Maps for Garmin?

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

In trying to drag my children away from the computers/gaming systems/and television we are about to start geocaching! The whole family is very excited and the kids are thrilled to go out "treasure hunting". We decided on the Garmin Etrex 20 and it will be arriving in 2 days now. What I can't figure out for the life of me is what maps I'll need to head into the great outdoors. I've found opensource and filesdepot, and of course garmin sells maps of all shapes and sizes. I was hoping some kind and caring geocachers will putt me out of my misery and point me in the direction of what some of the best maps are for geocaching (for those of us residing in the US - I've found topics through google searches but they all seem to be related to Canada.)

[+geodarts]

I've found opensource and filesdepot, and of course garmin sells maps of all shapes and sizes. I was hoping some kind and caring geocachers will putt me out of my misery and point me in the direction of what some of the best maps are for geocaching (for those of us residing in the US - I've found topics through google searches but they all seem to be related to Canada.)

 

A lot of it depends on what kind of cachingm you might be doing, how far you are venturing into the great outdoors, and your personal preferences. A friend of mine who often hikes into the woods just uses a routable street map. I like to use a road map, too, since it is easy to identify cache locations and get to where I have to go. But topo maps have been helpful -- they have gotten me to the right side of a river or ridge more than once.

 

As you have discovered, one of the nice things about garmin is that there are many different maps, some through garmin, some that can be purchased through third parties, some that are available for free. I use the garmin city navigator for street mapping. There are a number of 24k topo maps available through gpsfiledepot.

Edited September 11, 2012 by geodarts

[+doug_hollyNKC]

a good topo map is a must, especially if your heading into an unfamiliar area. Taking the tops of ridges to a cache could save a you a lot of ups and downs through some crazy terrain.

 

All the ones you mentioned are good sources. The 2nd one is what I use and I get the free trail maps from them as well. They are very very useful as well. Sometimes a straight line to a geocache is a good route, but more times than not after you bushwhack your way to the cache 5 feet from the cache is a nice pretty trail.

[+Atlas Cached]

In trying to drag my children away from the computers/gaming systems/and television we are about to start geocaching! The whole family is very excited and the kids are thrilled to go out "treasure hunting". We decided on the Garmin Etrex 20 and it will be arriving in 2 days now. What I can't figure out for the life of me is what maps I'll need to head into the great outdoors. I've found opensource and filesdepot, and of course garmin sells maps of all shapes and sizes. I was hoping some kind and caring geocachers will putt me out of my misery and point me in the direction of what some of the best maps are for geocaching (for those of us residing in the US - I've found topics through google searches but they all seem to be related to Canada.)

 

Where are you located?

 

Will most of your geocaching be urban or suburban?

 

I use Topographic maps from GPSFileDepot for off road navigating.

 

For street navigation you may like free OSM routable maps.

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

I'm in North Carolina. We will definitely be doing some urban caching since these are easily accessible by wheelchair (my daughter is in a wheelchair, but on days when my daughters has nursing care, the boys really want to head out in the great unknown. To begin with, we want to start with some easier treks, such as ones located in areas with trails and within park areas, and then as they get a feel for it head out into more woodsy areas. The boys also want to make a weekend of it before the weather turns bad and do some camping/geocaching.

[+Lineman101]

In trying to drag my children away from the computers/gaming systems/and television we are about to start geocaching! The whole family is very excited and the kids are thrilled to go out "treasure hunting". We decided on the Garmin Etrex 20 and it will be arriving in 2 days now. What I can't figure out for the life of me is what maps I'll need to head into the great outdoors. I've found opensource and filesdepot, and of course garmin sells maps of all shapes and sizes. I was hoping some kind and caring geocachers will putt me out of my misery and point me in the direction of what some of the best maps are for geocaching (for those of us residing in the US - I've found topics through google searches but they all seem to be related to Canada.)

 

I use garmin city navigator on my e-Trex 20 and it works very well for caching in the country or turn by turn navigation to the cache when in the city.

[+splashy]

The open street map = OSM will work in urban areas, if you don't want the map on your computer or if you don't know how to make a map ready for your gps using Mapsource or Basecamp make a >> gmapsupp.img << selection on OSM, unzip the map and paste it in the Garmin folder on you gps.

On the Gps goto the mapscreen settings and select the map, else you won't see anything.

Be aware gmapsupp is a common used name, maps made with Mapsource or Basecamp will have the same name and if gmapsupp isn't renamed it will overwrite without warning.

 

The Gpsfiledepot maps are very nice Topomaps.

 

Maybe important to know, once your geocache is in the gps you don't need a map, you might want to navigate to the parkingspot but you can also just drive to the spot just by looking on the screen where to go, from there you follow the compass, once near to the cache you actually have to search.

