diff --git a/dev/devPage.tsx b/dev/devPage.tsx
index fb0a76d4..2943afbd 100644
--- a/dev/devPage.tsx
+++ b/dev/devPage.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
 import { I18nextProvider, useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
 import 'tachyons'
 import i18n from '../src/i18n.js'
-import { ExplorePage, StartExploringPage, IpldExploreForm, IpldCarExploreForm, ExploreProvider, HeliaProvider } from '../src/index.js'
+import { ExplorePage, StartExploringPage, IpldExploreForm, IpldCarExploreForm, ExploreProvider, HeliaProvider, useExplore } from '../src/index.js'
 
 globalThis.Buffer = globalThis.Buffer ?? Buffer
 
@@ -64,27 +64,22 @@ const HeaderComponent: React.FC = () => {
 }
 
 const PageRenderer = (): React.ReactElement => {
-  const [route, setRoute] = useState(window.location.hash.slice(1) ?? '/')
+  const { setExplorePath, exploreState: { path } } = useExplore()
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    const onHashChange = (): void => { setRoute(window.location.hash.slice(1) ?? '/') }
+    const onHashChange = (): void => {
+      const newRoute = window.location.hash ?? null
+      setExplorePath(newRoute)
+    }
     window.addEventListener('hashchange', onHashChange)
     return () => { window.removeEventListener('hashchange', onHashChange) }
-  }, [])
+  }, [setExplorePath])
 
-  const RenderPage: React.FC = () => {
-    switch (true) {
-      case route.startsWith('/explore'):
-        return <ExplorePage />
-      case route === '/':
-      default:
-        return <StartExploringPage />
-    }
+  if (path == null || path === '') {
+    return <StartExploringPage />
   }
 
-  return (
-    <RenderPage />
-  )
+  return <ExplorePage />
 }
 
 const App = (): React.ReactElement => {
diff --git a/src/components/ExplorePage.stories.tsx b/src/components/ExplorePage.stories.tsx
index 38ea832a..3cdf18eb 100644
--- a/src/components/ExplorePage.stories.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ExplorePage.stories.tsx
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ const defaultState: ExploreState = {
   path: 'QmdmQXB2mzChmMeKY47C43LxUdg1NDJ5MWcKMKxDu7RgQm',
   canonicalPath: 'QmdmQXB2mzChmMeKY47C43LxUdg1NDJ5MWcKMKxDu7RgQm',
   error: null,
-  explorePathFromHash: 'QmdmQXB2mzChmMeKY47C43LxUdg1NDJ5MWcKMKxDu7RgQm',
   targetNode: {
     type: 'dag-pb',
     format: 'unixfs',
diff --git a/src/components/ExplorePage.tsx b/src/components/ExplorePage.tsx
index 09bc5b75..1ad887f4 100644
--- a/src/components/ExplorePage.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ExplorePage.tsx
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ export const ExplorePage = ({
   const { t, ready: tReady } = useTranslation('explore')
 
   const { exploreState, doExploreLink } = useExplore()
-  const { explorePathFromHash } = exploreState
+  const { path } = exploreState
 
-  if (explorePathFromHash == null) {
+  if (path == null) {
     // No IPLD path to explore so show the intro page
     console.warn('[IPLD Explorer] ExplorePage loaded without a path to explore')
     return null
diff --git a/src/components/loader/loader.tsx b/src/components/loader/loader.tsx
index 4edbee5d..f19226f6 100644
--- a/src/components/loader/loader.tsx
+++ b/src/components/loader/loader.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React from 'react'
 import styles from './loader.module.css'
 
-export const Loader: React.FC<{ color: string }> = ({ color = 'light', ...props }) => {
+export const Loader: React.FC<{ color?: string }> = ({ color = 'light', ...props }) => {
   const className = `dib ${styles.laBallTrianglePath} la-${color} la-sm`
   return (
     <div {...props}>
diff --git a/src/providers/explore.tsx b/src/providers/explore.tsx
index 67d1fe60..343a1574 100644
--- a/src/providers/explore.tsx
+++ b/src/providers/explore.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ import type { NormalizedDagNode } from '../types.js'
 
