GPS Map and Tour Guide Authoring
Software and Resources

GeoTours GPS tour authoring interface

GPS Tour Guide Authoring

Use GeoTours Premium Service to create multi-media tour guides for compatible dash-top and handheld devices. Service includes access and organization of your media files within a private online account, giving you the option to share, or sell, your tours to others. Also, a "mini-site" and "widgets" can be customized with your colors and branding elements. For more info, read Review of GeoTours Premium Service.

Click here for a free trial of GeoTours Premium Services

GPS Map Authoring Software

Simple GPS (Waypoint and Track) Maps

Most of the GPS maps at TravelByGPS.com are published in the GPs eXchange (.gpx) file format, and authored using ExpertGPS software. I highly recommend using ExpertGPS for creating simple GPS maps with waypoint and track data. Use ExpertGPS to manage all your waypoint and track data. Compatible with most all data file formats and GPS brands.

Click here for a free trial of ExpertGPS Software.

Garmin Compatible (vector) Maps

Making basemaps (aka background) maps for compatible Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers, is a tedious task requiring special software tools. Popular tools for creating maps are listed below.

All-in-one map authoring software

Mapwel - Mapwel software includes tools for all three steps involved in making maps specifically for Garmin compatible receivers: map creation, map compiling, and map transfer to GPS. New Mapwel 2008 includes autovectorization tool, enabling the user to create maps for Garmin GPS from any map image including USGS Topo Maps!

Map authoring software a la carte

cGPSmapper - GPS map compiler for converting map data in polish format to Garmin compatible (IMG) format.

SendMap (at cGPSmapper.com) - for transferring a compiled map directly to Garmin GPS.

Listed below are 3rd-party graphical user interface programs for the cGPSmapper compiler.

MapMan - map editing software by Keith Sheppard features tools for importing scanned maps and GPS data tools for creating and exporting map data in polish format for use with cGPSmapper.

MapEdit - map editing software at geopainting.com has tools for importing scanned maps and GPS data, exports map data in polish format for use with cGPSmapper. Imports data from a variety of sources including OziExplorer and MapINFO.

IMG2GPS - Garmin IMG to Garmin GPS Uploader for use with SendMap.

IMG2MapSource - Garmin IMG to Garmin MapSource, for use with cGPSmapper.

More GPS Map and Tour Guide Authoring Resources

Articles and Tutorials for your personal study on "how-to" make GPS maps.

The Map Authors discussion group on Yahoo! for getting help, sharing ideas, and helping others.

Location Data - Sources of lat/lon data (Geocoding web sites), recreational GPS data for outdoor activities, and other sources of location data.

GPS Data Utilities - tools for converting file types.

Map Images - web sites that map images to use as a reference when creating your own maps.

Geographic Information Systems
Viewers, Data, Utilities, and GIS Portals, and a lot of other mapping resource links I haven't re-orginized yet.

More Links - to the GPS community, User Groups, and GPS related web sites that maintain a link to TravelByGPS.com

Location Data

Online Geocoding Services -
Enter Address, Get Latitude/Longitude

Maporama
International Coverage
Enter an city (address optional) and get the latitude and longitude with map
http://www.maporama.com/share/

BatchGeocode.com
Free geocoding, online, from your text file. Lat/lon data processed in seconds. Results displayed on Yahoo pan/zoom maps. Results can also be served up on free web page. Wow.
http://www.batchgeocode.com/

GeoCode America
Enter a street address and get the latitude and longitude
http://www.geocodeamerica.com/

Geocoder US
http://www.geocoder.us/

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
Enter a (US) geographic placename and get the latitude and longitude
http://geonames.usgs.gov/gnishome.html

Canada Natural Resources - Geomatics
Enter a (Canadian) geographic placename and get latitude and longitude
http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php

Location search engines for the United Kingdom

Map Features (benchmarks, trig points, follies, caves, fords...)
www.deformedweb.co.uk

Traveler Locations of Interest (pubs, dining, hotels...)
somewherenear.com

Please tell me if you find a broken link.

