Adding a street map to Oregon 550

[+Coach Hag]

I have been enjoying the thrill of geocaching but my gps map only has major highways on the map. How do I change or load maps? Are there any free maps for the Oregon 550?

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum.

[snowfleurys]

See gpsfiledepot.com for maps and tutorials on how to install them and load segments/quads to a Garmin GPSr.

[+ecanderson]

I have been enjoying the thrill of geocaching but my gps map only has major highways on the map. How do I change or load maps? Are there any free maps for the Oregon 550?

Apart from those from Garmin (City Navigator at considerable cost), you may find that the Open Street Map source suits you just fine. The "Basemap" that comes with the unit is pretty sparse.

 

Head here for the OSM site (I use them a lot): http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php

[+Walts Hunting]

I have found that the OSM and gpsfildepot maps don't have as nice a look as the CN and whether or not they are at "considerable cost" is a relative statement. I thought they were well worth the money. One DVD for all of North America clean and easy.

[+ecanderson]

It's not just the initial $80, it's the updates. What are they getting for updates these days?

[+fegan]

It's not just the initial $80, it's the updates. What are they getting for updates these days?

I'm still using City Navigator 2008 on my GPS, purchased back in February 2008, still works great...you don't HAVE to purchase updates.

[+ecanderson]

No, updates are not mandatory ... but if you plan to use them for street routing, you'd sure want updates if you lived anywhere near where I do. Between major highway realignments and exit changes due to Denver's goofy light rail project, and new subdivision builds, a map that's more than a year old is pretty useless in a lot of areas here.