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How to actually draw trails on map


gcfishguy

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Background, I suppose....

 

I'm a member of my local Jeep club, and we go out on the weekend, and sometime run an established trail, and sometime explore new trails that need thinning out, etc. And other times we're exploring crown land, through clear cuts, etc, and creating new trails by joining woods roads together, skidder trails, etc...

 

I always make sure to clear my track log before we leave, and then transfer the tracks to my PC when I get home, and clean them up, etc.

 

What I'm having trouble with is how to actually put the trail on the map to have, long term.

 

I'm using a 60CSx, and I have Mapsource TopoCanada.

 

Over the course of several weekends, we may run several different sections of trail, and then end up connecting them weeks later. I want to be able to keep the tracks on my map (laptop) and also in the GPS for when we're out there.

 

What is the easiest way to get this acomplished?

 

Maybe it's just me but cutting and joining tracks in Mapsource is nothing less than painful. Plus, it expects a track to have a beginning, follow a course, and have an end...so connecting a network of trails together into one track is a real pain.

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GPSMapEdit. Make a transparent map with the trail data. Upload it to mapcenter2 if you want to make it routable. Fun stuff.
That is cool thanks for sharing it. :D

No problem, it's not hard to make a basic non-routing version that will overlay onto TOPO or CN maps, in fact the demo version will do this. Edited by coggins
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Does this work with hiking trails too?

 

I have a lot of trails saved on my PC at home and would like to put them all on a map i can transfer to my gps so when i go hiking again I can tell which trail I have been on so i can continue mapping out new ones...

 

Maybe change the color of the trails so they all show up red or something...

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No problem, it's not hard to make a basic non-routing version that will overlay onto TOPO or CN maps, in fact the demo version will do this.

I downloaded the free version of GPSMapEdit and cGPSmapper, opened a .gpx file of a hike along several trails in MapEdit and saved it, but when I go to Export it, the Garmin IMG/cpsmapper is greyed out. Am I missing a step? I was hoping the demo version would let me try this to see some results before purchasing (if needed). Thanks for any help getting going.

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No problem, it's not hard to make a basic non-routing version that will overlay onto TOPO or CN maps, in fact the demo version will do this.

I downloaded the free version of GPSMapEdit and cGPSmapper, opened a .gpx file of a hike along several trails in MapEdit and saved it, but when I go to Export it, the Garmin IMG/cpsmapper is greyed out. Am I missing a step? I was hoping the demo version would let me try this to see some results before purchasing (if needed). Thanks for any help getting going.

You are missing a few steps. First, you need to save the file as Polish format (.mp). Then go to File->Map Properties and change the Type Set to Garmin, enter an 8-digit ID and a Name, then switch over to Levels and make sure you have at least two levels defined (clicking Insert Before will create them for you). Switch over to the cGPSMapper tab and change the map to transparent (Y). Click OK to return to the map.

 

Then you need to right-click on your tracks and Convert To->Polyline.. Choose any type you want, but Walkway/Trail might be a good choice (0x0016). Save your file and then you should be able to perform the export.

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Thanks SiliconFiend and Red90! Those pointers got me to the point of saving my "test_trail_map.img". I then copy/pasted it my Colorado 300 in "Drive:/Garmin" along with my gmapbmap.img and gmapsupp.img files. When powering up I did not see it listed. So, I removed my existing gmapsupp.img file and put in my test map renaming it to gmapsupp.img. It showed up, although my trails became straight lines between vertices (or something like that).

 

I better read the tutorials thoroughly. Maybe the free versions limits the number of track points? Thanks again guys, I see this will be a worthwhile labor in light of Garmin not giving us the track manager abiltity for the Colorado.

 

Ed: I reworked my first stab at this and got it to work perfectly. Not sure what I may have done earlier. (I'm left-handed for one thing!) Now to learn more.

Edited by Timpat
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This is one area where DeLorme excels with their "Topo USA" software and PN-20 / PN-40 GPS receivers. It is trivially simple, and takes only moments, to create a hiking trail map and put it on the GPS.

 

Doing the same, on my 60CSx, using GpsMapEdit and blah blah blah (plus a registry hack so my map shows up in MapSource) is tantamount to torture.

 

My opinion only....

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This is one area where DeLorme excels with their "Topo USA" software and PN-20 / PN-40 GPS receivers. It is trivially simple, and takes only moments, to create a hiking trail map and put it on the GPS.

 

Doing the same, on my 60CSx, using GpsMapEdit and blah blah blah (plus a registry hack so my map shows up in MapSource) is tantamount to torture.

 

My opinion only....

