LocateKit

Map tool

Draw a precise radius on a map

Set a centre, choose miles or kilometres, then share or download the exact circle you created. The map starts over the United States for English visitors and uses miles by default.

How to draw a radius map

A radius map answers a simple question: what lies within a chosen straight-line distance of one point? Click directly on the map, drag the centre pin into place, or use your current location after your browser asks for permission. Then set a radius with the number field, the short nearby-area slider, or one of the common quick values.

  1. Choose the centre. Click the map or use your current location. The pin can be dragged after you place it.
  2. Set a distance. Pick miles or kilometres, then enter an exact number. The slider is intentionally tuned for smaller local areas; type a larger number when you need one.
  3. Adjust the view. Use the plus and minus controls on the map, your mouse wheel, or a pinch gesture. The map keeps the zoom you choose.
  4. Share or download. Copy link recreates the centre, radius, unit, circle colour, and zoom. Download map as PNG saves the current view for a message or planning document.

Miles or kilometres: use the unit your audience expects

One circle has one physical size. For this English page, miles are the starting unit because many searches come from the United States. The circle is still calculated in one underlying distance, so switching to kilometres only changes the way the number is displayed. Five miles becomes about 8.0 kilometres, not a different boundary.

That detail matters when you share a map. A person opening your link sees the same physical circle, chosen colour, and zoomed-in view, even if they later switch the display unit. Choose the unit that the people reading your map use.

Common radius examples: 5 km, 10 miles, and an exact distance

A 5 km radius is about 3.1 miles and covers roughly 78.5 square kilometres. It is a useful compact starting point for a local service area, a nearby meeting point, or a quick "what is near me" view. Start a 5 km radius map, then place the pin where you need it.

A 10 mile radius is about 16.1 kilometres and covers roughly 314 square miles. It is a broader planning view for a city, a delivery boundary, or a group deciding how far everyone is willing to travel. Start a 10 mile radius map and set the centre with a click.

The exact input is more important than a preset. A radius can be 0.2 miles for a short walk, 1.5 km for a neighbourhood boundary, or a much larger planning area. The tool measures straight-line distance, so it is honest about what it can answer.

Choose the radius from the decision you need to make

Start with the smallest distance that answers your question. For a nearby pickup or a meeting point, a 0.5 to 2 km circle makes the useful area obvious. For a service area, begin with the distance you would genuinely travel before you add exceptions for roads, water, or local boundaries. A larger circle is not more precise simply because it covers more map.

When you compare two options, keep the centre fixed and change only the radius. That makes the trade-off visible: a 5 km circle is four times the area of a 2.5 km circle, because circle area grows with the square of the distance. Use separate colours when you need to save two alternatives as PNGs, but put the distance in the message or document too. Colour helps people scan a plan; the number makes the plan unambiguous.

If someone needs an arrival time, a travel route, or a place they can reach in 20 minutes, move from this map to a route planner. The radius map is the clean first step for straight-line coverage, not a substitute for real-world travel conditions.

Useful for a distance, not for a journey

Use a circle when straight-line distance is the decision. It is handy for sketching a local delivery area, finding a neutral meeting boundary, planning a service territory, or checking which neighbourhoods fall near a venue. It gives everyone the same visual reference without asking them to install an app or sign into a map account.

It does not calculate how long a trip takes, which roads are open, or how far a car, bicycle, or pedestrian can travel. A ten-mile circle may contain a much longer drive if a river, motorway, or one-way route gets in the way. Use a route planner after you have chosen an area if travel time is the real question. If the goal is to let someone follow your changing position during that journey, use a short-lived live location link instead of a static circle.

The image download is a planning aid, not a legal map. It is a PNG of the map view you made in the browser. Choosing a colour can help separate two alternatives in a presentation. If you plan to share an original photo alongside the map, make a clean local copy without photo metadata first. Neither export is a surveyed property boundary, an official address document, or a substitute for emergency services.

Privacy tool

Clean photo metadata

Make a local copy of a photo without embedded GPS and camera data.

Private link

Live location

Share a moving location for a short time and stop it whenever you need.

Questions and answers

Radius map questions

Does the radius use miles or kilometres?
This English version starts in miles because it is aimed at US searchers, but you can switch to kilometres at any time. Switching units does not move the pin or change the physical size of the circle. Choose the unit that the people reading your map use.
What exactly does a radius map measure?
A radius is straight-line distance from the centre in every direction. It is useful for service coverage, a meeting boundary, or comparing nearby places. It is not a driving route, travel time, or an isochrone. Roads, traffic, rivers, and borders do not change the circle.
Does the share link preserve my map view?
Yes. The link stores the centre coordinates, radius, selected unit, circle colour, and the current zoom level in the URL. The recipient opens the same circle at the same map scale. No account is needed to open it.
Can I start with a 5 km or 10 mile radius?
Yes. Choose kilometres or miles, then type 5 or 10 in the exact number field. The tool can also open a ready-made 5 km or 10 mile circle through a link. These are practical starting points, not fixed limits: you can set any distance from 0.1 to 500 miles or kilometres.
Is my current location uploaded when I press Use my location?
The browser asks permission and uses the coordinate to move the pin. The map provider receives tile requests for the viewed area and your IP address. A share link includes the coordinate in its URL, which is sent to LocateKit when opened. Share it only when you intend to share that place.
Can I download the radius map as an image?
Yes. Download map as PNG creates an image from the current map canvas, including the circle and the zoom level you chose. It is designed for a quick handoff, a planning note, or a message attachment. Check the image before using it as a formal map or legal boundary.
Can I change the circle colour?
Yes. Choose one of four clear preset colours before you download or share the map. The circle fill, outline, and centre pin update together. Colour does not change the measured distance or the circle area.
How accurate is the circle?
The circle is calculated geodesically from latitude and longitude, rather than as a flat pixel shape. That keeps the distance meaningful over normal map scales. It is still a planning tool, not a survey, property line, emergency dispatch system, or guarantee of driving distance.

How this map handles your data

The interactive map is rendered with MapLibre and map tiles supplied by Esri. If you choose Use my location, your browser controls the permission prompt and returns a coordinate to this tab. LocateKit does not create an account or store that coordinate. Map tile requests reveal the viewed map area and your IP address to the tile provider. A shared link also contains the chosen coordinate in its query string, which is sent to the site when the link is opened.

For a shared map, that transparency is more useful than a vague privacy claim: the recipient receives the exact centre and radius in the URL, and the page reconstructs the circle from those values. You can inspect or remove the values before sending the link.