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Recreational GPS data web sites

Delorme Topo USA 5.0 Trail Exchange
Upload/Download files from the forum
http://forum.delorme.com/viewforum.php?f=34

National Geographic MapXchange
Download Topo! data posted by individuals who use the poplar mapping software.
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/topo/search.cfm

Motion Based
A web application that translates GPS data into functional analysis and online mapping for endurance and outdoor athletes.
http://motionbased.com/

My Fish Maps - a GPS-based Google mapping site for fishing.
www.myfishmaps.com

Trailpeak.com
"Find or Add a Trail" - Member built GPS database for recreational activities, primarily on west coast North America.
http://www.trailpeak.com/

GPS Exchange - Gps Track log route exchange Forum
http://www.gpsxchange.com/

gpspoints.net
GPS coordinates, photos, links, and comments for travelers and tourists.

Phil's GPS Waypoint Resource Pages - UK
http://www.36haroldstreet.freeserve.co.uk

Angling Atlas
Add your own fishing locations to the map. Click the map and fish the world.
http://www.anglingatlas.com

Trail Registery
Hiking and backpacking planning and GPS trail data.
http://www.trailregistry.com

Jeep trails in England. The free example route (South Bucks) covers most of the "Green Lanes" in Buckinghamshire.
http://www.offroadroutes.net

Die Wegpunkt-Datenbank
Waypoint Database (in German)
http://www.gpspunkte.de/

GPS Pilot
Waypoint Collections for use with GPS Pilot Software.
Inculuding World Cities, Airports and Navaids in (.pdb) format.
http://www.gpspilot.com/DownloadDB.htm

GPS Pilot Waypoint Database Generator provides AA and DAFIF information in (.pbd) format.
http://navaid.com/GPSPilot/

Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange
Unofficial Coordinates of Soaring Turnpoints
http://acro.harvard.edu/SSA/JL/TP/HomePage.html

WaypointsDotPH
A Website of Philippine Treks, Tourist Destinations and GPS Waypoints.
http://www.waypoints.ph

First Waypoint
Australian GPS Waypoints and Tracks
http://www.firstwaypoint.com/

GPS Trail Maps - Alaska
http://www.touralaska.org/maps1/

4 x 4 Trails - Colorado
http://www.4x4trails.net/

GPS Routen - Germany
http://www.gps-world.net

Waypoint Base - WPs/Routes from all over the world.
http://www.waypoints.de

GPS Global - Brasil
http://www.gpsglobal.com.br/

Trail Waypoints
http://www.trailwaypoints.com/

BiciMapas - Mexico
http://www.bicimapas.com.mx/

Walk with GPS - United Kingdom
http://www.walk-with-gps.co.uk/

GPS Tracks - Netherlands
http://www.gpstracks.nl

GPS Trackmaker Digital Charts
Free downloadable digital maps of several countries in the GPS Trackmaker (.gtm) format.
http://www.gpstm.com/eng/maps_eng.htm

Topo Share - share and exchange GPX data - Untited States.
http://www.toposhare.org/

Every Trail - upload, visualize and share your outdoor activities.
http://www.everytrail.com/

TraceGPS.com - French web site for sharing GPS data.
http://www.tracegps.com/

Two Brazilian-based websites
www.geobusca.net and www.neobusca.com.br
in Portuguese language, provide location data for points of interest around the world.

Cache listing services

http://geocaching.com

http://geocaching.gpsgames.org

http://terracaching.com

http://geocaching.com.au

http://opencaching.de

http://opencaching.pl

Please tell me if you find a broken link.

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Free Custom GPS Maps from Various Sources:

These links are to web sites that provide free GPS maps.

To list your site here, contact me.