 interface ExploreContextProps {
   exploreState: ExploreState
-  // explorePathFromHash: string | null
+  explorePathPrefix: string
+  isLoading: boolean
+  setExplorePath(path: string | null): void
   doExploreLink(link: any): void
   doExploreUserProvidedPath(path: string): void
   doUploadUserProvidedCar(file: File, uploadImage: string): Promise<void>
@@ -37,7 +39,6 @@ export interface ExploreState {
   nodes: any[]
   pathBoundaries: any[]
   error: IpldExploreError | null
-  explorePathFromHash: string | null
 }
 
 export const ExploreContext = createContext<ExploreContextProps | undefined>(undefined)
@@ -58,6 +59,24 @@ const getCidFromCidOrFqdn = (cidOrFqdn: CID | string): CID => {
   return CID.parse(cidOrFqdn)
 }
 
+const processPath = (path: string | null, pathPrefix: string): string | null => {
+  let newPath = path
+  if (newPath != null) {
+    if (newPath.includes(pathPrefix)) {
+      newPath = newPath.slice(pathPrefix.length)
+    }
+    if (newPath.startsWith('/')) {
+      newPath = newPath.slice(1)
+    }
+    if (newPath === '') {
+      newPath = null
+    } else {
+      newPath = decodeURIComponent(newPath)
+    }
+  }
+  return newPath
+}
+
 const defaultState: ExploreState = {
   path: null,
   targetNode: null,
@@ -65,44 +84,83 @@ const defaultState: ExploreState = {
   localPath: '',
   nodes: [],
   pathBoundaries: [],
-  error: null,
-  explorePathFromHash: null
+  error: null
+}
+
+export interface ExploreProviderProps {
+  children?: ReactNode | ReactNode[]
+  state?: Partial<ExploreState>
+  explorePathPrefix?: string
 }
 
-export const ExploreProvider = ({ children, state = defaultState }: { children?: ReactNode, state?: ExploreState }): React.ReactNode => {
-  const [exploreState, setExploreState] = useState<ExploreState>({ ...state, explorePathFromHash: window.location.hash.slice('#/explore'.length) })
+export const ExploreProvider = ({ children, state, explorePathPrefix = '#/explore' }: ExploreProviderProps): React.ReactNode => {
+  if (state == null) {
+    state = {
+      path: processPath(window.location.hash, explorePathPrefix)
+    }
+  } else {
+    if (state.path === '') {
+      state.path = null
+    } else if (state.path != null) {
+      state.path = processPath(state.path, explorePathPrefix)
+    }
+  }
+  const [exploreState, setExploreState] = useState<ExploreState>({ ...defaultState, ...state })
   const { helia } = useHelia()
-  const { explorePathFromHash } = exploreState
+  const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState<boolean>(false)
+  const { path } = exploreState
 
-  const fetchExploreData = useCallback(async (path: string): Promise<void> => {
-    // Clear the target node when a new path is requested
-    setExploreState((exploreState) => ({
-      ...exploreState,
-      targetNode: null
-    }))
-    const pathParts = parseIpldPath(path)
-    if (pathParts == null || helia == null) return
+  useEffect(() => {
+    setIsLoading(true);
 
