This Sunday I took my GPS with me hiking on Devil’s Backbone. Normally I take it to log GPS quadrants for where I have taken pictures, but this time I left it on the whole time to track the progress. When I got back home I was able to pull the data down to my computer and import it into Google Maps. Here is what I did:

Pulling the Data off the GPS

The day after my hike I went to my office and downloaded the data from my GPS to my Computer. I used a program called “EasyGPS” which works will all kinds of GPS models.

I have a Garmin Legend as a GPS which connects via the COMM port. When you start up EasyGPS, there is a setup screen that will walk you through the steps for your GPS unit. Once the setup was complete, it transferred my data from the GPS to my computer.

There were extra waypoints in my data from previous hikes, so I removed them from the list. Once done, I saved the file as a .GPX file.

Converting the Data

Google Maps can’t read a .GPX file, but it can read a .KLM or .KMZ file. There is a great free converter out there called “GPS Visualizer”.

• On the home page, click on “Choose File” to upload your file;
• For “output format” choose “Google Earth”.

There is a “Google Maps” option, but this will only display the data on their site. We want to convert the file so we can upload it straight to Google Maps.

On the next page, click on the name of the file to download it.

Importing to GoogleMaps

• Navigate to Google Maps.
• On the left column of the page, click on “My Maps”. This will bring up a list of custom maps you have made.
• Click on “Create New Map”
• There is a link towards the top to “Import”, click this and a screen will popup ready to upload your KLM file.

Using the buttons towards the top, you can add your own stuff to the screen, like photos.

Tags: Google Maps, GPS