Free Topo Maps for Garmin

Hi, I'm new to this site and don't have a SxS but know several members of this site. Just saw this thread and thought I would let you know that you can get free state topos, much better quality than Garmin Topo. They are 1:24,000. The site is gpsfiledepot.com They are exe files that will load automatically into MapSource, from there you upload to your GPSr. I suggest you only load the part of the state you plan on riding in.

Also, I have made some transparent maps of the WV Outlaw Trails and Burning Rock Trails. Burning Rock is color coded by difficulty.

PM me if you want me to send you the files.

thanks for the info, I will pass the word.

Bob thanks for the info.

BobT is the man on GPS info....

Thanks Bob!!

Below are links to the transparent maps I have made of our riding area. The difference between color and dashed is that the lines are dashed. Some people prefer dashed since it is easy to differentiate the trails from roads.

These programs will load the maps into MapSource, from there you have to use MapSource to load the maps into your GPSr. These are transparent maps and when checked on your GPSr will overlay ontop of you base map. The Outlaw Trails with Wpts includeds around 70 of the most common Wpts in the area we ride. The Outlaw programs will also load the original GPS tracks onto you computer. There is a hyperlink on the first information page to instructions on how to load a Map onto your GPSr. You need to be familiar with this process since you may need to reload all of you custom maps at the same time, some Garmin units will replace all maps.

I was unable to figure out how to make hyperlinks on this forum so you will have to paste the URLs below into your browser. After the page loads there will be a "Download" button at the bottom, after clicking it you have to wait 30 seconds then click on the text that says something like download with FileFactory. After previewing it looks like the hyperlinks may work.

Bob they are set as hyperlinks. Thanks for posting them up on here. And Simoniz is right Bob is great with GPS's.

I am going to make this a sticky.

Thanks BobT the outlaw overlays look great and were simple to download and install (5 min. At most). I downloaded both with wp and without but I can't see any difference at all on mapsource is this normal. Also when I download any new map from mapsource it deletes the other map I have loaded from mapsource and only puts new one on. Have any ideas how to load the 1/24k WV topo and the outlaw overlay? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks

The waypoints only show up once you zoom into a certain level. Just zoom in and they will show up. There are over 70 of them and this way you don't have to load waypoints, they are always there when that transparent map is displayed.

Regarding loading maps to your GPSr: MapSource requires you to reload all maps each time you load a map. In other words after you use the map tool to highlight the Outlaw trails map, you will have to switch to the Topo map and use the map tool to highlight that map. I only highlight the sections of the map for the area I ride, I don't highlight the northern part of WV. Keep doing this for each map. My maps are relatively small so they only have one region. The bigger maps have multiple regions you have to highlight. When done you will see in the maps tab at the left all of the maps your are loading. Mapsource them combines these maps into one file and loads it onto your GPSr.

Basically MapSource is a piece of #%&*!. Very poor software from such a big company. Magellans software is much better, just no tracks or free maps for it.

On another subject, I see on here a lot of people wondering what GPS brand to buy. In my opinion the only choice is Garmin for what we do. There are tons of free maps, tracks, etc on the web for Garmin, nothing for any other brand. I have made maps for Colorado and Utah from tracks I got on the web, along with Burning Rock.

Tomorrow when I get a chance I will post my tutorial for making maps from tracks. I can make one in about 20 minutes.

Below is the link to the Tutorial I have written on making maps. It is long, but detailed. You skip a big portion depending if you are making a simple map with all tracks the same color, or if you are making a map with colored or dashed lines. I also show how to make the distributable files that install it automatically.


http://www.filefactory.com/file/a2he60d/n/Making_a_Garmin_Transparent_Map.zip

Thanks for all the info Bob.

I have new links to my maps and tracks below. From now on these will be the links where I place all maps and tracks. The maps are best and the map link also has instruction files for loading maps onto GPSr's, getting MapSource, and making maps. The maps will load the original tracks onto your computer also. These maps will load onto all Nuvi's.

WV ATV Trail Maps

The Outlaw trails maps Bob made are really great. If you have a Garmin it's a great addition.

thanks for the info...I have a nuvi 500 and I gonna download your tracks...thanks

For those interested I have updated my Map. I have included the Burning Rock Trail system into the map. The map now includes Outlaw Trails, HMIR, HMPC, and Burning Rock. During the install it tells you what the color coding is. HMIR and HMPC are not complete, I am still missing some tracks. If anyone has the ones that I don't have please send them. Our club is going to explore the area South of Maybeury and I will add those tracks. I plan on one more release with those and complete HM. I do not differentiate roads, they are all green, I have some long tracks from Hilltop to Beckley and Sterling that have some pavement and I don't won't to break them into segmented tracks in order to color pavement differently.

The install will give you the option to install the GPS tracks, and some instructionals regarding getting MapSource and how to load a map. I do not have GPS tracks for Burning Rock since I imported a .img file.

Thanks for the update

For those who are interested I have published a new map with all of the trails we have ridden in the past few months along with some I got from Al, Slopoke, and Simoniz. There are a lot of new trails on this one along with some accuracy improvements. I have given 5 trails/roads (Pizza Hut to War, Haul Rd, WMG Rd, Stairs to Bud, and Clarks Gap to Sophia) a special Green and Red dashed pattern so they stand out and you can find them easy. There a trails east of Hwy-10, all the way to Matewan, south of Welch plus many others.

