GPS Coordinates Of White Mountain Trails

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I'm not very fluent with GPS terminology and use so forgive me if I don't ask this in the most straightforward manner, but is it possible to find the GPS coordinates for all the trails in the Whites, and then use those coordinates to build a .gpx file of planned routes? Alternatively, is there a tool (ideally free) I can use to plan a route and then export the planned route to .gpx file?

I want to use something like Rumbo Pro to make video clips of my planned routes to incorporate into the YouTube videos of my hikes, but I'm technically challenged. (Converting the route to a video is very easy though once I get my hands on a .gpx of the route.)

 

[JToll]

I use Caltopo, which is free, to plan routes. You the export the routes as a gpx file

 

[Lone Stranger]

I have a complicated process that you probably don't want to use

I have a database of gpx files that I found online which contains jumbled data collected from numerous users. While not organized well in terms of data, the accuracy of the routes is excellent. Using Garmin's Basecamp and a tool called GPX Edit I found years ago I can manipulate the data to create routes all over New England. Missing data is dealt with by drawing routes as needed and using GPS Visualizer to add elevation data. Once I've completed the route I will create a kml so I can see it in 3D and finally use a tool called uTrack to create a very nice report that breaks out each segment into a separate report which is great for multi day/week/month trips.

Like I said, it is complicated so maybe of little use to you, but there are definitely ways to do what you want to do.

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I use Caltopo, which is free, to plan routes. You the export the routes as a gpx file

Thanks. I've just poked around a little bit there so far. Are you using "auto routing" to use existing trails on the map, or actually trying to trace a full trail from scratch? (Or are both of those options old and there is some new way to do it? The hits I got from my search seemed to all be about 10 years old.)

However you end up with your track, does your planned track then have elevation data or do you need to add that separately like Lone Stranger explains above?

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

I have a complicated process that you probably don't want to use

I have a database of gpx files that I found online which contains jumbled data collected from numerous users. While not organized well in terms of data, the accuracy of the routes is excellent. Using Garmin's Basecamp and a tool called GPX Edit I found years ago I can manipulate the data to create routes all over New England. Missing data is dealt with by drawing routes as needed and using GPS Visualizer to add elevation data. Once I've completed the route I will create a kml so I can see it in 3D and finally use a tool called uTrack to create a very nice report that breaks out each segment into a separate report which is great for multi day/week/month trips.

Like I said, it is complicated so maybe of little use to you, but there are definitely ways to do what you want to do.

I found on this site a reference to an FTP site that contained what I think I was looking for, but it looks like it was taken down at some point because it got outdated. But if I could find a new data set the rest of your method seems close to what I want to do. (Except I didn't realize I would also have to add elevation. I just assumed that info was buried in the coordinates as like meta data or something. Did I mention that I am technically challenged in this GPS space? )

 

[Russ]

CalTopo. Just trace a line where you plan to go. Then you can look at mileage, and slope profile etc. I plan all my routes using different map sets on CalTopo and Google Earth to view forest types and use lidar images to find old roads or plan routes through ledgey terrain or avoid steep ravines etc. With all the modern mapping available, it's pretty easy to thread the needle through cliff bands, or follow veins of birch up through the spruce zone etc. You can draw paths on Google Earth and import them into CalTopo. Google Earth has all sorts of historical imagery so you can look through that to find images from a season where you can make out forest type, such as Spring images or Fall. But I don't use trails that often and am mainly planning backcountry routes looking for the nicest forests.

 

[helmethiker]

I am hoping that someone with more knowledge than me will correct my errors here. Otherwise I will not learn.

As best as I can tell, CalTopo uses more than one source for its base trails. GaiaGPS & Alltrails use just OpenStreetMaps for the source. I believe all the official White Mountain trails are in OSM, so can be found with any of the 3 systems.

For .gpx editing I have used notepad, and apple textedit would be similar. The .gpx files I have seen are ASCII subset of unicode. The notepad editor is extremely cumbersome, because seeing the results visually requires me to save the edits and then load into alltrails or equivalent to see whether the edits are correct. And notepad wants to save the file with .txt at the end which is also incorrect. And each iteration needs to not overwrite the previous in case you got it wrong. Now that I know about the existence of GPS Edit I will try that. Alltrails has an app note about .gpx editing, mostly about concatenating routes, which is how I got started with the process.

I have never used CalTopo beyond an hour or so trying to plan a route. It seemed a lot harder to get started just hiking trails and the semi-official herd paths in places like the Adirondacks and the Whites and Maine 4ks. But based on comments from a few years ago it has the multiple sources for trails, as mentioned above. The comments specifically mentioned some western USA areas where OSM data was lacking.

Alltrails has some unofficial trails and some bushwhack routes which come up in searches if you know what to type or are "lucky" in your typing, and those routes can be saved as .gpx . All the above is how I generated a proposed .gpx path from Brewers Corner to Mendon, then Killington and Pico and back down the "path" that is in OSM but probably does not exist as a path.

 

[helmethiker]

But to answer the original question, I believe OSM has the data you want, and any of the trail mapping apps like CalTopo, Alltrails or GaiaGPS will allow you to create and save route maps. I was doing that with the free version of Alltrails.

 

[helmethiker]

One easy url to start is
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/new
See if it has all the white mountain trails you want. It does not have the Black Pond or the Brutus bushwhacks; I have not searched the OSM base. Both can be found somewhere in alltrails if you use the correct search and then the .gpx can be saved.

 

[ImYourHuckleberry]

any of the trail mapping apps like CalTopo, Alltrails or GaiaGPS will allow you to create and save route maps.

Anybody here use all of these that could give me a sense for which might be the most intuitive to use? My specific use case will be 98 percent known trails and I want to plan routes that of course will sometimes include all of a given trail but other times will only include a segment of a trail. I want to piece together all of the segments into a planned route and then export as a .gpx file.

 

[Russ]

Caltopo allows you to stack map layers, and play with their transparency. I put the USGS maps as my base layer, then stack on shaded relief for lidar and then stack global imagery for satellite. If you want to see the lidar, increased the shaded relief layer to 100% and dial back the other layers. If you want to see the satellite, then increase that layer and back off the others. Then check the mapbuilder overlay to get all the trails and herd paths. You can toggle on topo lines and set them to different levels depending on the granularity you want. You can also turn on parcel information to see all the landownership details. Fire history etc. There's a lot of layers you can play with. Importing files created on Google Earth or anywhere else is pretty easy too. It's all I use now. I carry some old paper maps because I have them, but I haven't actually used one in probably a decade.

 

[Russ]

Some friends use Gaia and Onyx and AllTrails and all have switched to CalTopo after seeing my mapsets. I mainly do backcoutry stuff off-trail and save all my trips on different saved mapsets for different purposes. You can create a map for mtn biking, one for skiing, one for exploring old foundations etc. Caltopo seems to work fine even when I have about 15 years worth of GPS data uploaded onto some of my maps. I take notes on Google Earth about projects, then import those files to mark up my maps for reference when I'm out in the field. I have all sorts of forest types identified, potential routs to navigate cliffy terrain, or work around drainages, old cellar holes marked, old railroad beds etc. It's all just drawn on my Caltopo map file. I can see all that while I'm out there. Then after my trip, I may edit my map notes. It's like an electronic note-book and diary all in one. I just carry extra battery packs to keep my phone charged. I no longer use my GPS units. I have one plus an old paper map and compass with me for back up but have never needed those.

I tend to agree with this comparison of popular mapping tools

https://andrewskurka.com/review-caltopo-backcountry-mapping-gps-navigation/