Free routable maps for Garmin

 

As from time to time there are questions about maps for different world regions I would like to start topic about getting them legally.

There are two links to places where you can get legal, free maps for Garmin GPS. They are routable, so can be used to drive when on vacations. Coverage can differ sometimes, as often there are non commercial projects created by users.

Links:
1. http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
2. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Downloa...

Moderator. If you agree maybe it will be good idea to pinup this topic so it will not get lost over time. And once we get list of reliable free maps to transfer it into FAQ topic.

Users. Please post only new links to other map sites or opinions about used maps. Don't post "thank you" posts, because they will only make harder finding content.

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Thanks!

Pillowcase wrote:

The following sites provide excellent and detailed routable Garmin maps. The Tracksouce site is in Portuguese and the Mapear site in Spanish. Google translate does a decent job translating the sites into English.

Brazil:
http://www.tracksource.org.br/

Agentina,Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay:

http://www.proyectomapear.com.ar/
http://www.travelbygps.com/z_links/proyectomapear_dot_com_ar.php

Thanks!

--
Garmin c340, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 765T, Nuvi 2360LMT

POIs??

Does anyone know if custom POIs work with the free maps??

--
ChefDon

.

Yes.

Custom POIs function independently from the map.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

--
nuvi 250 --> 1250T --> 265T Lost my 1250T

Thanks

I will check them out.

Thanks for the good work.

--
Beechcreek

Doesn't remove Garmin map

I have used openstreetmaps with my 265WT. It doesn't remove the Garmin map. I can select which map to use or both.

I find it most useful to show roads and even trails in a park which aren't on the Garmin map.

Sometimes openstreetmaps doesn't give exit numbers for highways and gives route numbers for city street when I would prefer street names.

Somtimes my old Garmin map has more streets than openstreetmaps.

I suggest checking the routing with both maps and picking your favorite each long trip.

.

Really great info. thanks

OpenStreetMaps

I have been experimenting with OSM and do like some of the additional detail provided, but doesn't seem to work with/support JCV files. Am I missing something or doing something wrong?

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

jcv files

wdjohnson2 wrote:

I have been experimenting with OSM and do like some of the additional detail provided, but doesn't seem to work with/support JCV files.

Junction views are keyed to Garmin's maps not OSM.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

Thought so, thanks

Thought so, thanks

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

...

Pillowcase wrote:

The following sites provide excellent and detailed routable Garmin maps. The Tracksouce site is in Portuguese and the Mapear site in Spanish. Google translate does a decent job translating the sites into English.

Brazil:
http://www.tracksource.org.br/

Agentina,Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay:

http://www.proyectomapear.com.ar/
http://www.travelbygps.com/z_links/proyectomapear_dot_com_ar.php

That's fantastic, thanks!

That's great!

ChefDon16 wrote:

Does anyone know if custom POIs work with the free maps??

That's Great!

--
Garmin c340, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 765T, Nuvi 2360LMT

2009 Garmin Map vs. the OSM

Metroparker wrote:

I have used openstreetmaps with my 265WT. It doesn't remove the Garmin map. I can select which map to use or both.

I find it most useful to show roads and even trails in a park which aren't on the Garmin map.

Sometimes openstreetmaps doesn't give exit numbers for highways and gives route numbers for city street when I would prefer street names.

Somtimes my old Garmin map has more streets than openstreetmaps.

I've installed the OSM on the SD card of my Nuvi 360. I am experimenting with the Garmin map and the OSM, selecting one vs. the other at different times. Because the Garmin map on my Nuvi 360 is from 2009, the OSM shows more streets, etc. than the Garmin map, of course.

The only problem I've encountered at this point--one week into the comparison--with the OSM is that the OSM initially showed "Home" to be several blocks from its actual location. But, after using the OSM multiple times during the course of the last week, the OSM is showing the location for "Home" accurately today.

Free maps

Are these free maps safe to install

Safe???

