I use Google Earth all the time to see GPS tracks and waypoints. The satellite imagery on the maps is so detailed in many places which makes it easier to see little features that may not show on a topographic map.

I use a Garmin Montana 600 GPS so all my GPS tracks are stored in Garmin Basecamp. I wish Garmin would add more features and update Basecamp but it’s still the best track editor and organizer I’ve found. I hope they move it all online and make sharing easier. I’ll be reviewing the premium version of Gaia GPS in the future so stay tuned for that.

Basecamp used to have a nice feature where you just click on a track and then ‘Export to Google Earth’. Because of a change on the Google Earth side and a lack of resources for updating Basecamp, they removed the feature instead of updating it.

It takes a few steps to export tracks from Garmin Basecamp to view in Google Earth now but it’s still possible.

Exporting Tracks

Select the track you’d like to export then go to File > Export Selected User Data. Select a folder and file name for your GPX file.

Open Google Earth and drag the GPX file onto the map.

A data import window will come up. You can adjust these to your liking. I prefer to use Create KML LineStrings and Adjust altitudes to ground height. These require a bit of adjustment after to get the most usable tracks in GE.

After importing, the track will show under Temporary Places in the sidemenu in GE. I always expand all the parts to the GPS track in the menu and deselect points which are all the individual tracking points from the GPS. The Path is much easier to look at.

The default path style is usually thin and grey. To change that to something more visible, right-click on the path, click Get Info, the Style, Color. Here you can pick your color and thickness of the path.

Tracks are imported into Temporary Places in GE. You have to right-click on them and click Save to My Places for them to be saved permanently in Google Earth.

If you know of a faster way to get tracks from Basecamp into Google Earth, definitely let us know!

The post Garmin Basecamp: How to export to Google Earth first appeared on Pack & Trail.

This is the first post in a series on the features of Garmin Basecamp and how to use them. Follow these and you’ll spend less time fiddling around with Basecamp on the computer and more time outside hiking.

What’s Garmin Basecamp?

Garmin’s GPS software is called Basecamp. If you’ve had a Garmin for a while you might remember MapSource, a clunky program for loading maps and tracks onto Garmin GPS.

MapSource is still around but you probably don’t want to download it since a much nicer program has replaced it. Garmin Basecamp is far easier to use, nicer on the eyes and has better features.

Anything you want to do with your GPS software you can probably do with Basecamp. There are some limitations and things you’ll need to pay for but if you use your GPS regularly it’s worth it. 

What’s in the rest of this series?

The rest of the series will include (eventually) everything you can do with Basecamp. They will come out with new versions and (hopefully)  more features to make our lives easier. I’ll link to all the posts below when they come out.

Here’s what we’re going to start with:

How to export GPS tracks from Basecamp to Google Earth

How to view a track from your GPS

How to create a track in Basecamp and send it to your GPS

How to view photos in Basecamp

How to create waypoints in Basecamp and send to your GPS

How to edit and clean a track from your GPS 

The post Garmin Basecamp Series: Everything you need to know about Garmin’s GPS Software first appeared on Pack & Trail.