How to use a GPS Device or GPS App for Hiking & Backpacking Trips using Caltopo and free Garmin Basecamp GPS Software for route planning, point of interest waypoints, elevation profiles and more.
Whether you use a dedicated GPS device or a GPS phone app, the free tools and software I share in this tutorial can help you take your pre-trip planning to the next level.
Links to GPS Tools that I go over
- Garmin Basecamp
- This is the current version, but for the reasons discussed in the video, I would recommend that Garmin device users install the previous version 4.6.2 until they fix the map install issues on 4.7.0. If you’re using a GPS phone app, you’ll be fine with 4.7.0.
- Basecamp Previous Version Archive
- You can get version 4.6.2 here.
- Forum thread with more info on the problems with Basecamp 4.7.0.
- GPS File Depot
- Great resource for free GPS maps.
- Caltopo
- Awesome web based GPS tool. You can use it as a standalone tool, but I prefer to use it as a supplement to Basecamp. I pretty much just use it for the routable trails feature. Between the two, there’s not much you can’t do.
- GPS Visualizer
- Free tool for adding elevation data to GPS tracks. Simply export the track as a GPX file, run it through here, and re-import into Basecamp or directly into your GPS device.
Suggested maps to start with on GPS File Depot
- Editor’s Choice map for the state you’ll be hiking or backpacking in.
- My Trails
- Trails 100
My GPS, seen on the video