The new Minnesota GPS trail map is available for download! I've added a lot more trails, shelters, and POIs since last year's map.

This is a real Garmin GPS map and not just tracklogs and waypoints. It can be installed into Mapsource or it can be uploaded manually to your GPSr if you don't have Mapsource.

There are two versions available: one with lakes, roads, rivers, and cities included, and another trails only map that's transparent and can be used with Garmin's Topo or other map package.

http://www.gpssledmaps.com/maps/

Tell me what you think and upload your data if you have any!

-Ryan

If you downloaded the trails only version before about 10:30 this morning, you might want to download it again. There were a few problems with it.

-Ryan

I was wondering if you know is there anyway you can convert or put this file on a Lowrance Ifinder Explorist C. I was looking around and there seems to be alot of utility programs for this kind of thing but can't really find descriptions of what which ones do what. Thanks in advance for any help.

I put up a Lowrance version a few days ago. If you try it out, I'd like to know what you think.

-Ryan

Ryan,

A while back I was trying to add your mnmap to my new 60CX and was having difficulties. At that time I did not have City Navigator or Topo and was having problems with installing the .img files. I now have both and have been able to create maps and send to the GPS. Now that I know that works with my gps, I thought I would try again with you mnmap. The maps that I created with Topo are of file typ .gdp and work great, no problems in sending to my gps. I understand that under .gdp are the .img files.

When I down load you mnmap, it is a mnsled07.zip and when selected to open, it opens as mnsled07.exe which when extracted creates a folder MN Snowmobile Trails 2007. When looking what is in the folder there are 7 .img files which I belive require a second party software to intall on the GPS and for which I have not be successful.

I guess I expected your file to be of the .gdp format. What am I doning wrong?

The mnsled07.exe installs the maps into Mapsource. There's no need to mess with the individual .img files. All you do is run Mapsource, select "MN Snowmobile Trails" from the dropdown menu in the upper left, select the map sections you want to upload with the "select map" tool (just like you do with Topo and City Navigator), and then click on the upload to GPS button. You can also select Topo and City Navigator map sections to upload at the same time.

The .gdb files (not .gdp) you're talking about are how Mapsource saves tracks, waypoints, and routes. Is that all you're uploading to your GPS or are you uploading your Topo and City Nav detail maps as well? If you're not uploading the actual maps, you're really missing out!

A few other people have asked for instructions on how to use the map with Mapsource, so I'll put together a little howto with screenshots. I'll post here when it's done.

-Ryan

Hi Ryan,
I have a Magellan Meridian Platnum that I have installed your MN map on. I loaded the complete map and plan to ride with it this weekend for the first time and have a couple of questions

1) When I zoom in, are your maps as detailed as MapSend Topo? Compare if I cut a region in high detail to the map on your page.

2) Why do you have to get zoomed in so close for the trails to appear?

3) One last comment, I love how you put the trail names on the map, but I think that you should have them not so frequent as they can cluter up the small screen.


Thanks for the great effort and I will give you my feedback after riding with it this weekend

Ronski

Ryan - thanks, mission accomplished.

Cool! You're the first person that I know of who has used it on a Meridian. I'd appreciate some info on how you got it installed if you have a few minutes. Did you copy it over to the card manually or did you use UploadSerialGPS?

I'm sure the MapSend Topo is more detailed. I wish there were a way to make transparent Magellan maps, but so far there's not.




How far do you have to zoom in for it to appear? I've got the trails set to display as zoomed out as possible, so I think we're at the mercy of the tools available. Like I said, I've never tried it personally on a Magellan GPS and you're the only person I know of to have done it in a Meridian. The others have been on eXplorists. Are there any settings in your menu to "Show More Detail" or anything like that?




There's no setting for that when creating the map so it's just up to how the GPS displays it. On Garmins there's an option to "Declutter" which shows less stuff. Maybe you have a setting for that?

Let me know how it works on the trail.

-Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Well, I am back and have a report for you. I loaded the complete map in my Magellan Meridian Platinum using a card reader and giving the file a .img extension. This allows me to change maps on the fly so I had your map, a detailed Topo cut map of Norther MN to compare with. I started in Babbit and rode 220 miles over 2 days going to towns like Ely, Tower, Embarrass and Isabella. When on the way up by truck, I also looked at the map and checked as trails intersected with roads. Here is my report

1) Accuracy of the trails was fantastic! I quickly relied on trail intersections, rest stops and even fuel information. I did not find any main trails that were not included in your maps!
2) Ease of use was good, wish we had a way to make the trails stand out even more than they do on the screen.
3) To see the trails, on the highest screen detail, you need to zoom in to 1.6 miles or on high detail (eliminates clutter) you must zoom into .80 miles.
4) I did some A-B testing with your map vs the Magellan Topo map and when riding off trail (fire roads) the Magellan maps have more detail. If you could make the trail maps transparent, that would be the best of both worlds.