Japan Map for Garmin Mapping GPS - detailed map of the middle of Japan including Tokyo. This is a custom Garmin basemap based on the Digital Map of the GSI in Japan.
http://www011.upp.so-net.ne.jp/mametaro/index-e.html

Robert Elsinga's Garmin Maps Download Page - Maps for the Canary Islands, including Gran Canaria and Tenerife
http://www.elsinga.net/maps

Caribbean Mapping Project - detailed maps of Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, including, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.
http://rwsmaps.griffel.se/

GPS Maps of Malaysia and Singapore - free maps that you can download to Garmin GPS mapping receivers.
http://www.malsingmaps.com/

Tracksource Project - free GPS maps of Brazil for Garmin receivers.
http://www.tracksource.org.br

Mapping - Wyoming Topo Maps, Colorado Topo and 4WD Trail maps
http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_main.html

El proyecto MAPEAR - digital maps of Argentina
http://www.proyectomapear.com.ar/

DougsBrat - Maps of Texas, Cozumel, ...
http://vip.hyperusa.com/~dougs/gpsmaps/

Topomaps.info - maps of Bulgaria for Garmin and Megellan
http://www.topomaps.info/index.php

Viajeros Mapas - a source for free maps for South America
http:// www.viajeros.freeservers.com/ViajerosMapas/

GPS Venezuela - Proyecto mapas de Venezuela en GPS
http://www.gpsve.net/

Warsaw Project - Unofficial GPS Maps of Poland
http://ump.waw.pl/en/index.html

Please Notify the Webmaster of Broken Links

.

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GPS Data Utilities

GeePeeEx - ( geepeeex.googlepages.com )
GPX Editor for Garmin

GPS Babel - ( gpsbabel.sourceforge.net )
File Format Conversion Utility

Download GPS maps from GPS to PC
http://www.geocities.com/swan_gps/gpsdaemon143.zip

Cybarber's XLST Translator/Converter
On-line appilication for converting GPX to KML and vice versa.
Note: Only works with Internet Explorer Browser.

GPS Utility ( www.gpsu.co.uk )
GPSU opens most all GPS data file types. Particularly useful is the facility to import Magellan MapSend POI data files and Streets and Trips files, and DXF (AutoCAD) file format.

G7 to Win (www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/ )
"Garmin / Lowrance / Eagle GPS Interface Software for the PC"

Waypoint+(www.tapr.org/~kh2z/Waypoint/)
"Interfaces a Garmin GPS to a Win95/NT PC"
To download the authors new utility for working with Excel files - WaypointXL- click here.

GeoConv (www.kolumbus.fi/eino.uikkanen/gb/)
A heavy-duty utility for big jobs converting Ozi <-> GPX

POSAID - Convert Loran T1/T2 to GPS Lat/Lon (free utility)
http://www.rdc.uscg.gov/rdcpages/soft-posaid2.html

DRGMapCal - generates map calibration (.map) files
for OziExplorer from Toporama and MapQuest images.
http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/drgmapcal/

Covert between British Postal Costal Codes and Latitude / Longitude
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/...

PC Software from the NGS. Coordinate conversion, data manipulation utilities, etc.
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PC_PROD/pc_prod.shtml

Online

Mapquest Reverse Geocoding
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/latlong.adp

Please tell me if you find a broken link.

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Map Collections

University of Texas, Library On-Line
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/

NOAA Electronic Navigation Charts
Download free from the government.
http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/index.htm

Relief Web Map Centre
A project of the United Nations
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/map.nsf/home

GIS Data Depot
Digitally Rasterized Graphics (DRG) including USGS topos.
http://data.geocomm.com/

TopoWeb
http://www.cis.ksu.edu/~dha5446/topoweb/

The World of Maps - Die Welt der Karten
Links to catalogues of map holdings.
http://www.maps.ethz.ch/map_catalogue.html

National Ocean Service
Specialized collection of US costal maps and spatial data
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/dataexplorer/

Please tell me if you find a broken link.