Edited September 11, 2012 by splashy

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

Thanks so much everyone! Just getting started and getting a handle on things can seem a bit overwhelming at times. So yes..something as simple as maps and making SURE I was set up for the kids to find some caches their first time out, has been causing me slight panic attacks Thanks for easing my frazzled nerves

[+BAMBOOZLE]

In trying to drag my children away from the computers/gaming systems/and television we are about to start geocaching! The whole family is very excited and the kids are thrilled to go out "treasure hunting". We decided on the Garmin Etrex 20 and it will be arriving in 2 days now. What I can't figure out for the life of me is what maps I'll need to head into the great outdoors. I've found opensource and filesdepot, and of course garmin sells maps of all shapes and sizes. I was hoping some kind and caring geocachers will putt me out of my misery and point me in the direction of what some of the best maps are for geocaching (for those of us residing in the US - I've found topics through google searches but they all seem to be related to Canada.)

 

I use garmin city navigator on my e-Trex 20 and it works very well for caching in the country or turn by turn navigation to the cache when in the city.

 

This is the way to go.......I buy it on the SD card......just snap it in to your unit and you've got detail street maps nation wide and food, hotel, etc. locations at your fingertips.

The card can also be moved to another unit if you like.

[seldom_sn]

This is the way to go.......I buy it on the SD card......just snap it in to your unit and you've got detail street maps nation wide and food, hotel, etc. locations at your fingertips.

The card can also be moved to another unit if you like.

 

You get to use it on multiple devices that way, but you need to swap the card if you ever want to use third party maps. Personally, I'd rather get it on disk, or with a lifetime update, install it on my computer, have it locked to a single device, and be able to add third party maps to it. For instance you can get transparent overlays that add topo or public lands boundaries, but you wouldn't want to put that on a proprietary card.

[+splashy]

You are confusing him and making it unnecessarily difficult.

 

Just start with a FREE map and if you discover and know for sure you need better/else/more he always can buy something, besides that, a map bought on a SD is not an ideal situation, because that map you can't use on your computer, unless you want to wait every time loading the map in Basecamp.

 

The OSM is free as are the gpsfiledepot (best topo on the net), there is no reason not to try them first, as I said before, to find a cache you don't need any maps.

The OSM comes as a gmapsupp.img in a zipfile, this you unzip and paste it in the Garmin folder either on the Gps or Sd.

This is easy as it is written here.

 

Edit:

In the beginning the Garmin programs and use of the Gps come to you like an avalanche, therefore it's better to start slow with as little as possible factors that might go wrong.

Edited September 13, 2012 by splashy

[seldom_sn]

Splashy, you could be a little clearer about WHO's confusing.

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to hit OSM and gpsfilesdepot today and do some downloading and start there. After already forking out for a GPS and other items to get started, free sounds like a wonderful place to start.

[snowfleurys]

Garmin's website allows you to view an area(s) of you choice for CityNavigator and 24k topo (and perhaps some of their other mapsets). Garmin products also include features which have not been reverse engineered.

[GPS-Hermit]

While you are learning about maps - learn how to not get lost - your GPS tracks every where you go. So learn how to follow the track back to your car. My cache logs have entries where folks forgot to mark their car - so having the technology is not as important as knowing how to use it. None of those folks knew how to follow their track back to the car. It is not hard but very valuable. Practicing this is not only fun but a very impressive feature. Knowing how to do this takes a load of worry off your mind as you can see yourself getting closer to your car.

 

You are going to have a blast - take it all serious and you are going to be impressed with what you can learn. It is all totally fun and tremendously impressive.

Edited September 16, 2012 by GPS-Hermit

[+Team Periwinkle]

Here is a repeat of something i have posted before regarding OSM:

 

I was looking at an area with a lot of trails but no PDF/JPG or any kind of trail map that I could find anywhere to use to make a KMZ (custom map). The trails I wanted are on http://openstreetmap.org, so I started poking around to see if there was a way to get those onto my GPSr. The solution was amazing:

 

1) go to http://www.osmmaps.com/

2) download the IMG / zip file - took 3 hours, so I let it run overnight

3) Unzip the IMG file - for me, the US file was / is 3.5 GB (yes, gigabytes)

4) rename the IMG file (since my Garmin GPS supports multiple IMG files)

5) copy the IMG file to the "\garmin" folder on the SD card in my GPS

6) "Enable" the OSM map on the GPS

7) At this point, I couldn't see the trails on my GPSr that I could see on the openstreetmap.org website. I figured I was out of luck...but... So this step may only apply to my GPS (GPSMAP 62/78 series), but perhaps there are similar steps for other Garmin GPSr: go to SETUP MAP, ADVANCED MAP SETUP, DETAIL, select MOST, and bingo! I now have the entire US version of openstreetmap.org on my GPSr, including all the trails you can see on that website. Absolutely amazing.

