How to avoid major highways and the proper kinds of via or waypoints

 

I have recently purchased a Garmin 3590LMT. I am planning a road trip. I want to travel through AL, TN, KY and IN on highway 231. No interstates, etc. 231 extends from the FL panhandle to north of my final destination in Indiana. My specific example:

Day 2 of my trip I will be driving from Lake City, FL to Huntsville, AL. I will need to go on I-10 from Lake City to where 231 intersects with I-10. Can I make a small town along the route be a via point? For instance, can I add Cottondale, FL as a via point,then Ashville, AL, then Oneonta, AL, then Arab, AL? These are all small towns on route 231. Does the Garmin map have these small towns on the map?

I do not want to go on interstates once I am north of Florida. Should I check 'avoid highways'. It will not be the fastest route, or even the shortest route. I am going the scenic route. Should I check of the 'shortest route'?

Welcome to The Factory

Welcome.

Your request sounds a lot like a question I've recently asked. There's a lot of good info in this older thread:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/44117

Many replies mention the Basecamp software installed on your computer. Check here:

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/41134

I'll confess that I'm lazy and rather than creating a perfect route on my computer, then transferring it to the nuvi, I usually just create a route with my nuvi using my intended destination and however many via points I need to avoid places I want to avoid (like trying to navigate through Dallas TX on major highways coming from Amarillo and heading toward Shreveport).

Regarding staying on Route 231 by using via points for small towns like Cottondale, Ashville, Arab and Oneonta, yes these small towns can be found with your Garmin nuvi and forcing a route to include these towns is certainly an easy way to stay on the desired highway.

I'd avoid checking Avoid Highways in the event all or parts of 231 are considered a highway by your nuvi—at least without first checking to see what the results would be. If you add enough small towns as via points (or even some intersections in an area without small towns), I'd first see what results you get sticking with the default Fastest Route.

One minor issue with using towns as via points is that "town" is typically some single point in the town, and if the point isn't on your 231, the nuvi route may suggest you take a couple turns in the town to actually pass that point.

One other thought is that you may not want to create the full route on a multiday trip. You could create several shorter routes with each day's destination being at or just beyond the distance you plan to travel that day...repeat each day with a new destination. You can display the entire route on your nuvi and I suggest you do this daily just to make sure that the nuvi route uses the route you're expecting.

My last tip is that your nuvi will recalculate a route if you divert from the intended route. Therefore, if your nuvi-route takes you off of 231 for a stretch while you want to stay on it, just stay on it and the nuvi will recalculate a revision.

Good luck and have fun.

One more thought

Ah, another thing to check: If you do create a long route with your multiple 'via towns,' be sure to check the route or at least the order of the vias and destination so that the towns appear in the route in the appropriate order. I don't see it discussed in your owners manual:

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/nuvi_3500_OM_EN.pdf

but hopefully with a destination and multiple vias, you can view a page to see what order the vias and destination will be and give you the ability to reorder them if needed.

avoiding highways

Craig has given you some excellent guidelines and I would like to add another. Rather than using towns as waypoints, try intersections. You will stray a lot less from your route if you start say in Lake City and want to go north on 231 where it intersects with I-10. Use the intersection as your way or via point, the same as you head north.

Rather than Cottondale, Fl, use 231 and 90 just south of Cottondale. You can use 231 and 12 to take the western side of the bypass around Dothan and then 231 and Westgate Parkway to keep you on route. Having a good atlas helps in planning the route, and it sounds as if you have a good idea on how to proceed. Good luck, and don't forget to check in and let us know how it worked on routing for you.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Check my FAQ on via points

Check out my FAQ on via points. If there are questions, ask here!

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/44330

dobs108 smile

recent thread

There is a recent thread on exactly this subject -

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/44282

dobs108 smile

Create you own via points

Via points need to be on the correct side of the road you are driving on. If they are on the other side there will be unintended consequences. The Route or Trip will have unwanted loops going in the wrong direction.

In my opinion, it is better to create your own via points by zooming in on the map and selecting an area of route 231 away from side roads or interstate ramps. Touch the map on the shoulder of the road. A blue circle appears. Touch Menu. Touch Save. Name it. It becomes a Saved Place.

Intersections would be all right to use for via points if the road has a double yellow line and the waypoint of the intersection is exactly in the middle, but this cannot be guaranteed. If the road is a divided highway with intersections, the waypoint of the intersection is likely on one side of the road or the other, possibly on the wrong side.

dobs108 smile

sacrilege!

Box Car wrote:

...Having a good atlas helps in planning the route...

Sacrilege! This is a GPS website!

dobs108 razz

overkill

dobs108 wrote:

Via points need to be on the correct side of the road you are driving on. If they are on the other side there will be unintended consequences. The Route or Trip will have unwanted loops going in the wrong direction.

dobs108 smile

In a perfect world, yes, it does matter. But if you are using your unit as an AID in following a route, then it's easy to either disregard the instructions to deviate or, just delete the waypoint.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

TRIP PLANNER

I use Trip Planner to force the 3590 to go where I want it to go.

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3790LMT; 2595LMT; 3590LMT, 60LMTHD

Hmmmm. lemme see...

From where I sit, it seems the easiest way to avoid highways, freeways, tollways, byways and the such is quite simple.

STAY HOME ON A STAYCATION! rolleyes

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Never argue with a pig. It makes you look foolish and it anoys the hell out of the pig!

Route segments

CraigW wrote:

Welcome. ... One other thought is that you may not want to create the full route on a multiday trip. You could create several shorter routes with each day's destination being at or just beyond the distance you plan to travel that day...repeat each day with a new destination. You can display the entire route on your nuvi and I suggest you do this daily just to make sure that the nuvi route uses the route you're expecting. ...

We each find a way that works best for us. I have found that breaking a longer trip into shorter segments works well for me also. I generally have an idea of where I plan to stop for lunch and use that general location as my destination. While taking the lunch break, I select my end of day destination.

I am not familiar with your specific model, but check to see if when you select your destination if you have a prompt that displays a choice of alternative routes. Mine will show up to 3 and displays them in different colors on the map. That may give you a simple way to follow your desired highway.

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"There's no substitute for local knowledge" nüvi 750, nüvi 3597