-    const { cidOrFqdn, rest } = pathParts
-    try {
-      const cid = getCidFromCidOrFqdn(cidOrFqdn)
-      const { targetNode, canonicalPath, localPath, nodes, pathBoundaries } = await resolveIpldPath(helia, cid, rest)
-
-      setExploreState(({ explorePathFromHash }) => ({
-        explorePathFromHash,
-        path,
-        targetNode,
-        canonicalPath,
-        localPath,
-        nodes,
-        pathBoundaries,
-        error: null
+    (async () => {
+      if (path == null || helia == null) {
+        return
+      }
+      // Clear the target node when a new path is requested
+      setExploreState((exploreState) => ({
+        ...exploreState,
+        targetNode: null
       }))
-    } catch (error: any) {
-      console.warn('Failed to resolve path', path, error)
-      setExploreState((prevState) => ({ ...prevState, error }))
+      const pathParts = parseIpldPath(path)
+      if (pathParts == null || helia == null) return
+
+      const { cidOrFqdn, rest } = pathParts
+      try {
+        const cid = getCidFromCidOrFqdn(cidOrFqdn)
+        const { targetNode, canonicalPath, localPath, nodes, pathBoundaries } = await resolveIpldPath(helia, cid, rest)
+
+        setExploreState((curr) => ({
+          ...curr,
+          targetNode,
+          canonicalPath,
+          localPath,
+          nodes,
+          pathBoundaries,
+          error: null
+        }))
+      } catch (error: any) {
+        console.warn('Failed to resolve path', path, error)
+        setExploreState((prevState) => ({ ...prevState, error }))
+      }
+    })().catch((err) => {
+      console.error('Error fetching explore data', err)
+      setExploreState((prevState) => ({ ...prevState, error: err }))
+    }).finally(() => {
+      setIsLoading(false)
+    })
+  }, [helia, path])
+
+  const setExplorePath = (path: string | null): void => {
+    const newPath = processPath(path, explorePathPrefix)
+    if (newPath != null && !window.location.href.includes(newPath)) {
+      throw new Error('setExplorePath should only be used to update the state, not the URL. If you are using a routing library that doesn\'t allow you to listen to hashchange events, ensure the URL is updated prior to calling setExplorePath.')
     }
-  }, [helia])
+    setExploreState((exploreState) => ({
+      ...exploreState,
+      path: newPath
+    }))
+  }
 
   const doExploreLink = (link: LinkObject): void => {
     const { nodes, pathBoundaries } = exploreState
@@ -114,12 +172,16 @@ export const ExploreProvider = ({ children, state = defaultState }: { children?:
     }
     pathParts.unshift(cid)
     const path = pathParts.map((part) => encodeURIComponent(part)).join('/')
-    const hash = `#/explore/${path}`
+    const hash = `${explorePathPrefix}/${path}`
     window.location.hash = hash
+    setExplorePath(path)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @deprecated - use setExplorePath instead
+   */
   const doExploreUserProvidedPath = (path: string): void => {
-    const hash = path != null ? `#/explore${ensureLeadingSlash(path)}` : '#/explore'
+    const hash = path != null ? `${explorePathPrefix}${ensureLeadingSlash(path)}` : explorePathPrefix
     window.location.hash = hash
   }
 
@@ -130,7 +192,7 @@ export const ExploreProvider = ({ children, state = defaultState }: { children?:
     }
     try {
       const rootCid = await importCar(file, helia)
-      const hash = rootCid.toString() != null ? `#/explore${ensureLeadingSlash(rootCid.toString())}` : '#/explore'
+      const hash = rootCid.toString() != null ? `${explorePathPrefix}${ensureLeadingSlash(rootCid.toString())}` : explorePathPrefix
       window.location.hash = hash
 
       const imageFileLoader = document.getElementById('car-loader-image') as HTMLImageElement
@@ -140,42 +202,14 @@ export const ExploreProvider = ({ children, state = defaultState }: { children?:
     } catch (err) {
       console.error('Could not import car file', err)
     }
-  }, [helia])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const handleHashChange = (): void => {
-      const explorePathFromHash = window.location.hash.slice('#/explore'.length)
-
-      setExploreState((state) => ({
-        ...state,
-        explorePathFromHash
-      }))
-    }
-
-    window.addEventListener('hashchange', handleHashChange)
-    handleHashChange()
-
-    return () => {
-      window.removeEventListener('hashchange', handleHashChange)
-    }
-  }, [])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    // if explorePathFromHash or helia change and are not null, fetch the data
-    // We need to check for helia because the helia provider is async and may not be ready yet
-    if (explorePathFromHash != null && helia != null) {
-      void (async () => {
-        await fetchExploreData(decodeURIComponent(explorePathFromHash))
-      })()
-    }
-  }, [helia, explorePathFromHash])
+  }, [explorePathPrefix, helia])
 
   if (helia == null) {
     return <Loader color='dark' />
   }
 
   return (
-    <ExploreContext.Provider value={{ exploreState, doExploreLink, doExploreUserProvidedPath, doUploadUserProvidedCar }}>
+    <ExploreContext.Provider value={{ exploreState, explorePathPrefix, isLoading, doExploreLink, doExploreUserProvidedPath, doUploadUserProvidedCar, setExplorePath }} key={path}>
       {children}
     </ExploreContext.Provider>
   )