Offroad Navigation Discussion Thread

Yeah we've been kicking it in pretty good at TrailsOffroad. It's coming along nicely! I'm part of the mapping team too

 

I just downloaded this app for our RimRocker trip. I'm running it on a Galaxy Tab 7". I like that this app can store/cache maps on my SD card rather then the device memory. My device is weak at 8gigs but the SD is 30. It is very easy to navigate so far. Going to try an cache all of the Moab area before I leave tomorrow and get some more GPX/KML files for trails. I'll need to pick up a RAM type mount here soon.

 

Fun fact about downloading maps on My Trails app that I just discovered. I have most of CO and SE Utah topo maps DL'ed at full resolution, but wanted to snag satellite imagery from the areas near trails, in this case the Rimrocker trail. When you go into the Map Manager, click "create offline" and I was in the Microsoft Satellite since Google Earth wont zoom in all the way for DL.

Anyways, if you look above the window at top right where you select what you want to DL, you can click on the "track/trail" tab (cant see what its exactly called now because it is downloading), select a particular trail (Rimrocker), and it'll put the trail on the map and automatically create a rectangle encompassing the whole trail, and a bit outside of it.

Boom

 

my website: http://www.colorado-ohv.com/
my webmap: http://www.colorado-ohv.com/trail-map.html

Still a work in progress and more for personal fun... but feel free to use it or ask me questions.

I make maps for a living, best offroad GPS app for your phone is hands down Gaia GPS.

 

Maybe im just a dummy but im using mytrails too and i cannot find mgm files anywhere for offline use.

 

The maps for the background? You can easily download exactly what you need right in my trails from any of the map options they have.

Click on the little world map icon at the top and click through and see what map you want to download, its the second button from the right at the top, then go back in there, click 'manage', then at bottom right click on 'create offline'.

Then on the left, choose the map source, whether you want to create a new map or save to existing, zoom level (I usually zoom in the furthest but it takes space and time to download). On the right side at the top, those tabs are different ways to choose what area you can select to download.

 

Anyone tried http://leadnavsystems.com/ ? They have been used alot in desert racing with good results on Ipads.

 

Just wanted to say, as a brand new member of the offroading and Tacoma communities, THANK ALL OF YOU SO MUCH for this thread! I have been doing a fair amount of looking around for how to get started with exploring the trail system and various public lands throughout CO, and it's awesome to have all these great resources in one place. I am at work right now, but I can't wait to dig into all of this stuff when I get home and over the weekend.

Now, I've got one dumb n00b question, or more of suggestion request: my brother is coming to visit next month and wanted to try a bit of light offroading and dispersed camping out of my truck. He's recovering from some pretty major orthopedic surgeries at the moment, so it needs to be a pretty mellow trip. Mainly we want to head up to the mountains for a little midweek overnight and find some scenic/remote dirt roads to cruise around on for a bit, then hopefully find a vacant campsite near some water where we can chill and do some fly fishing and hopefully make a small fire. I'm going to root around on TrailDamage myself for a bit, but if anyone has any good tips for trail systems to consider it would be greatly appreciated, as the sheer volume of info is kind've overwhelming for a beginner. It'll be a midweek trip, so hopefully crowds won't be a major issue even if we decide to hit up a more popular area...also we'll be coming from west Denver and would like to stay within about a 2-3 hour radius.

 

The good thing is a lot of the higher elevation stuff is opening up now that the snow is melting that is within your 2-3 hour range of Denver. I am not sure about any of the good fishing areas, a better place to ask would be the CO BS thread since there are plenty of people who will have a good idea of areas that'll meet your requirements. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/colorado-b-s-thread.131441/page-4570#post-12734662

 

Yeah, I actually got a bit distracted by TrailDamage at work despite trying to avoid it. I've already got a few ideas of my own, but anyone else who wants to chime in is certainly welcome. I don't think "good" fishing matters so much as just being able to be near a res or creek that we can camp really close to, as my brother can't walk very long distances over rough terrain yet.

Anyway, this thread is great, and I'm excited to have found all these trail description and mapping resources. I was just using forest service access road maps and trying to cross reference those with random other resources and it was becoming frustrating...I don't know why I didn't think to look for offroading-specific mapping services and sites until now, I've certainly done that to find good hiking trails in the past so it should have occurred to me.

 

Try http://www.trailsoffroad.com/
More UPDATED and detailed writeups on the trails.

 

I'm using MyTrails (with the Pro license), and couldn't be happier. It's very deep with features, but the UIs are intuitive. There is a setting or feature for literally everything I've wanted it to do so far, and in combination with TrailDamage's amazing library of .gpx files, it's been a breeze getting all the runs pre-planned. My one gripe is that its stock settings are overzealous about using the GPS in the background even after killing the task. Turning off the auto-record feature is a one-press process, but even then, you'll need to exit through the menu to ensure it's not actively engaging the GPS.

Definitely recommended, nonetheless. It's a small and ultimately harmless gripe, and the app is too useful to let it have any real merit.

 

This thread needs a little bumpage!

Typically my route and to planning consists of grabbing any existing trail gpx files for the area, figuring out rough camping areas, where i want to go and mvums.

I'm wanting to delve into better planning utilizing Google Earth to map tracks and waypoints so i have those available when I'm out in the wilderness away from cell service.

Any tips and truck for those who currently do this?

For example, upcoming trips i want to do are escalante, Zion/bryce, and the Alaska trip. Being that my trips are typically last minute... It'd be nice to have this general info ready and on hand.

I'm taking possession of a new tablet tomorrow so I'll have more room for downloading topo and maps.

 

Try the Gaia or MountainHub apps for good quality maps that can be used in airplane mode as most of those areas won't have cell coverage.

 

I currently have mytrails with most of Colorado and Utah topo downloaded. I will be adding gaia once the new tablet is here. Old one had no storage left.

Mainly looking into the Google Earth side of planning.

 

MountainHub planning will show average times based on elevation and terrain features, not just distance. You can adjust the layouts for speed or distance. Widely used by mountain guides.

 

Interesting, never heard of it, but I'll look into it.

 

Used to be called Avanet, and was available to professionals.

 

I use motion X and love it.
Most all forest roads and works great with tacks from trail damage.
I use an Ipad, sat link, ram mount and I can hot spot my phone.

The only problem is when you don't down load enough map and you drive off the edge.

You can even build tracks in my google maps and download.
Now you can also down load google maps for use off line.

I may add a nav head unit for general navigation and location of gas stations ect...

 

I will be shortly running:

Asus 8" Tablet with GPS/GLONASS Last tablet did not need a standalone GPS receiver, but the initial lock on took some time. If this one takes too long, I'll pick one up.

• PDF Maps: PDF Georeferenced MVUM files. Ability to create waypoints
• MyTrails/Gaia: Topo maps, GPX files from Trailsoffroad.com

I've got Colorado, west of I-25, and the Moab corner of Utah topo maps downloaded.
CO/UT/WY/AZ MVUM maps downloaded

Just want to work on setting up these trip area files through Google Earth so I can load a GPX file into Mytrails/Gaia so it'll point me to all of the areas I was wanting to explore.