 

Caveats:

I have read that the OSM map is a snapshot from ~2006 census data files, and there are some known inaccuracies in the data, especially in the Western US. OSM seems to be fine for me here in the NE, but buyer beware.

This IMG file is not transparent, so I can't see any other IMG files at the same time. I received directions on how to make it transparent, but I haven't yet.

This IMG file has no topo contours (and since it isn't transparent, I can't see the contours from my other IMG file, even with both of them enabled).

This IMG file is not a routable map.

________________________________

 

 

[+Atlas Cached]

This IMG file is not a routable map.

 

These maps are routable, do they have the same trail information?

[+Viajero Perdido]

Some maps claim to be routable (backroadcoughmapbookcough) but are laughably bad when it comes to one-way roads, or divided roads such as freeways. They'll suggest you move over into the oncoming lanes, then go up that on-ramp.

 

That's the part that's hard to get right. Shop with caution.

[seldom_sn]

Atlas cached links to garmin.openstreetmap.nl . Those maps are much more up to date than 2006, probably within the last month, but all OSM data is added and maintained by volunteers. Those maps have routable roads and trails, but no contours. To get contours find a transparent contour overlay map that covers your area of interest.

[+Team Periwinkle]

This IMG file is not a routable map.

 

These (garmin.openstreetmap.nl) maps are routable, do they have the same trail information?

 

Wow. That's cool. Yes, trail information is there AND ROUTABLE. At least in the one little parcel of conservation land that I'm looking at. Again, for this one place, it appears that the trails on garmin.openstreetmap.nl are identical to what I see on www.openstreetmap.org.

 

Thanks! More maps more fun!

 

[+alikat68]

I too have question about these maps...Can you Zoom into them? Or is the map you download/choose the map you get on the garmin? I'm also having a hard time deciding about maps (THANKS for bring this up SGW!!). I'm working on Team Periwinkles idea right now but, yeah that's gonna take a while to d/l. I've used my droid X and now Bionic for a couple years and I think I'm spoiled. It shows me all the caches on google maps using the c:geo app. It gives me all the data for the cache, i can log it and start on the next. I'm spontaneos so I may go from one are to another so I can zoom in/out, etc. The ONLY issue I've had with this is it burns thru my battery and I've always wondered if using a gps would be more precise with the locations. What do y'all think? Should I stick to my phone or continue learning the garmin or use both?

[seldom_sn]

 

Wow. That's cool. Yes, trail information is there AND ROUTABLE. At least in the one little parcel of conservation land that I'm looking at. Again, for this one place, it appears that the trails on garmin.openstreetmap.nl are identical to what I see on www.openstreetmap.org.

 

Thanks! More maps more fun!

That's because they're made from the same data. Somebody hikes the trail, uploads to OSM, and makes it available to the whole world.

[team tisri]

 

Wow. That's cool. Yes, trail information is there AND ROUTABLE. At least in the one little parcel of conservation land that I'm looking at. Again, for this one place, it appears that the trails on garmin.openstreetmap.nl are identical to what I see on www.openstreetmap.org.

 

Thanks! More maps more fun!

That's because they're made from the same data. Somebody hikes the trail, uploads to OSM, and makes it available to the whole world.

 

Just one note of caution - the fact anyone can change the maps means they need never be out of date, but also they are easier to vandalise.

 

You may also find the routing can be a bit - er - temperamental. I had major issues with routing using OSM maps, so tend to keep a close eye on the proposed routes. I still use them for cycling but wouldn't use them for driving, simply because on my bike if it tells me to do something silly I can get off the road, turn around anywhere I want, walk the "wrong" way along a one-way street, and other similar stuff I can't do in my car.

[seldom_sn]

Just one note of caution - the fact anyone can change the maps means they need never be out of date, but also they are easier to vandalise.

 

You may also find the routing can be a bit - er - temperamental. I had major issues with routing using OSM maps, so tend to keep a close eye on the proposed routes. I still use them for cycling but wouldn't use them for driving, simply because on my bike if it tells me to do something silly I can get off the road, turn around anywhere I want, walk the "wrong" way along a one-way street, and other similar stuff I can't do in my car.

Well put. I use it on the trail, or maybe driving town to town in rural areas. I definitely would not use it to get me out of a bad neighborhood in an unfamiliar city. City Navigator, on the other hand, has done that for me several times. OSM provides an especially good to consolidate trail data, because it's hard to find large amounts of it on commercially available maps.

Edited September 26, 2012 by seldom_sn