Trail Maps

[rossiter78]

I have been looking all day for GPS maps for hiking and mountain biking trails. I have used software before that said it had trails, but so far I haven't found any trails that it actually had mapped.

 

Basically I have 2 questions.

 

1. What software (National Geographic Topo!/ Mapsource Topo) will actually have all the trails from State parks, State forests, National Parks, National forests etc. I want to be able to go hiking and see exactly where I am on the trail, even if I have never been on that trail before.

 

2. Can I convert my track logs into maps. I have hiked/ridden several of the trails that are close to me and I have track logs for them. The problem is that if I want to see it on the map, I can only see one track log at a time. I want to be able to convert my track log into my own trail map. Can I do that? (I currently use a Garmin Rino 130 and use the Mapsource Roads and Recreation and the Mapsource Metro Guide software).

 

Thanks,

Trent

[+RobRee]

1. alot of those type of parks have trail maps on their site. there are pay sites available, but i don't care for them. a little research on the actual park will usually yield a map or two. an email to the contact us link on most sites works also.

 

what area are you in? any parks in particular?

 

2. i currently dump all waypoints, and track / route data into expertGPS. from there i split route data into individual trail data. not hard to do at all. i have a few parks that i really have plotted nicely.

Edited November 21, 2005 by robree

[rossiter78]

I am particularly interested in the Pisgah National Forest and Tsali Recreation Area. Both are in Western North Carolina area.

 

With ExpertGPS are you able to turn your tracks into trails and then load your new trail maps into your handheld GPS? Or is it just on the computer?

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

1. What software (National Geographic Topo!/ Mapsource Topo) will actually have all the trails from State parks, State forests, National Parks, National forests etc. I want to be able to go hiking and see exactly where I am on the trail, even if I have never been on that trail before.

 

2. Can I convert my track logs into maps. I have hiked/ridden several of the trails that are close to me and I have track logs for them. The problem is that if I want to see it on the map, I can only see one track log at a time. I want to be able to convert my track log into my own trail map. Can I do that? (I currently use a Garmin Rino 130 and use the Mapsource Roads and Recreation and the Mapsource Metro Guide software).

 

Thanks,

Trent

1. No software will have all the trails. There are always new trails being built and old ones being rerouted or closed.

 

2. Why can you only see one track? I believe your GPS will hold and display 20.

 

As a former Western North Carolinian, I know that area well. Here is a post I did on downloading tracks to create a trail map. You can always Google the area you want + .gpx (or .tpo if you have NG TOPO). Or post someplace like http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=77 and ask for tracks or websites with tracks.

 

HTH

 

Have fun. Great biking there!

 

Rich Owings

www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com

www.GPStracklog.com

 

“We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as others do their holy books.” – Edward Abbey

[+RobRee]

expert gps allows you to upload, and download with the computer. you can view, edit and manipulate the trails. it has an aerial map view, and topo view. sometimes the aerial view is helpful in finding existing trails and landmarks.

 

this page will give you an idea of plotting points.

 

here is a pic with some route data on it. it is a lake shot, but works the same with land routes.

 

 

if i go into ExpertGPS and mark an intersection, then load it into my SporTrak or MeriPlat it brings me right to the center of the intersection. soooo much more accurate than magellan software... in my opinion.

[rossiter78]

Maybe I am doing something wrong, because I only seem to be able to display 1 track. Maybe that is because my tracks are usually far apart, so I just can't see them all at the same time.

 

I am looking a that motionbased site. So far it looks pretty cool. I was able to find some trails at Pisgah. I tried some of the local trails near my house, but they were not there. No big deal because I know them all, it was just a test of content. Maybe I can load some on the site for others.

[rossiter78]

I have Google Earth, MapSource, and Microsoft MapPoint, but none of these applications seem to be able to read a .gpx file. Am I going to have to buy another software package to read .gpx files and load stuff on my gps?

Edited November 21, 2005 by rossiter78

[+RobRee]

check this LINK to .gpx software

 

The following Web sites allow you to plot your GPX data on a Web map:

 

GPS - GPX Interactive Map (View GPX files on Google Maps)

GPX Loader for Google Maps (View GPX files on Google Maps)

GPS Visualizer (Convert GPX to SVG maps and elevation profiles)

GMapToGPX (View GPX files on Google Maps)

Online GPX Viewer (View GPX files on Google Maps)

Edited November 21, 2005 by robree

[rossiter78]

Woops, a quick google search turned up a patch ror mapsource and it now will open .gpx files.

Thanks for all your help.

Trent

[+briansnat]

1. What software (National Geographic Topo!/ Mapsource Topo) will actually have all the trails from State parks, State forests, National Parks, National forests etc. I want to be able to go hiking and see exactly where I am on the trail, even if I have never been on that trail before.

 

None. From what I see on my Mapsource Topo and National Geographic Topo, only a handful of very old trails are on them and the ones that are, are no longer accurate in places. Trail systems in many areas are in a constant state of flux.

 

Most GPS topo software are based on USGS maps and those maps are often very outdated in many areas.

