Route

A map of all the roads used for routes, rallies, and tracks (black), water areas used for routes (light blue), roads exclusively used in Free Roam (light green), and train tracks (red).

A route^[1] in Mario Kart World is a specific kind of road that connects two separate, often distant, race courses via long stretches of road. A total of 202 routes exist. They are the main roads driven on in the Grand Prix (where the first sections are the path to the destination course, with the final section being the destination course itself) and Knockout Tour and often feature obstacles such as cars, animals, and various enemies like Goombas, Chargin' Chucks, and Treaded Grrrols. If a race begins with a route, racers will uniquely begin to slowly drive forward in a rolling start before and during the starting countdown, accelerating to full speed after "GO!" While the music on these routes is different from the standard race tracks, once the finish line of the next course is approaching, the music will dynamically play a prelude of that course's music before fully changing to it.

Routes span almost the entire map and take various forms, such as highways, mountain ranges, or railroad tracks. Many of the Battle courses are integrated into certain routes. In VS Race, selecting a course opens a menu where the first option is to race on the course in the traditional lap-based way, while the remaining options are to use the course as a route to a nearby track. Rainbow Road has no routes coming from it, and only one route toward it. Unlike previous courses having a set skybox, each course except for Rainbow Road has four different skyboxes for sunrise, daytime, sunset, and nighttime, which may progress when driving through either routes or laps.

Yoshi's drive-throughs appear most frequently on routes. Certain routes pass by a third track; for example, routes between Moo Moo Meadows and DK Pass both ways pass through Dandelion Depths.

Overview[edit]

Of the 202 total routes, 10 of them only go in one direction:

The Special Cup routes of Mario Circuit to Peach Stadium and Peach Stadium to Rainbow Road.
Sky-High Sundae to either Cheep Cheep Falls or Salty Salty Speedway.
DK Spaceport to either Peach Stadium, Desert Hills, or Mario Bros. Circuit.
Either Desert Hills, Whistlestop Summit, or Great ? Block Ruins to Koopa Troopa Beach.

24 routes are used in Grand Prix. As of version 1.8.0, 56 further routes are used in Knockout Tour rallies (with Dandelion Depths to Cheep Cheep Falls and Cheep Cheep Falls to Peach Stadium being used twice across rallies, and Mario Bros. Circuit to Crown City and Moo Moo Meadows to Choco Mountain being used in both Grand Prix and Knockout Tour), though many routes in Knockout Tour significantly differ from their VS Race counterparts. The remaining 122 routes are exclusive to VS Race.

12 pairs of routes are used in both directions in different Knockout Tour rallies:

11 pairs of routes are used in opposite directions in Knockout Tour compared to Grand Prix:

This makes for 75 pairs of routes in either direction, as well as 8 of the 10 one-way routes, exclusive to VS Race.

Most routes are nearly identical to the one going in the opposite direction; for example, the pathway between Mario Bros. Circuit and Crown City only has minor changes if the route is reversed.

The routes between Shy Guy Bazaar and Wario Stadium are among a few instances where a route is completely different from its opposite-direction counterpart.

Of the 192 routes that are not one-way, many use a similar pathway to one going in the opposite direction; for example, the route of Mario Bros. Circuit to Crown City uses a similar path as Crown City to Mario Bros. Circuit. However, there are 22 pairs (44 routes) of exceptions where the opposite-direction paths are completely different from one another:

Crown City and Whistlestop Summit
Crown City and Koopa Troopa Beach
DK Spaceport and Koopa Troopa Beach
Shy Guy Bazaar and Wario Stadium
Airship Fortress and Bowser's Castle
DK Pass and Starview Peak
DK Pass and Cheep Cheep Falls
Starview Peak and Wario Shipyard
Starview Peak and Cheep Cheep Falls
Sky-High Sundae and Wario Shipyard
Koopa Troopa Beach and Faraway Oasis
Koopa Troopa Beach and Peach Stadium
Faraway Oasis and Salty Salty Speedway
Faraway Oasis and Great ? Block Ruins
Salty Salty Speedway and Cheep Cheep Falls
Cheep Cheep Falls and Dandelion Depths
Cheep Cheep Falls and Moo Moo Meadows
Cheep Cheep Falls and Choco Mountain
Dry Bones Burnout and Moo Moo Meadows
Dry Bones Burnout and Bowser's Castle
Moo Moo Meadows and Mario Circuit
Bowser's Castle and Mario Circuit

Dividing the 148 two-way routes that are identical to their opposite-direction counterparts comes to 74 repeated pathways. Adding the 10 one-way routes and the 44 routes that are completely different from their opposite-direction counterparts adds up to 128 unique pathways in the game.

