
Update: This article was updated in July 2020. Building a route using Trendline can be done via the Garmin Connect phone app or via the Garmin Connect website. That system also incorporates elevation, so you can see how tough the route is going to be. You can also use Garmin’s detailed Trendline data to build a route based on how many of its users have followed the same path. Garmin has also overhauled its GPS navigation features to make it easier to get out that door quicker. With the older process of uploading through Garmin Basecamp now superseded with the Garmin Connect web tool and app. The process by which you use routes has changed a fair bit over the last year. It's not just ramblers that can benefit, either.Ĭity runners can also take advantage, mixing up runs made in Strava or Koomot and adding a variety to workouts, without having to pull out Google Maps every five minutes when you've lost your bearings. Hikers can use this feature for long, off-the-beaten-track walks, and it's especially reassuring to follow when the path fades away and you're really off piste. Not all of those will give you actual maps though, but you can still use the GPS navigation to follow a directional route. Utilizing navigational maps is a relatively easy process and can be done on a range of Garmin devices. In other words, they aren't capable of calculating the best roads to take between points A and B.Garmin's GPS sports watches offer tonnes of ways to get more from your workouts, but the ability to add and follow GPX routes and courses is a powerful feature that has a heap of benefits, whether you’re running through the city or hiking across the mountains. Also be aware that the topo maps aren't "routable". In reality you don't load maps by counties, but by selecting rectangular areas in Mapsource.īut yeah, it's really nice to be able to switch between maps depending on what you want to do and where you're going. In this case, if you wanted to see the topo map for Ocean County you would need to disable the city maps. If you enabled all the maps you would see the following: So, using a simplified example, let's say you loaded city maps for Burlington and Ocean Counties, and topo maps for Burlington, Camden, Ocean and Atlantic Counties. But the size of the other maps is related to how large an area you loaded into the GPS with Mapsource. The basemap is big, because it covers the whole country. However the pieces of paper are not necessarily the same size. The city maps will always be on the top of the stack and the basemap will always be on the bottom of the stack. Or think of them as paper maps in a stack. Think of the different maps as "layers" like you would have in Photoshop. So choose the product which meets your needs best there is not "best" solution for everyone. In the end, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. But if your main priority is seeing road names out in the pines and you are on a tight budget then one of the Magellan units with their Topo maps might be a better choice. I sold that unit to another member here and got the Garmin, which I have never regretted.

Their topo maps do include most of the little road names, but other than that I found them really inferior to Garmin's maps in terms of the other features mentioned above.

I used to have a Magellan Meridian Gold with their City and Topo maps. Maybe they were expecting something which wasn't there, or a "one size fits all" solution. So I don't know what people didn't like when they reviewed the topo's at Amazon. Heh, since I have 2GB in my StreetPilot that isn't much of a problem but on my Legend C I only load the topos for NJ because space is limited. The Garmin GPS's have the ability to load both kinds of maps and switch between them, but of course you're limited by the amount of memory in your unit.

However without the Topo's you are missing a lot of detail when you get out into the woods. They topo's also show swamps/wetlands and countour lines, both of which I find very handy.īut if you just want to see the names of roads, or if you want the GPS to calculate the best route between two points, then the City maps are your best choice.

The topo maps also have a lot of geographical points of interest which aren't on the City maps, like dams, old place names, parks/state forests, and "mountains" (using the term loosely here.) such as FRM, Spring Hill, Apple Pie Hill.
#How to load garmin topo us 24k to gps software
The street maps are missing quite a few bodies of water, and the ones which are shown are not very accurate (since the software is designed for driving on roads ). But on my StreetPilot 2620 I have both the City and Topo maps loaded, so I can switch between them depending on what I'm interested in. Yes, most of the little roads are un-named in the Garmin Topo.