 

2. Can I convert my track logs into maps. I have hiked/ridden several of the trails that are close to me and I have track logs for them. The problem is that if I want to see it on the map, I can only see one track log at a time. I want to be able to convert my track log into my own trail map. Can I do that? (I currently use a Garmin Rino 130 and use the Mapsource Roads and Recreation and the Mapsource Metro Guide software).

 

You sure can. You can check "show track on map" box. Your best bet for this is to use Mapsource Topo if you want to see them on your GPS.

Edited November 21, 2005 by briansnat

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Maybe I am doing something wrong, because I only seem to be able to display 1 track. Maybe that is because my tracks are usually far apart, so I just can't see them all at the same time.

I don't have a Rino, but on my 60Cs there is a tracks page. I had a bunch of tracks that didn't show the other day. When I checked them the selected color was "transparent." Could that be it?

 

Rich Owings

www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com

www.GPStracklog.com

 

"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

[+dhbaird]

2. Why can you only see one track? I believe your GPS will hold and display 20.

 

Hi Rich,

 

Perhaps you can answer this one... I think I remember that the active track log on my new Garmin 76cs includes times where yoiu reach the different waypoints logged on the active track. Is that correct?

 

Is there a way to store that information, including the time either on a laptop, PDA or preferably on the GPS itself before moving on to a new trek?

 

Sometimes when I am writing up my treks for a magazine I work for they ask for elapsed time on certain legs of a rock climb or trek. I was hoping that I could store that data in the GPS for 3 or 4 hikes over the course of a few days and then download it all when I return back to my home. When I read up on it it in the manual appears that while I can store the track itself that the time stuff is lost if I save the active track in the GPS and start a new one.

 

What program would I have to store the log in on a laptop in order to save the time as well as the track? Can it be done?

 

The whole darn reason I bought the extra memory on the 76CS was to avoid having to shlep the laptop around on my treks. Is there any other way to save the active track with all that time information directly to a PDA SD with one of those direct PDA to GPS cables?

 

I suppose there must be a way to take a 3 x 5 index card and scroll through the active track log and write down times for some of the various waypoints before saving it, but it certainly would be nice to find a way to save them without resorting to manual techniques like that.

 

So I am open to comments and suggestions.

[rickertk]

On the Garmin GPSrs, you are correct that only the active track log stores the times of the points. So if you save the track log and then clear it out, the time information is gone. However, it's quite doable to save several different hikes (or in my case, bike rides) within the active track log, and download it all at a later time, assuming you don't go over the 10,000 point limit of the track log. If you have tracking on, and either turn the GPSr off and back on again, or turn off tracking and then turn it on again later, the GPSr will start generating a new log. When downloading these to a computer, they are named "ACTIVE LOG", "ACTIVE LOG 001", etc. (at least within Mapsource). Your 76CS should have come with the Mapsource Trip and Waypoint manager; that's all the software you need to download and store your tracks. (There are a lot of other software packages you can use to do the same, if you have a preference).

Personally, I use the saved tracks to hold tracks from previous trips in the same area, so I know where (roughly) the trails I rode last time were. I don't ever save a track from the GPSr itself, but download them all to the computer, then manipulate some on the computer to upload them back to the GPSr as a saved track.

 

Keith

[+dhbaird]

If you have tracking on, and either turn the GPSr off and back on again, or turn off tracking and then turn it on again later, the GPSr will start generating a new log. When downloading these to a computer, they are named "ACTIVE LOG", "ACTIVE LOG 001", etc. (at least within Mapsource). Your 76CS should have come with the Mapsource Trip and Waypoint manager; that's all the software you need to download and store your tracks. (There are a lot of other software packages you can use to do the same, if you have a preference).

Do each of those logs make a separate "track" that can be saved as a route for use later or are all those tracks merged into one track with multiple legs?

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I suppose there must be a way to take a 3 x 5 index card and scroll through the active track log and write down times for some of the various waypoints before saving it, but it certainly would be nice to find a way to save them without resorting to manual techniques like that.

 

Interesting question.

 

First of all, I'm not sure about the 76 logging the time you reach a certain waypoint.

 

You can get a device called a data logger to download tracks with timestamps in the field, but that's a pricey option.

 

In TopoFusion, when you downlaod the track segments, you have the choice to merge them if you wish. Otherwise, they stay separate.

 

I thought, there must be a program that will allow you to select a track point on the map and have it highlighted in the track point list, which would give you another work around. In other words, click a track point next to the waypoint on the map, and you get the time, and the ability to identify where that leg of your trip ended on the tracklog. It doesn't seem to work in TopoFusion or MapSource though. And in Ozi, you can do the opposite (click the point in the track point list, and have it show on the map). I'm betting there is a program that does this, but simply turning the GPS (or tracking) off momentarily seems like the easiest solution.

 

FWIW

 

Rich Owings

www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com

www.GPStracklog.com

 

"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

[+Kordite]

If you visit http://www.localhikes.com/ you will find a number of trails that have been tracked by volunteers using National Geographic's TOPO software. I myself have posted 71 "hikes" (some of which are smaller sections of a longer trail).

 

The National Geographic mapXchange website at http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo/search.cfm also has a number of maps available for download (but most of those are merely copied from Local Hikes).