diff --git a/backend/services/navi_offroute/router.py b/backend/services/navi_offroute/router.py
index 0aef757..1d8fcc5 100755
--- a/backend/services/navi_offroute/router.py
+++ b/backend/services/navi_offroute/router.py
@@ -255,23 +255,31 @@ class EntryPointIndex:
         limit: int = 50
     ) -> List[Dict]:
         """
-        Find entry points within radius_km of (lat, lon).
-        Uses PostGIS ST_DWithin with geography cast for meter-accurate distance.
+        Find the nearest entry points to (lat, lon), ordered by true geodesic distance.
+
+        Uses PostGIS k-NN ordering (the geography ``<->`` operator), which is
+        index-assisted by the GiST index on ``(geom::geography)``: it walks the index
+        nearest-first and stops after ``limit`` rows, instead of scanning every point
+        inside a radius (the old ST_DWithin approach returned ~226k candidates near
+        dense areas before sorting). ``radius_km`` is retained as a *soft cap* applied
+        in Python after the fetch — rows beyond it are dropped, so callers'
+        expanded-radius fallback still works (though it is now effectively a no-op,
+        since k-NN already returns the globally nearest K regardless of radius).
         """
         if not self.table_exists():
             return []
 
         conn = self._get_conn()
-        radius_m = radius_km * 1000
 
-        # Build query with optional highway filter
+        # SELECT distance_m needs the point; optional highway filter; ORDER BY <-> needs
+        # the point again; then LIMIT. Param order follows the placeholders top-to-bottom.
         highway_filter = ""
-        params = [lon, lat, lon, lat, radius_m]
+        params = [lon, lat]
         if valid_highways:
             placeholders = ','.join(['%s'] * len(valid_highways))
-            highway_filter = f"AND highway_class IN ({placeholders})"
+            highway_filter = f"WHERE highway_class IN ({placeholders})"
             params.extend(list(valid_highways))
-        params.append(limit)
+        params.extend([lon, lat, limit])
 
         query = f"""
             SELECT
@@ -286,19 +294,18 @@ class EntryPointIndex:
                     ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(%s, %s), 4326)::geography
                 ) as distance_m
             FROM entry_points
-            WHERE ST_DWithin(
-                geom::geography,
-                ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(%s, %s), 4326)::geography,
-                %s
-            )
             {highway_filter}
-            ORDER BY distance_m
+            ORDER BY geom::geography <-> ST_SetSRID(ST_Point(%s, %s), 4326)::geography
             LIMIT %s
         """
 
         with conn.cursor(cursor_factory=psycopg2.extras.RealDictCursor) as cur:
             cur.execute(query, params)
-            return [dict(row) for row in cur.fetchall()]
+            rows = [dict(row) for row in cur.fetchall()]
+
+        # radius_km soft cap (backward compat): drop rows beyond it.
+        radius_m = radius_km * 1000
+        return [r for r in rows if r["distance_m"] <= radius_m]
 
     def build_index(self, osm_pbf_path: Path = None) -> Dict:
         """
diff --git a/backend/services/navi_offroute/tests/test_offroute.py b/backend/services/navi_offroute/tests/test_offroute.py
index 8046be1..76e1730 100644
--- a/backend/services/navi_offroute/tests/test_offroute.py
+++ b/backend/services/navi_offroute/tests/test_offroute.py
@@ -512,3 +512,50 @@ def test_has_entry_points_empty(monkeypatch):
 def test_has_entry_points_rows(monkeypatch):
     idx = _bare_index(monkeypatch, table_exists=True, row=(True,))
     assert idx.has_entry_points() is True
+
+
+# ── EntryPointIndex.query_radius — k-NN <-> ordering + radius soft cap ─────
+
+class _FakeCurQ:
+    def __init__(self, rows, capture):
+        self._rows, self._capture = rows, capture
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+    def __exit__(self, *a):
+        return False
+    def execute(self, q, params=None):
+        self._capture["query"] = q
+        self._capture["params"] = params
+    def fetchall(self):
+        return self._rows
+
+
+class _FakeConnQ:
+    def __init__(self, rows, capture):
+        self._rows, self._capture = rows, capture
+    def cursor(self, cursor_factory=None):
+        return _FakeCurQ(self._rows, self._capture)
+
+
+def test_query_radius_uses_knn_sql(monkeypatch):
+    cap = {}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(EntryPointIndex, "table_exists", lambda self: True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(EntryPointIndex, "_get_conn", lambda self: _FakeConnQ([], cap))
+    idx = object.__new__(EntryPointIndex)
+    idx.query_radius(44.1, -115.0, 50, limit=10)
+    assert "<->" in cap["query"]
+    assert "LIMIT" in cap["query"]
+    assert "ST_DWithin" not in cap["query"]  # radius scan removed
+
+
+def test_query_radius_soft_cap_filters_beyond_radius(monkeypatch):
+    rows = [
+        {"id": 1, "distance_m": 100.0},
+        {"id": 2, "distance_m": 50000.0},
+        {"id": 3, "distance_m": 200000.0},  # beyond 50km cap -> dropped
+    ]
+    monkeypatch.setattr(EntryPointIndex, "table_exists", lambda self: True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(EntryPointIndex, "_get_conn", lambda self: _FakeConnQ(rows, {}))
+    idx = object.__new__(EntryPointIndex)
+    out = idx.query_radius(44.1, -115.0, 50, limit=10)  # 50 km = 50000 m cap
+    assert [r["id"] for r in out] == [1, 2]