What the map shows
Every line that OpenStreetMap, the free map anyone can edit, records as a canal in the UK. Named canals are dark green, and you can tap them. Thinner grey lines are canal lines that carry no name on the map.
It is a picture of the network, not a cruising guide. Some lines are canals that are closed, dry or being restored, because the map records where a canal runs, not whether a boat can use it today.
Why there are no lengths
We tried adding up each canal's lines on the map. The totals came out well short of the lengths canals are known for, because many stretches carry a lock's or a tunnel's name, or no name at all. A wrong number is worse than none, so the map shows where each canal runs and leaves the miles to your guidebook.
To time a real trip, count the miles and locks for your stretch and use our cruise time planner. To check your boat fits, use will my boat fit. For the other maps worth knowing, read our guide to English canal maps.
Where the data comes from
The canals come from OpenStreetMap, under the Open Database License. That means you can reuse the map file too, as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and share it on the same terms. The coastline is from Natural Earth, which is free for anyone to use. We fetch the canals again every month, and the date under the map says when they were last checked.
We looked at the Canal & River Trust's open data first. Its data licence rules out use that benefits a commercial purpose, even indirectly, and this is a shop's website, so we left it alone.
Put it on your website
Boat clubs, canal societies and hire bases can show the map on their own sites for free. Copy the code under the map. It carries a credit line back to us and to OpenStreetMap, which the licence asks for.
Sources
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, fetched again every month. Coastline: Natural Earth, public domain. Canal & River Trust data licence, version 1.0, clause 3.1.4, read on 30 October 2026.