sullivan9162

Looking for Offroad/topo maps to use with GPS for navigating/exploring in unfamiliar territory. Anyone find a good system?

Mark Doiron

I'm using a Nexus 7 (2012) Android tablet with Backcountry Navigator Pro. I've recently added Mobile Atlas Creator to download the maps on my desktop computer rather than through the tablet (that was horribly slow). It works great for my purposes. The maps I use are free, and have gotten me all of the way from the U.S./Mexican border to the Arctic Ocean in Canada and Alaska. There is a learning curve with it, but it's worth the effort. More on using that tablet (sorry for the audio quality, but my video skills have gotten better in recent years, LOL) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6UolIlksZs&t

bbolander

Based on recent similar threads with smart phone and tablet app comments, my method is probably "old school" now. For the past 7 years I've been using Garmin Nuvi's and Garmin 24K topo maps. I chose to get the maps on a DVD and install them on my PC laptop Garmin BaseCamp software. Then I selected what portion of the maps I wanted to use and installed them on an SD card using BaseCamp. The maps have worked on three Nuvi's for me, 1490T, 3790T and most recently a 2589 LMT. Garmin's map page doesn't list the current "Drive" gps models that have replaced the Nuvi's as being compatible with the topo maps though. I have downloaded BaseCamp on my newer MacBook Pro, but it doesn't want to recognize my map DVD's. That means I'd probably have to buy new download maps for it. You can also buy the topo maps already installed on an SD card.

I've liked being able to create waypoints and routes on my PC in BaseCamp, and then download them to the Nuvi. And being able to download trip logs from the Nuvi to the PC in BaseCamp.

It's worked very well, but unless you have a Nuvi with an SD card slot, not sure it's a viable choice any longer for a larger screen GPS. It is viable for their small handheld GPS devices but I don't think that's a good choice for four wheeling in a vehicle.

Jake7978

Gaia GPS works fantastic. Lots of maps all of which can be downloaded for offline use. Easy to upload GPX files from websites like trail damage.com

I use a Garmin GLO gps adapter with my iPad Air....prefect set up and you don't need to spend a ton for another electronic device
Gaia is $19 in the App Store no charge for downloads
And $100 for a GPS adapter if your device doesn't have a cell service card

karls10jk

I run backcountry and an old school Garmin unit. If you can still find Google tracks in the app store then you can use that as your breadcrumbs even without cell signal. You can then save those tracks down.

A couple years back, a member created "off road atlas" but it appears he's not updated it in at least a year.