Most handheld Garmin GPS units come with a baseline road map that displays major roads for either the Eastern or Western hemisphere, plus the ability to display greater detail using uploaded map data. Garmin sells a line of CD/DVD disks with data for various parts of the world, and third-party sources offer maps with greater details for specific countries (a Google search should reveal even more). Many of these datasets are expensive, and data is unavailable for some areas of the world. There’s a cheaper option that offers worldwide data, including coverage of areas not covered by commercial products, but with some limitations in quality and detail.
The Wanderlust Worldmap is a community site slowly assembling and improving a worldwide map of roads, points of interests, and contours that can be uploaded to Garmin GPS units using the standard Garmin MapSource software. Full access to all the data requires a 25 GBP registration fee, but you can download a sample dataset for free if you register at the site. Here are some sample screenshots from MapSource, downloaded from the website (click on the images for a larger view):
Looking at the maps in the evaluation download, quality and level of detail vary enormously from one area to another. Some areas show detail rivaling that of standard Garmin maps, while other areas have less detail, and don’t even label roads with a name. Still, you can’t beat the coverage area or the price, and presumably with time the overall quality of the maps will improve as community members create and update new maps. At the very least, the evaluation version is worth a free look.
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See Real USGS Topo Maps, Aerial Photos And Scanned Maps On Your Garmin GPS WithMoagu:
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Actual screenshot |
Other posts in the Garmin GPS series
- Garmin microSD Card Tricks
- Exporting Data From Garmin’s MapSource Program To Google Earth
- Free Garmin GPS Unit Auto-Routing With MetroGuide Maps + Free European Basemap
- Cheap Worldwide Road And Contour Maps For Garmin GPS Units
- Converting A Garmin USB GPS Connection To Multiple Serial NMEA Connections
- Converting OpenStreetMap Data Into GPX Or Garmin .img Format
- Adding Garmin .img Map Files To MapSource
- Sources For Free Garmin .img GPS Map Files
- Beta Version Of DNRGarmin
- Google Maps Search Interface For Garmin .img Maps
- High-Res Garmin Topo Maps For CO, WY, and UT (also Argentina, Uruguay and Chile)
- Creating Custom Waypoint Icons For Garmin GPS Units I
- Creating Custom Waypoint Icons For Garmin GPS Units II
- Creating Custom Waypoint Icons For Garmin GPS Units III - Custom Waypoint Icons In MapSource
- Garmin Handheld GPS Units That Support Custom Waypoints
- Garmin MapSource For Free
- Garmin GPS Unit Waypoint Icons Table
- A Look At OpenStreetMap’s TIGER Data Exported To A Garmin GPS
- Beating The Garmin 2025-Map Limit With US Topo Maps
- High-Res Garmin Topo Maps Now Out For Utah
- Introduction To Garmin GPS Custom POI (Points Of Interest) Data
- Garmin Topo Maps For Montana And California
- Creating A Garmin Custom POI Datafile
- Managing Custom POI Data On A Garmin Handheld GPS
- Creating Custom Icons For Garmin Points Of Interest (POI)
- Creating A Garmin GPS Points Of Interest (POI) File From A Point Shapefile
- Entering Multiple Datasets For A Single Set Of Garmin Custom POIs
- AZ Garmin Topo Maps And More From The GPS File Depot
- Updates For Two Garmin-Related Programs
- Put USGS Topographic Maps, Aerial Imagery, And Other Raster Imagery On Your Garmin Handheld GPS
- New Garmin Map Links At The GPS File Depot
- Sets Of Custom Garmin Waypoint Icons
- Converting Raster Maps To Garmin Vector Format With BMap2MP
- Updates At The GPS File Depot
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