Gpsgpsbdd wrote:

Are these free maps safe to install

Safe in what manner? People have been using them for years but they still get lost, drive into unsafe areas and all manner of foolish things they blame on the unit and maps. But are they "safe" for use, yes they lack features built into the OEM maps.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

LOL

Box Car wrote:
Gpsgpsbdd wrote:

Are these free maps safe to install

Safe in what manner? People have been using them for years but they still get lost, drive into unsafe areas and all manner of foolish things they blame on the unit and maps. But are they "safe" for use, yes they lack features built into the OEM maps.

Funny!

--
Garmin c340, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 765T, Nuvi 2360LMT

oh

myblubu wrote:
Box Car wrote:
Gpsgpsbdd wrote:

Are these free maps safe to install

Safe in what manner? People have been using them for years but they still get lost, drive into unsafe areas and all manner of foolish things they blame on the unit and maps. But are they "safe" for use, yes they lack features built into the OEM maps.

Funny!

Had to read a second time. Yes, funny!!

--
nuvi 1390 LT, nuvi 1450 LMT, Win 10

Peru ( PeRut South America) routable is available at

http://www.perut.org/english.htm

This site like the other country map sites
usually requires registration (but free access
after registration). The Peru Garmin format map is
routable. Current version is 4.10 (not 3.10 as written
in the English page).

This page also highlights the work being done in
other South American countries - including: Argentina (Proyecto Mapear), Brasil (TrackSorce), Central America (CenRut), Colombia (ColRut), Ecuador (Proyecto Ecuador) and Venezuela (VenRut).

The more generic Peru GPS site (shows all maps in
development) is at

http://perut.org/

It is in Spanish. Google translate can be used.

These country projects usually create maps (maybe map
products would be a better description - route-able and
topo) for Garmin and TomTom format, and some smartphones.
Some of their free products work with MapSource and
BaseCamp.

If you download any of the maps, Norton A/V will complain
that the file is suspect (in a general sense). I
have downloaded multiple versions without any real
A/V issues.

-Jim

Thanks!! Good to know!

uwphotographer wrote:

http://www.perut.org/english.htm

This site like the other country map sites
usually requires registration (but free access
after registration). The Peru Garmin format map is
routable. Current version is 4.10 (not 3.10 as written
in the English page).

This page also highlights the work being done in
other South American countries - including: Argentina (Proyecto Mapear), Brasil (TrackSorce), Central America (CenRut), Colombia (ColRut), Ecuador (Proyecto Ecuador) and Venezuela (VenRut).

The more generic Peru GPS site (shows all maps in
development) is at

http://perut.org/

It is in Spanish. Google translate can be used.

These country projects usually create maps (maybe map
products would be a better description - route-able and
topo) for Garmin and TomTom format, and some smartphones.
Some of their free products work with MapSource and
BaseCamp.

If you download any of the maps, Norton A/V will complain
that the file is suspect (in a general sense). I
have downloaded multiple versions without any real
A/V issues.

-Jim

I may be fisiting there next month, this is good to know!

--
Garmin c340, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 765T, Nuvi 2360LMT

lack features ???

Box Car wrote:
Gpsgpsbdd wrote:

Are these free maps safe to install

Safe in what manner? People have been using them for years but they still get lost, drive into unsafe areas and all manner of foolish things they blame on the unit and maps. But are they "safe" for use, yes they lack features built into the OEM maps.

What do you mean: "they lack features built into the OEM maps".....for example?

like

babewk wrote:

What do you mean: "they lack features built into the OEM maps".....for example?

Such things as POI, speed limits, lane guidance, the ability to link to junction views and other things found in the display of higher grade units.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

Thanks...

Thanks.

speed limits seem to be there

Box Car wrote:

Such things as POI, speed limits, ....

I'm not sure about Speed Limits. My little nuvi 250 does not display speed limits, but it must know the speed limits along most roads, because it seems to use them in calculating ETA. I definitely see that it seems to understand that the maximum Interstate speed may be 65 in some states and 75 in others and deals with that accordingly. And it isn't on a state by state basis, it knows when the local limit changes. If I keep at the posted limit my ETA stays constant, if I drop below then my ETA starts to stretch out.

