+chrisnkim2010 Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I am looking at buying the Garmin Oregon 450 or another Garmin model. I am sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I saw a reference somewhere about free maps you can download to the Garmin GPS. Can I get free maps that include roads, to say give me actual driving directions to the cache, or at least close enough so we can walk in? Or to do that, would I need to break the bank and buy their additional maps? We are military, and move every 2 years, so if I get a local map now, then I am going to have to buy another next year, etc. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
BMW JEDI Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I am looking at buying the Garmin Oregon 450 or another Garmin model. I am sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I saw a reference somewhere about free maps you can download to the Garmin GPS. Can I get free maps that include roads, to say give me actual driving directions to the cache, or at least close enough so we can walk in? Or to do that, would I need to break the bank and buy their additional maps? We are military, and move every 2 years, so if I get a local map now, then I am going to have to buy another next year, etc. Thanks! Everything you need to know about maps for your Garmin GPSr, and where to get them can be found right here. Quote Link to comment
+chrisnkim2010 Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 I am looking at buying the Garmin Oregon 450 or another Garmin model. I am sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I saw a reference somewhere about free maps you can download to the Garmin GPS. Can I get free maps that include roads, to say give me actual driving directions to the cache, or at least close enough so we can walk in? Or to do that, would I need to break the bank and buy their additional maps? We are military, and move every 2 years, so if I get a local map now, then I am going to have to buy another next year, etc. Thanks! Everything you need to know about maps for your Garmin GPSr, and where to get them can be found right here. I was referring to a mention of free maps. Just don't know if they work or not. Quote Link to comment
BMW JEDI Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I am looking at buying the Garmin Oregon 450 or another Garmin model. I am sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I saw a reference somewhere about free maps you can download to the Garmin GPS. Can I get free maps that include roads, to say give me actual driving directions to the cache, or at least close enough so we can walk in? Or to do that, would I need to break the bank and buy their additional maps? We are military, and move every 2 years, so if I get a local map now, then I am going to have to buy another next year, etc. Thanks! Everything you need to know about maps for your Garmin GPSr, and where to get them can be found right here. I was referring to a mention of free maps. Just don't know if they work or not. ...and there are many dozens of free maps available from the link I provided. Why would everyone go to all the trouble to reverse engineer Garmin GPSr, collect all forms of data, compile the maps, provide a portal for others to view and download them, and ultimately put them on their GPS units if they didn't work? Quote Link to comment
+BCNorwich Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Hello Chrisnkim2010, Yes the Garmin Oregon 450 and a lot of other Garmin models will take free OSM maps. See here for the best UK ones, IMHO See here for the rest of the planet Regards Bernard Quote Link to comment
WildHog Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'm in the exact same boat. I have an Oregon 450 and use the OSM maps with it. The OSM maps work great and have gotten me to my destination. Some of the POI's are out of date and I've had trouble with address searching; but I've also had those problems with the Garmin maps. I highly recommend the OSM maps and I love my Oregon; my eTrex Vista HCx has been gathering dust since got the Oregon. Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 You can get free routable (driving) maps from Openstreetmap.com. You can get free topographic maps from GPSfiledepot.com. You can install both these maps together on the 450....which map the Oregon uses depends if you have it in on-road or off-road mode. Assuming you're in the U.S.? Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) I travel internationally for fun and caching, and I've never not been able to find free Garmin-format maps for my destination. Some of the destinations have freaking excellent maps, totally and legitimately free-as-in-beer. Enjoy. Edited March 11, 2013 by Viajero Perdido Quote Link to comment
+taybee Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 I use the following Website for my maps http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ it's Free maps for Garmin brand GPS devices from OpenStreetMap Ps thank to openstreetmap Quote Link to comment
+Hynr Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I travel a lot within US and on other continents and this site has been fantastic: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download In recent months I have used the maps from that site for Caribbean Islands, Chile, USA, Germany, New Zealand and all have been mostly excellent. I suspect there are some that could use a bit more user intervention but in general it continues to get better and better, especially in areas where geocachers are getting involved in the OpenStreetmap project. Quote Link to comment
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