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GIS Data Viewers and Data

ArcExplorer
"ArcExplorer is a free lightweight GIS data viewer
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/index.php

Esri® Shapefile viewer
Vector map of the world for downloading, plus country-specific vectors.
http://www.shalesoftware.com

Digitalgrove, Forestry GIS
A free compact GIS data viewer, digitizer and shapefile editing program for Windows.
http://www.digitalgrove.net/fgis.htm

MapMaker Gratis
A free fully functional map production program with GIS functions such as thematic mapping and data interrogation.
http://www.mapmaker.com/products.htm

3DEM Visualization Software - Free. Import digital elevation data and overlays for 3-dimensional visualization and flyby animations.
http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/3dem.html

QGIS:
Like of ArcView, with optional GRASS support. FREE
http://qgis.org

GRASS GIS:
A FREE complete GIS with image processing capabilities.
http://grass.itc.it

See Al$o:

Delorme XMap GIS

Manifold

MapInfo

Global Mapper

and of course ESRI

GIS Data

ERSI World Basemap Data
http://www.esri.com/data/download/basemap/

Digital Chart of the World - Penn State University
download the boundaries and layers of different countries, in Arc/INFO export format
http://www.maproom.psu.edu/dcw/

Coastline Extractor
MapGen Vector Files
http://rimmer.ngdc.noaa.gov/coast/

GeoNET Name Server
Names, locations for places in selected countries
http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html

geodata.gov U.S. Maps and Data "your one stop for federal state and local geographic data". A very good resource especially during national disasters like Hurricanes.

Canada's GeoGratis
http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/clf/en

GeoCommunity
USGS 7.5 Minute Digital Elevation Models, 10 meter and 30 meter resolution, 7.5 minute, SDTS format DEMs for the entire United States.
http://data.geocomm.com/

Shuttle Radar Topography
SRTM data are available from the USGS server at
ftp://edcsgs9.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/srtm/

National Elevation Dataset
Get big chunks of elevations data at
http://ned.usgs.gov/

Satelitte Imagery
Landsat and other data and imagery from University of Maryland.
http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/

$atelitte Images
USGS Thematic Mapper
http://edc.usgs.gov/products/satellite/tm.html

Ecuador
http://www.igm.gov.ec/downloads/mapafisico.html

"Business" Data

DemographicsNow

GIS Utilities

WinTopo
Raster map to Vector map Conversion Tool
http://wintopo.com/

GIS Portals and Map Servers

The National Map

National Guard Digital Mapping Server

Hazard Map.gov
Mulit-hazard Mapping Inititive

Popular North America Map Servers

Maptech MapServer
Free. View, mark locations, link to any URL,
and share with a colleague.
http://mapserver.maptech.com/

Offroute's Geographic Feature Finder
http://www.adventurestation.com

ACME Mapper is a general purpose online mapping webiste based on Google Maps
http://mapper.acme.com/

Here is a free outline map generator -
www.planiglobe.com/omc_set.html

Microsoft TerraServer
Free from USGS and Microsoft.
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

National (US) Map Viewer
http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

National (US) Atlas
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/

TopoWest
http://www.topowest.com/

World Wide Map Image Servers

Let's Go!
http://maps.poehali.org/en/

Cubwerx
View 3D topographical renditions of any place on earth. Select and add layers (i.e. water ways, towns etc.). Adjust the size the image and resolution of the image, then save the image to your computer.
http://www.cubewerx.com/main/demo_centre.html

Digital Globe
Incredible imagery from Digital Globe's on QuickBird satelitte. Search the globe and view images with the archival tool, at:
http//www.digitalglobe.com/...

Global Land Cover Facility, Earth Science Data Interface
Landsat Images
http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu:8080/esdi/search.jsp

Earth Science Applications Directorate
https://zulu.ssc.nasa.gov/mrsid/

OpenStreetMap project.

Please tell me if you find a broken link.

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