Bottom line is you did a great job buddy and I as an avid snowmobile rider really appreciate your work!

Now we have a way to ride the trails and make inteligent decisions on turns or cross country short cuts as we ride. I will keep recommending your site to all riders in Minnesota.

Ronski

Hey Ronski. Glad you liked it! Thanks for the feedback.

I made a test for you to try out if you have a few minutes. I doubled the thickness of the trails (though I don't know if it actually affects the display on the GPS) and I made everything show up as zoomed out as possible. Let me know if you like it better this way.

http://www.gpssledmaps.com/MN070042.img

Unfortunately, there's no way to make transparent Magellan maps.

I have a few questions:

1) With the old version, you said you had to zoom in to 1.6 miles to see the trails. How far did you have to zoom in to make lakes appear?

2) You said you gave the file an .img extension. What you downloaded from the site should have already had an .img extension (after it was unzipped). Can you clarify what you mean?

3) When you copied the map file over to your card, did it have to go in any certain folder or anything? Did you have to select the map on the GPS or was it there automatically?

Thanks,
Ryan

sledzepplin thanks for the maps. was in the cook area on an unmarked ungroomed trail and i wasn't sure if it was the right one. used the gps (magellan meridian color) and it was the right one. Thanks again

1) on mine the lakes are always there, except when i zoom in to see the trails. The lakes disappear when i zoom into 1.6 miles to see the trails
2) dunno
3) To get the file to my card i unzipped it and moved the .img extension to the card. I have an sd card reader on my laptop so i used that. It didn't need to go into any special folder or anything. I had to select it on the gps, but that may have been because i have other maps i've put to the card.

Are these the same maps that I downloaded from the data deli and put on arcview?

i tried that and it screwed up my gps. i went to change it to that map and it froze. had to take all the maps off then put them back on without that one on.

Hi Ryan,
I agree with JW Eagle, that last one you suggested brought my GPS to its knees! I had to run the intialization program from the start so scratch that one Ryan.

Now your questions

Big Lakes show up at 25 miles and smaller ones at 7 miles

The .img, you are right I don't have to add it to the file

Like Eagle, I have a card reader and put it on the card, no special spot and on my gps, I go to "Card Utillities" and "Change Map" and all files that are IMG will show up as maps you can change to. I have one of Northern Wisconsin, Ontario, Northern MN and the like. You are limited only by the size of your SD Card.

Like I said before, you did a great job so keep asking and improving bud!

Ronski

I believe Ryan uses the MN sled trail shapefile from the deli. You can view them on arcview and also georeference the with the proper coordinate system which is more accurate than the point referencing scheme used on some programs. If you search a bit more on the DNR site you will find the Arcview to Garmin interface applet which is useful for track downloads and uploads. As for making Garmin maps in Arcview, I'm not sure if it is possible, I have to play with it more to see if it is value added compared to what is already available. For the time being, it is easier to make edits to the shapefile, add tracks and then send it to Ryan for the real work.

Nancyboy - The data I used is from the Data Deli, but I converted it to formats that are easily usable on GPSs.

Meridian testers - I think I figured out why it wasn't working for you. Try this: http://gpssledmaps.com/MN070042.zip

What I'd like to know is if you like the zoom levels where stuff shows up and if the trails appear as thicker lines.

Sorry to take so long to respond. Some non-snowmobile-related crap like work got in the way.

-Ryan

Now just begs you to go Ride Colorado and the Snowies SO I CAN USE THESE MAPS! LOL

If you have any data for out there, send it to me and I'd be glad to make a map!

-Ryan

sledzeppelin- from the little i saw on my GPS (the batteries ran out) it looked like the trails were red lines, and it showed the roads and everything. I'll explore it more later but it looked good

A quick question. I downloaded the MN maps but I don't see any roads or lakes with the exception of interstates and lakes like mille lacs? Do I need to have topo or something running as well to see smaller roads and streams etc?

Awesome job on the maps!!!!

There are two versions available - one is transparent and has only trails (you'd need the Topo maps to see lakes) and the other has all the lakes and roads along with the trails. It sounds like you downloaded the trails only version and the base map is showing through it.

Go here and download the complete version:

http://gpssledmaps.com/maps/mn.php#garmin

-Ryan

I just put up an updated version of the MN map which includes more coverage of the Lake Vermilion area and some new POIs. It's also about half the size of the old version so it'll use less map memory.

http://www.gpssledmaps.com/maps/mn.php

-Ryan

thanks so much for putting this together. im gonna try it out this weekend, but from the looks of it, there are not only trails on it, but many more small lakes and forest roads than the garmin basemap (city navigator). im using it on a gps v.