So how does this help the OP who is in Canada? I didn't think that TOPO USA covered there or worked on a GPSMAP60CSx. There is no need for a registry hack either. MapSetToolkit will do this with a couple of keystokes and mouse clicks, if that is torture, I can see why you haven't bothered to find so much as one cache.

Edited by coggins
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Thanks SiliconFiend and Red90! Those pointers got me to the point of saving my "test_trail_map.img". I then copy/pasted it my Colorado 300 in "Drive:/Garmin" along with my gmapbmap.img and gmapsupp.img files. When powering up I did not see it listed. So, I removed my existing gmapsupp.img file and put in my test map renaming it to gmapsupp.img. It showed up, although my trails became straight lines between vertices (or something like that).

 

Make sure that the lowest level (level 0) is 23 or 24 bit. When cgpasmapper compiles the data into Garmin format, it is changed to match a grid pattern set by the bit level. The higher the number, the smaller the grid and the less "filtering" that is done to the data.

 

When you put maps on the unit, the different map sets need to be compiled together into one file. You can do that with Mapsource or with something like sendmap.

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This is one area where DeLorme excels with their "Topo USA" software and PN-20 / PN-40 GPS receivers. It is trivially simple, and takes only moments, to create a hiking trail map and put it on the GPS.

 

Doing the same, on my 60CSx, using GpsMapEdit and blah blah blah (plus a registry hack so my map shows up in MapSource) is tantamount to torture.

 

My opinion only....

So how does this help the OP who is in Canada? I didn't think that TOPO USA covered there or worked on a GPSMAP60CSx. There is no need for a registry hack either. MapSetToolkit will do this with a couple of keystokes and mouse clicks, if that is torture, I can see why you haven't bothered to find so much as one cache.

 

Really, not so much as "one cache"? I have so many "found caches" that the counter has rolled over to 0. And I think that was a 64-bit counter, too, so do the math!

 

But seriously, I didn't realize the original poster was from Canada. If they moved to the USA then they could take advantage of DeLorme Topo and its very easy map making software, instead of struggling with GpsMapEdit, cGpsMapper (and the awesome "copyright" message it puts on your GPS map unless you shell out around $400 as far I can tell; or get an older version of the program), and I guess MapSetToolKit, although I prefer the registry hack myself, instead of yet another 3rd party software program.

 

Regards

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If you upload your map to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ it gets compiled there without those annoying notices in the map. I do everything with freeware. Once you get everything set up, it is really simple. If I GPS a new trail, I just clean it up, save it, open up the map in GPSMapedit, do a couple of clicks, save it, upload it to mapcenter and then download it once it is compliled, then upload the map to my GPS. You only need to use mapsettoolkit once (or sometimes it gets out of kilter and it has to be run again but that is extremly rare).

 

My maps are at: http://webpages.charter.net/jbensman/Maps.htm

 

Does the Delorme handle GIS shapefiles? I get lots of trail data from agencies (like the Forest Service and National Park Service), states, cities, etc that is in shapefiles. You can import it into the Garmin maps with a couple of mouse clicks. Not being able to handle shapefiles would be a major problem.

 

How hard is it to edit and change trails in the Delorme? It is real easy with GPSMAPEDIT.

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Maybe it's just me but cutting and joining tracks in Mapsource is nothing less than painful. Plus, it expects a track to have a beginning, follow a course, and have an end...so connecting a network of trails together into one track is a real pain.

Instead of cutting and joining, just use create a new track by "tracing" over all the tracks you want to join.

 

Before heading out, I use Google Earth to create tracks. G-E calls them Paths.

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If you upload your map to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ it gets compiled there without those annoying notices in the map. I do everything with freeware. Once you get everything set up, it is really simple. If I GPS a new trail, I just clean it up, save it, open up the map in GPSMapedit, do a couple of clicks, save it, upload it to mapcenter and then download it once it is compliled, then upload the map to my GPS. You only need to use mapsettoolkit once (or sometimes it gets out of kilter and it has to be run again but that is extremly rare).

 

My maps are at: http://webpages.charter.net/jbensman/Maps.htm

 

Does the Delorme handle GIS shapefiles? I get lots of trail data from agencies (like the Forest Service and National Park Service), states, cities, etc that is in shapefiles. You can import it into the Garmin maps with a couple of mouse clicks. Not being able to handle shapefiles would be a major problem.

 

How hard is it to edit and change trails in the Delorme? It is real easy with GPSMAPEDIT.

That's quite a nice collection of work Jim. I also work with shapefiles, and with xMap editor they can be used or edited for Delorme handhelds.

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