Route Planning for Garmin

[VinceLedge]

So many choices!

[Hellhound]

Ridewithgps here too.

[drossall]

I still use Garmin MapSource, which preceded Garmin BaseCamp. The latter was just the former with lots of unwanted features that made it too complicated, as far as I could see. Although most of my routes are downloaded from others, e.g. for Audaxes, anyway.

[Psamathe]

.....
I think that site will take some getting used to. I put in a start and end, and it routed me on the motorway. So I unticked the 'Follow Road' checkbox ... and the route is still on the motorway. I think I need to work out how to use it!

I've tested a lot of these route creation sites and some have given routes I can only describe as "certain death" (reality is you'd never turn onto the A14 round Ipswich so you end up departing their route finding another way (taking you further and longer than planned) - and those are cycle specific routing!

cycle.travel is the only one I've found giving consistently good routes.

Ian

[Psamathe]

Another aspect is what you want from your Garmin e.g. coloured line showing where to go or turn by turn directions "take the 2nd exit 200 yards ahead ...". gpx might not give you all the functionality you want and .tcx might be needed.

Ian

[Mick F]

Always, I use BikeHike UK
Not as good as it once was, but that is my go-to route planer bar none.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php

Download your route in whatever format works for you, and upload to your device.
One of my Garmins wants FIT files.
All you need to do is convert them into FIT via a program ............ I like GPS Babel
https://www.gpsbabel.org

I think that site will take some getting used to. I put in a start and end, and it routed me on the motorway. So I unticked the 'Follow Road' checkbox ... and the route is still on the motorway. I think I need to work out how to use it!

If you want what you're suggesting, best is Cycle Tavel.
https://cycle.travel/map
Personally, I prefer using the maps and clicking on EXACTLY what I want, and not something suggested or mistaken, though Cycle Travel will do it it of course.

If you use BikeHike UK, you need to zoom in to where you want to be, and click and click and click and construct EXACTLY the route you want.

I've done it for motorways and major roads, plus off-road and even across fields and through woodlands. You can upload routes previously created, reverse them and modify them, or start from scratch.

Only this morning, I constructed a route for me and the dog to walk (when the weather stops raining?) as a circular route taking in the river path and through woodlands and along public footpaths. I'll be taking my Garmin Montana (handheld device - mountable on bikes/motorbikes/cars/aircraft/boats - to make sure we get to where we're going.

Basically, north up the Cornish side of the river to cross over at Horsebridge into England (calling in at the Royal Inn for a beer or two and a dog biscuit or three or four) and back along through England and Blanchdown Woods to cross over back into Cornwall over Newbridge and back south along the river to home.

Eleven miles ........... but only when the weather warms up and it stops raining.

[drossall]

Oh, if what I want is an efficient and bike-friendly route from A to B, as opposed to a leisure ride, I use CycleStreets. Sometimes I'll tweak it a bit if there's a part of the route that I know, or where I suspect I can do better - or I'll just ignore the Garmin for that bit - but generally it's OK.

[RickH]

Is it no longer possible just to copy a gpx file from somewhere on computer to garmin, either by cable or somehow wirelessly? I'm out of date with garmins but when I used one I never used the connect app.

Yes it is still possible. With a lead (preferably an original garmin one but others will often work) & an "on the go" adapter you can access the internal memory of a Garmin from an android phone (I've not found this setup able to access a supplementary SD card in the Garmin). I've created routes in cycle.travel & saved them on my phone (usually a a tcx for an Edg) then copied the file manually to the right folder (my old 605 needed the tcx putting in the Courses folder, with newer Edges you just put in the NewFiles folder & it automagically sorts it out itself when you next power it up.

Now that the feature to send the route directly to garmin connect is there in cycle.travel I tend to send it there & then open it up in the Connect mobile app & use "send to device" which downloads it to my Edge wirelessly.