Washington State Topographic Maps and Trails for Garmin GPS units.
To get free topo maps for most Garmin GPS units, visit www.gpsfiledepot.com. For Washington State, two downloads are useful: Washington Topo and Northwest Trails. GPSFileDepot has tutorials on how to do this. There are downloads for both PC and Mac users. For PC users, Garmin BaseCamp can load the maps onto the GPS, or better still, onto a micro SD card inserted into the PC if it has a suitable slot, or into a card reader. Mac users will have to use GarminMapSource to register the two maps and MapInstall to install them. In MapInstall the areas of the maps are first selected, one after the other. You will probably want to select all of Washington for the state topographic map. You will probably want just Washington on the trails map. In case you think you might as well select all the trails, remember that the more map area you select, the slower the GPS will start up.
BaseCamp or MapInstall will create a file called gmapsupp.img. This must be copied into a folder called Garmin on the microSD card that will be inserted into the GPS. Below is a link to two more files: USGA-WA-Summits.gpi and WA=SnoParks.gpi. Create a second folder, this time inside the Garmin folder. Copy these two file there. Then install the card in any of your Garmin GPS units. The maps and trails will appear when you select the maps in handheld and automotive Garmin GPS units.
The POIs, Points of Interest, are accessed in Garmin GPS units from different icons. The Etrex series puts them in the Extras icon. The older Etrex HCx puts them in Custom Points of Interest where a press of the menu button gives a choice of POI collection, summits, SnoParks, etc.
All the POIs show up on the GPS maps. The summits are all summits over 1000m in elevation, or about 3,000 ft. The SnoParks POIs are divided between motorized (snowmobile) and non-motorized (skiing) parks.
If you were successful making this SD card for your GPS units, be sure to share it with friends. Terms of use of material from GPSFileDepot prevent me from putting the gmapsupp.img file on this site.
BaseCamp or MapInstall will create a file called gmapsupp.img. This must be copied into a folder called Garmin on the microSD card that will be inserted into the GPS. Below is a link to two more files: USGA-WA-Summits.gpi and WA=SnoParks.gpi. Create a second folder, this time inside the Garmin folder. Copy these two file there. Then install the card in any of your Garmin GPS units. The maps and trails will appear when you select the maps in handheld and automotive Garmin GPS units.
The POIs, Points of Interest, are accessed in Garmin GPS units from different icons. The Etrex series puts them in the Extras icon. The older Etrex HCx puts them in Custom Points of Interest where a press of the menu button gives a choice of POI collection, summits, SnoParks, etc.
All the POIs show up on the GPS maps. The summits are all summits over 1000m in elevation, or about 3,000 ft. The SnoParks POIs are divided between motorized (snowmobile) and non-motorized (skiing) parks.
If you were successful making this SD card for your GPS units, be sure to share it with friends. Terms of use of material from GPSFileDepot prevent me from putting the gmapsupp.img file on this site.
