Maps and Navigation

One thing every walker needs when either planning or setting out on a walk is a method of navigation. In the UK we are blessed with the Ordnance Survey maps. The Explorer editions offer 1:25000 scale detailing everything down to field boundaries, public footpaths and bridleways and are very accurate in their depiction of detail. Armed with an OS map and a compass and the essential knowledge one can not get lost in the UK and therefore such items are an essential component to most hikers gear collection.

Unfortunately there is no such luxury for the Island of Rhodes, or indeed most, if not all, of the Greek Islands. This presents a challenge for anyone who desires to stray from the main roads or seeks adventure in the hills and mountains of central Rhodes. Therefore we need to find alternative means of navigation and this page presents the various options currently available. All options have been utilised by Griffmonster Walks although the Mobile App has been the predominant method of navigation on the island and provides the confidence to stray to parts others may not consider.

Printed Maps of Rhodes

Printed maps of Rhodes island are bountiful and come in a variety of sizes and formats. Unfortunately, in the main they are aimed at road users and cover little other detail such as tracks and footpaths. There are a few maps that offer better definition and detail such as

• Orama Editions Rhodes Road and Hiking map. This is a 1:100,000 scale colour fold-out map that includes contours and principle off road tracks
• Kompass Rhodos map, 1:50,000 scale colour fold-out map that includes contours and details of tracks and footpaths
• Discovery Rhodes Tour and Tril Map, 1:50,000 scale colour fold-out waterproof map. This is by far the best found thus far, with contours and accurate details of tracks and paths, highlighted walking routes and marked features.

Unfortunately the detail of the tracks and footpaths in the first two examples is certainly not definitive and at worst no more than schematic rather than accurate. In both cases the maps do not detail every track and it is difficult to navigate out in the wilds using these maps alone. The Discovery map was found in 2023 and this really is a very good detailed map. This was used in conjunction with a mobile navigation app for walking in 2023 and it is anticipated this will be a constant companion when walking on Rhodes in the future.

Online Maps

There are more definitive and detailed maps available on-line with the likes of the freely available openstreetmap and googlemaps. These present accurate representations of the tracks and footpaths available and with satellite views are able to detail much more of the landscape features. There are some on-line services such as the Field Maps Generator and InkAtlas that enable one to produce a printed booklet from such mapping sites. These are an improvement on most published maps when it comes to detail although such print outs can be confusing. Even so, they have been a useful assistance in attempting to follow tracks and paths in Rhodes.

Walk Books

Walking books on Rhodes are few and far between. Two used by Grffmonster Walks are

• Walk and eat Rhodes
• Walking on Rhodes

In both instances they offer schematic maps and written descriptions of the routes. These are simple enough to follow but they do often present some ambiguity in some of the directions and if the route has been blocked up, they offer no assistance in locating an alternative path. One ambiguous instruction used in one such walk was bear right at the olive tree. Considering that the island is full of olive trees this cast a few doubts when attempting to walk this route. It is therefore beneficial to use such books in conjunction with a printed map.

Mobile Apps

After several years attempting to navigate using published maps and print outs from online mapping site, plus following directions from books and getting lost and disorientated on many occasions, Griffmonster Walks has finally found a viable solution. This method has been tested on Rhodes and provides the means to follow tracks with the benefit of knowing ones location in relation to a map.

So, we drag ourselves into the 21st century with the use of the Mobile App. There are many Apps tailored to walkers and hikers that use a smart phones GPS location facilities which are plotted against a map on the screen. This is a huge benefit in an unknown terrain. In most instances, no Internet connection is required for navigation, routes and maps can be downloaded onto ones mobile device and a days trekking can be accommodated on a battery single change.

There are many such apps available on the market, both paid for and free but they all use a similar mechanism of employing the gps location to determine ones location and tracking this via an on-screen map. Predefined routes enable one to research and plot a course prior to undertaking it, then following this via the apps navigtion. Many of these apps use OpenStreetMap mapping, a collaborative project offering a free geographic database of the world. These maps provide a lot better coverage of footpaths and tracks on Rhodes than many of the printed maps of the island. We have found them to be a great resource for navigation. In addition most apps will allow an import of a track or route that has been created eleswhere. These are known as GPS Exchange Format (GPX) files. The app currently favoured by Griffmonster Walks is OruxMaps. This is a free download from the website or a paid for download from Google Play. Although this takes some getting used to, it is nonetheless highly customizable and supports the free open source mapping supplied by openandomaps

Griffmonster Walks provides downloadable GPX files for each walk on this site. The GPX should be able to be imported into most apps and navigation devices to enable the user to follow the route described in the documented walk page.