The majority of routes show three sections, with the first two sections being the actual route and the third section being the destination course, with the following exceptions:

The following 28 pairs of two-way routes (56 routes in total) have four sections in both directions:
- Crown City and Faraway Oasis
- Crown City and Desert Hills
- Crown City and Wario Stadium
- Airship Fortress and Toad's Factory
- Airship Fortress and Dry Bones Burnout
- Starview Peak and Wario Shipyard
- Starview Peak and Cheep Cheep Falls
- Starview Peak and Mario Circuit
- Starview Peak and Boo Cinema
- Dino Dino Jungle and Salty Salty Speedway
- Dino Dino Jungle and Peach Beach
- Cheep Cheep Falls and Choco Mountain
- Cheep Cheep Falls and Wario Shipyard
- Dandelion Depths and Sky-High Sundae
- Dandelion Depths and Toad's Factory
- Dandelion Depths and Acorn Heights
- Dry Bones Burnout and Boo Cinema
- Dry Bones Burnout and Wario Stadium
- Dry Bones Burnout and Moo Moo Meadows
- Moo Moo Meadows and DK Pass
- Moo Moo Meadows and Crown City
- Choco Mountain and Whistlestop Summit
- Choco Mountain and Shy Guy Bazaar
- Toad's Factory and Acorn Heights
- Toad's Factory and Peach Stadium
- Toad's Factory and Mario Bros. Circuit
- Bowser's Castle and Choco Mountain
- Bowser's Castle and Mario Circuit
All 10 one-way routes are either four or five sections. Desert Hills to Koopa Troopa Beach is the only one of the one-way routes to have more than five sections.
- Both DK Spaceport's and Mario Circuit's routes to Peach Stadium are five sections.
- Desert Hills to Koopa Troopa Beach shows six sections, four for the main route plus two laps of Koopa Troopa Beach. Great ? Block Ruins and Whistlestop Summit's routes to Koopa Troopa Beach show five sections, three for the main route plus two laps of Koopa Troopa Beach.
- Peach Stadium to Rainbow Road shows five sections, though only one section (rather than the usual two) is used for the actual route; the other four sections exist on Rainbow Road normally. Unlike other routes, Rainbow Road is not shown on the minimap until reaching it, due to being separate from the rest of the world. Playing in split-screen shows Rainbow Road's minimap abruptly appearing in place of the route's minimap.
- The other 4 one-way routes (DK Spaceport's routes to both Desert Hills and Mario Bros. Circuit and Sky-High Sundae's routes to both Cheep Cheep Falls and Salty Salty Speedway) are each four sections.
Acorn Heights to Mario Circuit shows five sections, as it is the only route that takes racers to all three Mario Circuit sections. Mario Circuit to Acorn Heights is the normal three sections.
All three routes leading to DK Spaceport show eight sections, due to DK Spaceport itself having six sections. Routes leading from DK Spaceport that are not one-way are the normal three sections.
Most routes leading to Peach Beach show four sections, due to routes taking racers to both sections 2 and 3 of Peach Beach. Routes from Peach Beach are the normal three sections, except the route to Dino Dino Jungle, which shows four sections. Due to these factors, Dino Dino Jungle to Peach Beach shows five sections.
All routes to Koopa Troopa Beach that are not one-way show four sections due to two laps being done on Koopa Troopa Beach.

Possible routes[edit]

Map of all routes except Rainbow Road's. The amount of sections of each route, and which different variants or unique entrances they lead to, are all labeled.

Map of the routes colored based on which ones are used in Grand Prix (orange), Knockout Tour (light blue), or both (purple).

