How to send a "trail" to a Nuvi 780
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15 years
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Hi folks.... I've only been a Nuvi user for a few weeks, and ran across a cool way (IMO) for identifying hiking trails on a "road" GPS. I didn't find reference to this on the message board, so forgive me if it's well known.
My wife and I enjoy hiking, and wanted to be able to use the Nuvi 780 to give us some guidance when we are on trails.
I downloaded a wonderful set of "tracks" for local mountains, and opened them in MapSource. Obviously my Nuvi 780 won't read tracks, and making routes didn't work since each point of the route wanted to jump back onto the road instead of just following the trail. I learned that adding waypoints was the key to success! I added and properly labeled waypoints every mile or so along the trail and was able to successfully upload the waypoints to my Nuvi. (They are viewed as "favorites") It's not as a good as having a trail format GPS, but it certainly is good enough to keep my wife and I on the correct trail and headed in the right direction!
IMO, this is a great way to get some dual purpose from my new Nuvi. 
Tracks
Sounds like a good solution. Where did you find the trails to download that gives the coordinates?
Nuvi 660
I'll have to see if my 660 can do that.
Scanguy15 wrote:Obviously
Obviously my Nuvi 780 won't read tracks, and making routes didn't work since each point of the route wanted to jump back onto the road instead of just following the trail. It's not as a good as having a trail format GPS, but it certainly is good enough to keep my wife and I on the correct trail and headed in the right direction!
You can set unit to Pedestrian mode (EDIT - you also have Off Road option on 780). That may keep it from Jumping Back To Road.
You should be able to select an end point (create a route). Then, while it is active, go back to the main menu and select all points in between (one via at a time) to create a route.
I have not tried this - let me know if it works.
Also, I have a 255W - I'm not familiar with 780 features.
EDIT - It looks like your 780 supports routes. I think you can convert track to route (or create a route) from your track in Mapsource. Then send route to GPSr.
Hawk - Nuvi 1450
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MapSource does not have the ability to convert tracks to routes. In order to create a route from a track in MapSource, you have to use the Routing Tool to manually trace over the route.
Mike107, I got the 'tracks'
Mike107,
I got the 'tracks' from this site....
http://www.sandiahiking.com/MapSourceTableofHikes.html
it's for the Sandia mountain area, just east of Albuquerque. Hopefully you can find a similar site for your area!
-Paul E -Nuvi 780
jthawkin... you are right!
You can set unit to Pedestrian mode (EDIT - you also have Off Road option on 780). That may keep it from Jumping Back To Road.
You should be able to select an end point (create a route). Then, while it is active, go back to the main menu and select all points in between (one via at a time) to create a route.
I have not tried this - let me know if it works.
Also, I have a 255W - I'm not familiar with 780 features.
EDIT - It looks like your 780 supports routes. I think you can convert track to route (or create a route) from your track in Mapsource. Then send route to GPSr.
jthawkin... Thanks for making me think a little more.
In MapSource, under the 'edit' tab, I was able to change the route preference to "use direct route", so that it wouldn't make the route points jump back to the road. Then I opened one of the 'tracks' that I downloaded and traced a route over it. Voila! I was able to send the route to my 780, set it to off-road mode, and it shows up great! I was happy with the waypoints, and now I'm thrilled to have hiking trail routes! Thanks for the tip!
-Paul E -Nuvi 780
Paul
I'm glad my idea helped.
Thanks for letting us know that it worked and giving us the details on how to do it.
Hawk
Hawk - Nuvi 1450