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World desk3 min

How to Find a Flatter Route Between Two Points in San Francisco

Flatten SF is reported to compare route distance with cumulative uphill gain. Here’s how to weigh the trade-off and use city maps for terrain context.
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Use Flatten SF to compare routes between your start and destination, then choose how much extra distance you are willing to travel to avoid climbing. Its reported route slider trades distance against cumulative uphill gain; there is no single “flattest” choice that is best for every walker, cyclist, or runner.

How to compare routes with Flatten SF

Flatten SF is described as a browser-based route planner for San Francisco. According to Glonce’s October 6, 2026 account, it compares routes that are not beaten by another option on both distance and climbing. A slider moves between the shortest option and progressively flatter alternatives. The site’s reported method treats one foot of uphill climbing as equivalent to 200 feet of walking at the flattest end of the choices it considers worthwhile. That weighting is a tool setting, not a universal measure of how much a hill is worth avoiding.

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  1. Enter your starting point and destination using the page’s place search.
  2. Choose the travel mode that matches your trip. The account describes stairs as allowed for walking and excluded for biking.
  3. Move the route slider from the shorter option toward flatter alternatives. Compare both added distance and cumulative uphill gain, not just the route’s endpoint elevations.
  4. Choose the trade-off that suits your trip. A modest reduction in climbing may be worth a small detour; a much longer route may not be.

The tool is reported to use a street network from Overture and OpenStreetMap, with elevation from USGS one-meter lidar, across more than 160,000 street segments. Those details are reported by Glonce, not independently validated here. No independent route-accuracy comparison, field test, or accessibility audit is established, so treat the displayed route and elevation figures as planning information rather than a guarantee of on-the-ground conditions.

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What “flattest” means for your trip

A route’s net elevation change is the difference between its start and finish. It can hide the hills along the way: a route may climb and descend substantially yet end at nearly the same elevation where it began. Cumulative uphill gain instead adds the climbs encountered along the route. That is the more useful figure when your aim is to limit uphill effort.

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  • Walking or running: Decide whether you are willing and able to use stairs, since the reported tool approach allows them on foot.
  • Biking: Use the biking mode and consider the route’s traffic and suitability as well as its grade. The city’s guide cautions cyclists throughout San Francisco.
  • Any mode: Weigh the extra distance against the reduction in cumulative climbing; a lower total does not automatically make a route preferable.

City maps that help you check the terrain

San Francisco Planning slope maps

San Francisco Planning’s Map Library lists a Slope Map, as well as a separate July 2018 poster showing slopes greater than 25% with contour intervals of 10 feet. These are useful for understanding steep areas, but they do not calculate a point-to-point route. The listing of a current map does not, by itself, establish the vintage of its underlying data.

San Francisco Bike Map and Walking Guide

The city’s guide is dated 2014, so do not assume it is the newest edition. It groups street grades into four bands: 0–5%, 5–10%, 10–18%, and over 18%. The guide says it is designed to help people choose biking, walking, and running routes on less-hilly terrain. It also notes that numbered official bike routes generally avoid steep hills and heavy traffic. Because it is a static map, it can give neighborhood and route context but does not compute a route between arbitrary addresses.

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DataSF elevation contours

DataSF’s Elevation Contours dataset, updated February 11, 2025, describes five-foot contour intervals for San Francisco mainland and Treasure Island/Yerba Island, using the San Francisco Elevation Datum. Contours can help you understand the surrounding terrain; they are not turn-by-turn directions.

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Use the route as a planning aid

Before setting out, check the selected route against the city maps and the conditions that matter for your trip. A slope display cannot establish whether a street feels safe, whether a path is accessible, or whether construction or other changes affect the route. Google Maps Platform’s 2013 “Map of the Week: Flattest Route” described a historical demonstration that displayed elevation along a draggable bicycle route; it is an example of how an elevation profile can aid comparison, not evidence that the same feature remains available today.

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