Most courses can have significant alterations when taken via certain routes:

Crown City and Peach Stadium, which have two layouts in Grand Prix, will have each route take one variant. Peach Stadium's Shell Cup section can be mirrored depending on the route. Without routes, Crown City combines its Grand Prix layouts—with its Shell Cup and third layouts being significantly cut, and the former being driven in reverse—while Peach Stadium exclusively uses its Special Cup layout.
A second Shy Guy Bazaar layout featuring a palace and a third Crown City layout featuring a water segment are exclusively used during certain routes, and are completely unavailable without routes.
All routes leading to Peach Beach and most routes leading to Mario Circuit only drive on specific sections rather than the full course.
Mario Bros. Circuit, Desert Hills, Wario Stadium, DK Pass, Koopa Troopa Beach, and Moo Moo Meadows are driven in reverse during certain routes. The minimap is flipped upside down and ramps are adjusted to account for the reverse direction.
After the 1.4.0 update, all routes to Koopa Troopa Beach now do two laps of it rather than one.
Certain routes to Crown City's Shell Cup variant, Peach Stadium, Dino Dino Jungle, Dry Bones Burnout, Choco Mountain, and Toad's Factory skip the beginning of the track in favor of unique entrances, and may block off the portion of the track that was skipped.
16 entrances to the following 15 tracks—Mario Bros. Circuit, Whistlestop Summit, Wario Stadium, Airship Fortress, Wario Shipyard, Faraway Oasis, Peach Beach, two entrances into Salty Salty Speedway, Cheep Cheep Falls, Dandelion Depths, Dry Bones Burnout, Moo Moo Meadows, Choco Mountain, Toad's Factory, and Acorn Heights—enter the track near the center of the race course, often from normally inaccessible areas, while still being a full lap.

DK Spaceport, Starview Peak, Sky-High Sundae, Great ? Block Ruins, Boo Cinema, Bowser's Castle, and Rainbow Road are the only courses that do not change depending on the route. All of these except Rainbow Road are at the edge of the map.

Routes used in Grand Prix are in bold. Routes that are labeled in Knockout Tour are in italics, though the Knockout Tour route may significantly differ from its VS Race counterpart. Routes that are more than 3 sections for any reason other than the destination course having multiple sections utilized are marked with an asterisk (*). Routes that are completely different from their counterparts in the opposite direction are marked with a caret (^).