I've just been using the OSM maps a few weeks now, but the calculations for ETA so far seem just as accurate. So I'm expecting that this data must still be in there. (Unless the GPS is still taking that data from the internal maps, which would break completely when I drive on roads that don't exist in the old maps). Since my 250 never displays a speed limit even though it seems to know it, I can't comment on that aspect of speed limits for OSM.

I agree,...

this should be pinned. Thanks.

--
RKF (Brookeville, MD) Garmin Nuvi 660, 360 & Street Pilot

like i stated

Frovingslosh wrote:
Box Car wrote:

Such things as POI, speed limits, ....

I'm not sure about Speed Limits. My little nuvi 250 does not display speed limits, but it must know the speed limits along most roads

things found in higher end units. Your 250 cannot be considered a "higher end unit."

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

Thank you for the websites!

Thank you for the websites!

Thank you for the websites!

Thank you for the websites!

the limits must be iin the map data

Box Car wrote:
Frovingslosh wrote:
Box Car wrote:

Such things as POI, speed limits, ....

I'm not sure about Speed Limits. My little nuvi 250 does not display speed limits, but it must know the speed limits along most roads

things found in higher end units. Your 250 cannot be considered a "higher end unit."

Mine is about as low end as you can get. Which is one reason that I was not concerned about "missing features" from the OSM maps. But you completely missed my point, so let me explain again and type slowly this time. My little low end 250 shows an ETA time, and that time is obviously based on speed limits along the various roads and highways to the destination. So the internal maps must contain the speed limits, even though the 250 does not display the speed limit on a road. When I switched to OSM the ETA function continues to operate properly. It seems just as accurate. It seems to accurately give me a ETA even when I'm on a road that is not in my 4 year old internal Garmin maps. So I believe that the OSM maps do contain speed limit data. If I'm wrong about that then I wonder how it could do as good of a job as Garmin maps that do contain speed limit data.

i didn't miss your point

Frovingslosh wrote:
Box Car wrote:
Frovingslosh wrote:
Box Car wrote:

Such things as POI, speed limits, ....

I'm not sure about Speed Limits. My little nuvi 250 does not display speed limits, but it must know the speed limits along most roads

things found in higher end units. Your 250 cannot be considered a "higher end unit."

Mine is about as low end as you can get. Which is one reason that I was not concerned about "missing features" from the OSM maps. But you completely missed my point, so let me explain again and type slowly this time. My little low end 250 shows an ETA time, and that time is obviously based on speed limits along the various roads and highways to the destination. So the internal maps must contain the speed limits, even though the 250 does not display the speed limit on a road. When I switched to OSM the ETA function continues to operate properly. It seems just as accurate. It seems to accurately give me a ETA even when I'm on a road that is not in my 4 year old internal Garmin maps. So I believe that the OSM maps do contain speed limit data. If I'm wrong about that then I wonder how it could do as good of a job as Garmin maps that do contain speed limit data.

I stated the data if present would not be displayed on the map. That doesn't mean the data may not be there, it just means none of the units will extract that information from the map data if it is present. The Garmin may also default and use internal data for speeds based on road types as well. We know the unit will interpret the road type as the different roads are indicated by the correct colors. Don't necessarily assume something is in the OSM map unless you know for certain. We do know for certain that there are no "built-ins" normally found in a Garmin map such as speed limits displayed on the screen, links to junction views, lane guidance and of course the POI encoded with the OEM map data.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

Free Is Good

Checking out to see if they work on my nuvi

After trying these on both nuvi 660 and neither worked...

I then came here to find out about the 2Gb map limit that the 660 has.... as posted here.

So... I have lifetime maps on one 660... Is there a smaller USA only file from OSM to try?

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

under 500 meg in size

JanJ wrote:

So... I have lifetime maps on one 660... Is there a smaller USA only file from OSM to try?

The Dave Hansen OSM maps are available in a variety of sizes. The entire US is a "4 gig" map (actually currently about 3.5 gig). But there are two maps that divide the country in half (with a little overlap) that come in under 2 gig each and then smaller maps that again cover smaller regions. So you could pretty much just get a small one to "try" (less than 500 meg) and then move to a larger one if that works for you. On the downside Dave Hansen doesn't offer the files zipped, so you use more bandwidth to get them. On the upside he does offer torrents of the files, so it you don't fear learning how to use bit torrent you can usually download them faster and with more assurance of no file corruption during download.

