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Your GPS will have Garmin's 100k topo pre-loaded. This map is not routable, and is not very highly regarded by most people. That being said, it certainly has its uses. The advantage is that you get coverage for the entire US and it's always available without installing anything else.

I'm guessing that bcz I'm in Europe I'll get the whole of Europe at 1:100k?

Yes, "routable" means that the map supports turn by turn navigation. Maps have to be made in a special way to support this. The 100k topo, and almost all maps on this site, are not routable. That means it will show your position on the screen but there's not data about the roads that can be used to generate a route with turn by turn directions.

Garmin's 24k topo maps are completely different, they contain the same routable roads as City Navigator. But each map only covers a few states and it's expensive.

Ok got it now - but I'm guessing for hiking that I'll be perfectly fine with the "direct routing" that you mention, provided that there are enough points to navigate to.

This data is completely separate from the map and can actually be used without any map at all.

Lightbulb moment! Many many thanks!

Hi Boyd,

First of all many many thanks for your reply.

Looking at your post again... it looks like you aren't quite clear on the difference between "maps" and "routes". I think you are really just interested in routes, POI's and tracks. These are considered "user data" and maps are like "system data". Basecamp is a program for managing your user data.

Yip I think you're 100% on this one. I don't want to create an actual map per se, but rather add my data to an existing "canvass" so to say.

In order to use routes, you will need a map installed on the GPS that supports routing. Almost none of the maps on this site are capable of that. Garmin City Navigator is the standard map for routing, but Garmin's 24k topo maps are also routable. Both of these options are rather expensive. To create routes, you will need the same map installed on both your computer and GPS for the best results.

Regarding the maps, I did order a 66st which will be coming with pre-installed maps from Garmin on-board - are these the 24k ones that you refer to above?

In order to use routes, you will need a map installed on the GPS that supports routing. Almost none of the maps on this site are capable of that.

Can you please explain what you mean by "routing" as I seem to not be quite sure of it's application here... by routing do you mean turn-by-turn navigation? Just want to be 100% clear so that I can understand what I can do with the maps on this site and what the limitations would be.

Garmin is transitioning to "Garmin Explore" which is web-based software for managing its devices and your GPSMap 66 is one of the new models that support this new system. I have no experience with this, and don't have a compatible device. But that is clearly their future, so you should probably check it out. In the future, it may be all you need.

Thanks! I'll definitely check this one out too.

Thanks again for all the help!

Hi all,

First off, I'm a complete newb so please bear with me.

I have just ordered my 1st handheld GPS (Garmin GPSMAP 66st) and am wondering what the best software is to make and manage maps, routes and all of my GPS related info. I've been reading a bunch of the forums and see a lot of mention of Basecamp, even though it seems to be end of life. I've also had a look at QGIS and wondering if this might be better suited to my application. Are there any other pieces of software out there that I should be looking into?

My use case in a nutshell:

• Make and plan hiking routes for navigation on my device
• Create a personal "database" of POIs, past routes, new routes etc (so basically a personal map). I'd also like to use this for storing recorded routes of where I've been
• Oh... and I'm on a Mac

Thanks in advance!

PS: Apologies if this post was better suited to the "Map Making Support" category