Is there anyway to make minor roads more visible to see when zoomed out?
Trying to plan a ride out and they are barely visible.
Open Street Map is better in this resepct but I like the ability to drag a route and have distance / height profile worked out for you in Google Maps.

Use https://ridewithgps.com
Much better than trying to use google on its own.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php

Shows Google, OS and OpenCycleMap

OP as you can see, better tools available.

Or try the Strava routes tool, it is based on OpenStreetMap, and gives an elevation profile.

Cheers, I’ll give these different options a whirl.