Destination track	Routes	Number
Mario Bros. Circuit	Shy Guy Bazaar Reverse DK Spaceport* (one-way), Desert Hills, Crown City, Whistlestop Summit Reverse, center entrance Choco Mountain, Wario Stadium, Toad's Factory*	8
Crown City	Mushroom Cup / Normal Section 2 Mario Bros. Circuit, Desert Hills, Whistlestop Summit^, Wario Stadium Shell Cup / Extended & reverse section 1 Faraway Oasis, Koopa Troopa Beach Shell Cup, beginning skipped* DK Spaceport Third layout / Extended section 3 Peach Stadium (Mushroom Cup section in Ice Rally), Choco Mountain, Moo Moo Meadows*	10
Whistlestop Summit	Crown City^, DK Spaceport Center entrance Desert Hills, Choco Mountain, Mario Bros. Circuit*	5
DK Spaceport	Whistlestop Summit, Koopa Troopa Beach, Crown City	3
Desert Hills	Shy Guy Bazaar Reverse DK Spaceport* (one-way), Whistlestop Summit, Mario Bros. Circuit, Crown City*	5
Shy Guy Bazaar	Normal track Desert Hills, Mario Bros. Circuit, Choco Mountain* Daisy's palace section Airship Fortress, Wario Stadium^ (normal track in Turnip Rally)	5
Wario Stadium	Shy Guy Bazaar^, Crown City, Choco Mountain, Mario Bros. Circuit Center entrance* Toad's Factory, Airship Fortress Reverse Bowser's Castle, Dry Bones Burnout*	8
Airship Fortress	Wario Stadium, Bowser's Castle^, Toad's Factory, Dry Bones Burnout Center entrance Shy Guy Bazaar	5
DK Pass	Starview Peak^, Cheep Cheep Falls^, Sky-High Sundae, Dandelion Depths, Moo Moo Meadows* Reverse Wario Shipyard, Salty Salty Speedway	7
Starview Peak	DK Pass^, Sky-High Sundae, Boo Cinema, Dandelion Depths, Mario Circuit, Cheep Cheep Falls^, Wario Shipyard^	7
Sky-High Sundae	Starview Peak, Wario Shipyard^, Dandelion Depths*, DK Pass	4
Wario Shipyard	Sky-High Sundae^, DK Pass, Starview Peak^, Cheep Cheep Falls, Salty Salty Speedway Center entrance Peach Beach	6
Koopa Troopa Beach	Great ? Block Ruins* (one-way), Dino Dino Jungle, Faraway Oasis^, Peach Stadium Reverse Desert Hills* (one-way, 5 sections),Whistlestop Summit* (one-way), Crown City, DK Spaceport	8
Faraway Oasis	Koopa Troopa Beach^, Crown City, Cheep Cheep Falls, Dino Dino Jungle, Peach Stadium Center entrance* Great ? Block Ruins^, Salty Salty Speedway^, Peach Beach	8
Peach Stadium	Normal track Mario Circuit* (one-way, 5 sections), Moo Moo Meadows, Toad's Factory* Beginning skipped DK Spaceport* (one-way, 5 sections), Koopa Troopa Beach Shell Cup / Battle section Crown City, Choco Mountain Shell Cup / Battle section (mirrored) Cheep Cheep Falls, Faraway Oasis	9
Peach Beach	Sections 2 & 3 only Salty Salty Speedway, Great ? Block Ruins, Dino Dino Jungle, Faraway Oasis Sections 2 & 3, center entrance* Wario Shipyard	5
Salty Salty Speedway	Peach Beach, Dino Dino Jungle, Great ? Block Ruins Center entrance 1* Sky-High Sundae* (one-way), DK Pass, Wario Shipyard Center entrance 2 Cheep Cheep Falls^, Faraway Oasis^	8
Dino Dino Jungle	Salty Salty Speedway, Peach Beach, Great ? Block Ruins, Faraway Oasis Beginning skipped Koopa Troopa Beach	5
Great ? Block Ruins	Dino Dino Jungle, Faraway Oasis^, Peach Beach, Salty Salty Speedway	4
Cheep Cheep Falls	Sky-High Sundae* (one-way), Peach Stadium, Salty Salty Speedway^, Faraway Oasis, DK Pass^, Choco Mountain^, Starview Peak^, Moo Moo Meadows^, Wario Shipyard* Center entrance Dandelion Depths^	10
Dandelion Depths	Cheep Cheep Falls^, Moo Moo Meadows, Starview Peak, Sky-High Sundae, DK Pass, Mario Circuit, Toad's Factory, Boo Cinema Center entrance Acorn Heights*	9
Boo Cinema	Dandelion Depths, Dry Bones Burnout, Starview Peak, Acorn Heights, Mario Circuit	5
Dry Bones Burnout	Boo Cinema, Acorn Heights Center entrance* Toad's Factory, Bowser's Castle^, Wario Stadium, Moo Moo Meadows^, Mario Circuit Beginning skipped Airship Fortress*	8
Moo Moo Meadows	Choco Mountain, Toad's Factory, Crown City* Center entrance Mario Circuit^, Dandelion Depths, Dry Bones Burnout^, DK Pass Reverse Peach Stadium, Cheep Cheep Falls^	9
Choco Mountain	Moo Moo Meadows, Peach Stadium, Crown City, Cheep Cheep Falls^ Center entrance* Toad's Factory Beginning skipped Wario Stadium, Mario Bros. Circuit, Whistlestop Summit, Shy Guy Bazaar, Bowser's Castle*	10
Toad's Factory	Choco Mountain, Moo Moo Meadows, Mario Bros. Circuit, Peach Stadium Center entrance Mario Circuit, Dandelion Depths* Beginning skipped Bowser's Castle, Wario Stadium, Airship Fortress, Dry Bones Burnout, Acorn Heights	11
Bowser's Castle	Toad's Factory, Dry Bones Burnout^, Airship Fortress^, Wario Stadium, Choco Mountain, Mario Circuit^	6
Acorn Heights	Mario Circuit, Boo Cinema, Dandelion Depths* Center entrance Dry Bones Burnout, Toad's Factory*	5
Mario Circuit	All sections Acorn Heights Section 1 Boo Cinema Section 2 Dry Bones Burnout, Toad's Factory, Bowser's Castle^ Section 3* Moo Moo Meadows^, Dandelion Depths, Starview Peak*	8
Rainbow Road	Peach Stadium (one-way)	1

Route maps[edit]

The route maps always display the destination course at the top, except for Knockout Tour and Rainbow Road. Once all local players reach the destination course, the minimap will shift to that course's minimap.