Please read the license and color coding scheme during installation. I have also made a Mac Version those of you who are less fortunate

Thanks for the maps! But I got an argument with you. I don't consider having a MAC being less fortunate. Its just a pain to load up these maps. Macs last forever, have very few viruses and if you do get a virus, its easy to get rid of. Super safe to shop on, never slows down. And they have great customer support unlike PCs that may have some Arab trying to help you. I will never own a PC ever again. They are junk, slow, and the virus software you buy for em never works like it suppose to. Yeah you might pay $1500 for a MAC. But it lasts forever. Unlike a PC which starts slowing down after the moment you first turn it on and then dies after about 2 to 3 years. Any way I didn't mean to get off of the subject.

bcfatvs wrote:

Thanks for the maps! But I got an argument with you. I don't consider having a MAC being less fortunate. Its just a pain to load up these maps. Macs last forever, have very few viruses and if you do get a virus, its easy to get rid of. Super safe to shop on, never slows down. And they have great customer support unlike PCs that may have some Arab trying to help you. I will never own a PC ever again. They are junk, slow, and the virus software you buy for em never works like it suppose to. Yeah you might pay $1500 for a MAC. But it lasts forever. Unlike a PC which starts slowing down after the moment you first turn it on and then dies after about 2 to 3 years. Any way I didn't mean to get off of the subject.

I'm not trying to be funny....but where do you buy a Mac at.....

Apple store!! I need to try to figure out how to add those to my garmin

Bob gives free great Maps and it starts into a Mac conversation.... The comment came from a Can-am owner so it's OK since he's a little smarter than average...



LOL



Thanks for the Maps Bob! That Chinese Restaurant in Sophia does need to be marked with a super large star -- it's GREAT!!

bubba53 wrote:

bcfatvs wrote:

Thanks for the maps! But I got an argument with you. I don't consider having a MAC being less fortunate. Its just a pain to load up these maps. Macs last forever, have very few viruses and if you do get a virus, its easy to get rid of. Super safe to shop on, never slows down. And they have great customer support unlike PCs that may have some Arab trying to help you. I will never own a PC ever again. They are junk, slow, and the virus software you buy for em never works like it suppose to. Yeah you might pay $1500 for a MAC. But it lasts forever. Unlike a PC which starts slowing down after the moment you first turn it on and then dies after about 2 to 3 years. Any way I didn't mean to get off of the subject.

I'm not trying to be funny....but where do you buy a Mac at.....

Best Buy. They anywhere from $800 to $2500. Ours was $1300. They are a little difficult to figure out at first . But after you get use to it, you'll never go back to a PC. Its so safe to shop online with one and they never get slow. And best of all you never have to buy Anti-Virus software.

bcfatvs wrote:

bubba53 wrote:

bcfatvs wrote:

Thanks for the maps! But I got an argument with you. I don't consider having a MAC being less fortunate. Its just a pain to load up these maps. Macs last forever, have very few viruses and if you do get a virus, its easy to get rid of. Super safe to shop on, never slows down. And they have great customer support unlike PCs that may have some Arab trying to help you. I will never own a PC ever again. They are junk, slow, and the virus software you buy for em never works like it suppose to. Yeah you might pay $1500 for a MAC. But it lasts forever. Unlike a PC which starts slowing down after the moment you first turn it on and then dies after about 2 to 3 years. Any way I didn't mean to get off of the subject.

I'm not trying to be funny....but where do you buy a Mac at.....

Best Buy. They anywhere from $800 to $2500. Ours was $1300. They are a little difficult to figure out at first . But after you get use to it, you'll never go back to a PC. Its so safe to shop online with one and they never get slow. And best of all you never have to buy Anti-Virus software.

thanks for the info..

Randy R wrote:

Bob gives free great Maps and it starts into a Mac conversation.... The comment came from a Can-am owner so it's OK since he's a little smarter than average...



LOL



Thanks for the Maps Bob! That Chinese Restaurant in Sophia does need to be marked with a super large star -- it's GREAT!!

Hey I'm sorry for turning it into a Mac conversation. LOL . The maps are awesome and I appreciate BobT for putting his info on here and on all of the other offroad websites. As far as being a Can Am owner, well they got some awesome motors, but I still like the ride of my Polaris Sportsmans. I've been lookin hard at them XP 850s.

I would love to have any maps you have regarding the wagon wheel portion of that area. If you have any available please send the information via my email. It's jbailey@clipperwind.com. Thanks for your help and advice.



Jeff Bailey

bcfatvs wrote:

Macs last forever, have very few viruses and if you do get a virus, its easy to get rid of. Super safe to shop on, never slows down. And they have great customer support unlike PCs that may have some Arab trying to help you.

Yep, they get very few viruses because they are not worth hacking for their limited numbers vs PCs out numbered them 1000:1. 90% of all software is written around Windows and 90% of all hardware is designed around the PC. From a business sense unless your into graphic design or music creation it makes no sense to use MACs. This makes owning a MAC tough to say the least. Not saying it's right or wrong or knocking your MAC, but that's just the way it is...



I actually broke down and bought three Ipads for my office thinking they might be of some use. What a POS, no mainstream applications, unless your into social networking they are useless. IMO

there is a little thing called Parallels that will allow a MAC to run as a PC. ($80)

garmin has a map source for mac

bcfatvs wrote:

there is a little thing called Parallels that will allow a MAC to run as a PC. ($80)

if you do that...will it pick up a virus like a pc.....thanks

We pulled all of the pc's out of our office. Replaced with all macs. It was a great business move. All managers have iPads for their work.

I at home have a Mac, an iPad and my phone is iPhone. Best quality out and they last! Great graphics and great for work!

Best quality machines I have ever bought for work!