Know your local GPS coordinates to pick the smaller map appropriate for you.

I found his site....

but I can't make sense out of how you select a download as the map is far too complex...

Could you give more information on the download site?

Thanks...

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

I can read it to you

I can read it to you, but I can't understand it for you. The author has already tried to do a good job of documenting the process. Go to his site. See the list of directories, go to the last on on the bottom named "latest" (unless you want older maps for some reason). Now you have a list of files. See the one named README?
Download that and read it.

If you need more help, then anyone trying to help you should have more information. What size map do you want? Full USA is about 3.5 gig. There are also two parts less than 2 gig each for the east and west sides of the country. And smaller sections that take about 1 gig and 500 meg. So pick a size. Now, tell us approximately where you live. We need your longitude to pick a section that is appropriate to you. When dealing with the partial maps of 1 gig or less it might also help to know if you tend to travel more to the east or more to the west (if you happen to live in one of the overlap areas).

Have you used Bit torrent before? Do you want to use it? It is a far better way to download the files, but I'm not going to try to teach you that if you don't want to understand it.

I have no idea what bit

I have no idea what bit torrent is...

I've learned firsthand that the 3.5Gb files won't load on the 660... And learned the reason why.

I went back to the site again, and still can't figure my way through that blue map... I'll eventually figure it out.... It's not a screaming emergency now....

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

PIN THIS POST!!

PIN THIS POST!! grin

map content

i agree

Anything special that we

Anything special that we could use them for?

common misconception

Frovingslosh wrote:

My little low end 250 shows an ETA time, and that time is obviously based on speed limits along the various roads and highways to the destination. So the internal maps must contain the speed limits, even though the 250 does not display the speed limit on a road.

The average rate of advance values Garmin units use to estimate ETAs are not the speed limits--nor a simple adjustment to the speed limits, but something separate.

Even on units which do display speed limits where a value is present lack speed limit values for many, many road segments--including nearly all low-level local roads, yet they somehow generate ETA estimates. I don't know where this myth that it is the speed limit values that drive the ETA calculation got started, but it is false.

--
personal GPS user since 1992

Open Street Maps

I used this in Costa Rica and it worked, although not perfectly.

I don't like openstreetmaps for the US. One place in particular had streets missing that were on my 2 year old Garmin. I also prefer Garmin street names and exit information.

I do check it out before I go on a long trip, but I end up using the Garmin maps.

I save the link as a favorite.

Does this work on any of the

Does this work on any of the new 2013 units? It seems like a number of folks have been doing this on older units.

Thanks, ..

this is very useful information.

--
RKF (Brookeville, MD) Garmin Nuvi 660, 360 & Street Pilot

These Links are golden!

These Links are golden!

Free maps Europe Garmin

http://frikart.no/garmin/index.html

Some free maps from Frikart.no
I will try some of them but there are some things i really have to learn before i proceed.

best regards jocke

--
Nüvi 300 and Nüvi 3597LMT. Oneplus with Locus Map and Here/Sygic/Maps

right

right

--
Gattina11

Semper Fi !

Semper Fi !

--
May the road be with you !

The OSM maps

Thanks for posting this link to the OSM maps. I have the Nuvi 52LM and have put the maps on it. They are great, though I have found a few spelling mistakes on the street names, and in one case there is a street that has been there for years and it just calls it road. But I do like the content of those maps. Thanks again.

Hawkslayer.

GPSFileDepot.com

Don't forget about GPSFileDepot.com. It's been mentioned here before but I thought it should be added to this thread.
I find it to be a great source of international, State, local and specialty maps. Some are routable, some not but most are free.
I particularly like their topo maps which can be broken down into small segments for use in older handhelds with limited memory.

The maps I tried are 2.4Gb

The maps I tried are 2.4Gb in size.

660 only takes <2Gb

So are these only for later models, or does <2Gb exist for download? (This for 2nd 660 that doesn't have lifetime maps)

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

You can fix it!

The great thing about OSM is that you can fix the mistakes yourself and find them in a future map release!

http://osm.org/

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