Gaia or....

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vdeal

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Enthusiast III

@1Louder, I prefer the Caltopo website to the Gaia one but that's just me. As I have said in other threads, I use my truck to get me remote to then start my human powered exploration, whatever that may be. As such I'm using the freehand drawing tool to create my own routes sometimes offtrail or using long abandoned trails. Caltopo works great for that. One nice feature is that you can "print" the map to PDF which i do and print out a paper copy but the PDF is a GeoPDF so it is georeferenced and you can open the custom map in the Avenza Map app on your phone and see where you are on your custom map.

As for moving the route you created to a mobile device here's how I do it. First, I'm logged into Caltopo using my Google account. You can use other accounts. I save my custom map to my account. Then I go to Export and Download a GPX file. I then move that file to my Dropbox folder. Open Dropbox up on your phone (iPhone in my case) and click on the GPX file. It will say No Preview Available. Click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner and select Export. From there scroll through till you see Copy to Gaia GPS and click on that and it will import it into Gaia. Presto, you're done. Sounds hard but takes seconds.
 

Pinion

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

646
Brookings, OR, USA
First Name
Drew
Last Name
Charles
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0

I solved my problem with a Dual wireless GPS receiver, now I have live positioning
Interesting conversations sparked though
 

Six Actual

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

2,277
Benicia, CA
First Name
Brian
Last Name
Wickett
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8485

Ham/GMRS Callsign
AA6XM
It's Gaia for me. I've used a few... Avenza, Backcountry... They all have their little differences, but Gaia seems to work the best for me. I use it on my IPad Mini 4 in the Jeep and like the size. Have the IPad connected to a Garmin external GPS (GLO) and it works well. You do have a plan a bit for your out of cell range travel and preloading your maps to the device. If I had more memory on the IPad it would be better, but only rockin 64 GB. Again, works well for my needs.
 
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JL Lou

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Investor

Member III

1,240
Richland Wa
First Name
Lou
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Smith
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16231

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W7ORV
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US Navy
Love My GAIA GPS. Ipad mini 4. Dont know about android. A little buggy on my Win 10 PC when I am zooming, but I love the integration. And carplay is coming soon... Hopefully..
 

gDanCO

Rank V
Launch Member

Contributor III

1,659
Thornton, CO, USA
Member #

16934

It's Gaia for me. I've used a few... Avenza, Backcountry... They all have their little differences, but Gaia seems to work the best for me. I use it on my IPad Mini 4 in the Jeep and like the size. Have the IPad connected to a Garmin external GPS (GLO) and it works well. You do have a plan a bit for your out of cell range travel and preloading your maps to the device. If I had more memory on the IPad it would be better, but only rockin 64 GB. Again, works well for my needs.
Right on. Like you Six Actual I double bag it so to speak. I have my Garmin InReach on which provides GPS info for both Garmin's Earthmate and for Gaia on my iPad. Still learning all the capabilities of both but get's me where I'm going. I do also carry a manual back up in Benchmark state map books and detailed area maps if required. Finally I use downloaded AllTrail maps for hiking which can get you to an unmarked trail head in a pinch.
 

John Smith

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Enthusiast III

1,934
Luxembourg
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John
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Smith
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17506

A few minutes ago I posted here
before seeing this thead.

I am using Locus Maps Pro.
 

BWSmith

Rank II
Launch Member

Enthusiast I

I have had good luck with BackCountry Nav Pro on my Samsung S3 tablet. I have downloaded each Western state to a Zoom14 and/or 15 in separate files. It's a solid program that works well off-grid but does not have all the bells and whistles of Gaia.

I use Caltopo and it's integrations with Google Earth on the desktop for scouting and research and then download the relevant GPX data to BC Nav.

I am considering trying to use Gaia but I don't use iOS products. I like their map offerings. Is anybody using Gaia GPS successfully on Android off-grid? It seems to be pretty buggy and it gets a lot of crummy reviews on Android.