact map fitted to its bounding box, with a green dot at the start of each segment and a red dot at the end, and any waypoints marked in purple. Below the map, summary cards report the figures derived from the points: total distance, computed by summing the great-circle distance between consecutive points; the elevation range and the total ascent and descent, accumulated from the per-point elevation; and the duration, taken from the first and last timestamps. Named waypoints are listed with their coordinates and elevation.

Distance uses the haversine formula on the WGS 84 coordinates, which is accurate to well within a percent for the short segments a GPS records, so the total closely matches what your device reported. Elevation gain is a raw sum of upward steps with no smoothing, so a noisy barometric trace can read a little high — that is normal and matches how many apps calculate it before filtering. If the file is not well-formed XML, or its root is not <gpx>, the viewer says so instead of drawing a misleading line.

What GPX is and what is inside a track file

GPX, the GPS Exchange Format, is an XML schema for GPS data. It was published in 2002 as an open, vendor-neutral way to move tracks and waypoints between devices and software, and it has been the de facto standard ever since. Almost every fitness app, mapping tool, and GPS unit can import or export GPX, which is why it is the format you reach for when you want to take a recording out of one ecosystem and into another.

A GPX file has three main kinds of content. A waypoint (<wpt>) is a single named point of interest, such as a summit or a parking spot. A route (<rte>) is an ordered list of points describing a planned path you intend to follow. A track (<trk>) is a record of where you actually went, divided into one or more segments (<trkseg>) so that a pause in recording, such as a lost signal, can break the line cleanly. The distinction between route and track matters: a route is the plan, a track is the history.

Every point carries lat and lon attributes in WGS 84 decimal degrees, and most also carry an <ele> elevation in metres and a <time> stamp in ISO 8601 UTC. Those three values are what make a track useful: latitude and longitude give the shape, elevation gives the climb profile, and time gives speed and duration. Richer files add extensions for heart rate, cadence, power, and temperature inside each point, though those live in a separate namespace and vary by vendor. Because the core format is just coordinates, elevation, and time wrapped in plain XML, a GPX file is easy to inspect, and reading the raw numbers is often the quickest way to understand why two apps disagree about the length or climb of the same outing.

Common use cases

  • Checking a recording before upload. Confirm a track's shape, distance, and climb look right before sharing it to another platform.
  • Comparing devices. See why a watch and a phone report different distances for the same route by reading the underlying points.
  • Privacy review. Inspect a GPX file locally to see how much a trace reveals about your home or routine before you post it publicly.
  • Recovering a corrupted export. Spot the segment break or missing elevation that is throwing off a total.

Frequently asked questions

How is distance calculated?
By summing the great-circle (haversine) distance between each consecutive track point using its latitude and longitude. For the short hops a GPS records, this matches device-reported distance to within a fraction of a percent.

Does it read elevation, time, and waypoints?
Yes. It reads the per-point ele and time tags to compute the elevation range, total ascent and descent, and duration, and it lists named waypoints separately with their coordinates.

Why is my elevation gain higher here than in my app?
Total ascent is a raw sum of every upward step with no smoothing. Many apps filter the barometric noise before summing, which lowers the figure. The raw number is still useful for comparison.

Does it show a real map with roads?
No. The track is drawn against a plain background using a local projection, with no basemap tiles fetched. That keeps the file fully private and lets the tool work offline.

Is my GPS data uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is parsed and drawn entirely in your browser. Since a GPS track can reveal where you live or train, this matters — nothing about the file leaves your device.