I have not done it in a while, since the GPS I have does not save a track (!?) But when I had a good GPS, I would download my GPX's to Google Earth, and I believe you can edit them and view in 3D. The GPX of the Oregon Backcountry trip I posted here on NWOLS was done in this way.

Thanks Craig and Ben!
The redtrails link looks positive, this may be just what I was looking for. I will do some testing this weekend and let you know how it goes.

Jim H

Did a few tests with the Trails Co-Op (redtrails.com) software to create a GPX file and it works very well.

From the home page I went to the new tab which brought me to the page used to create a track. My initial test route layout was around Anacortes and Fidalgo Island in Washington State. I also laid out a route near Kelly Creek in northern Idaho to check the program in mountainous terrain. Choices for the base map in laying out a route include Map, Satellite, Hybrid, Terrain, and My Topo. Here are my observations on each of the options:
Map - probably the easiest to work with for tracing out your route. Water features and roads are the only details on the map at the scale used for detailed route tracing.
Satellite – low resolution, this is not high resolution Google earth imagery. Useful for very high level overview.
Hybrid – combines the Satellite and some road features, difficult to read.
Terrain – adds a digital terrain model to the Map option. Roads are depicted as lines which makes it somewhat difficult to accurately trace a route.
My Topo – 1:24000 scale USGS topographic maps with all the associated detail and features.
You can jump between mapping options when laying out a route, this is a good feature when there is some ambiguity or difficulty in interpreting the base map route.

Tools for laying out a route include Draw Track, Stop Draw, Edit Track, and Delete Track. The track draw tool in Draw Track is an X with a spot in the center. Note that the actual drawn track originates from the top left segment of the X, not the center as the symbol seems to indicate. The Edit track feature is useful for minor adjustments to the traced route.
Once the track is laid out, the Next button takes you to a form where you enter information about the track. Included here is the calculated overland track distance. The route is saved via the Submit button. After submitting you can see an altitude profile of the route. The GPX file can be downloaded by selecting the Download GPX button. It looks like the tracks are stored on a server and I was unable to delete the track once it was saved. Anyone can search and find your route. The Trails Co-Op software is not a good choice if what you are laying out is in any way proprietary.

I put the downloaded GPX file in my Overland Navigator saved tracks folder, restarted the program, and my planned route on Fidalgo Island was displayed!
Within the Trails program there is reference to a program called TopoFusion, windows based GPS mapping software. There is a free version. I will take a look and see if it is another reasonable tool for route layout.

Jim,

The different map types support different zoom levels. So, for example, if you are zoomed all the way in while in "Map" view, then switch to "My Topo" you will be able to zoom in further. I believe you can zoom in further once in the "Satellite View" to get the more detailed aerial photography. The "Map View" is quite zoomed out and is the equivilent road accuracy level as a 1:100k USGS Topo. I think you'll find that it is necessary to use the Topo view when laying out trails as it is the only mapset available that maps to that level of detail.

Google Road Maps: Less accurate than Topos, but easier to read. Note that Google does it's own road mapping and many roads are missing from Google's road maps. Road maps based on NavTech data are much more inclusive; for example Bing Maps.

MyTopo/USGS Topos (Overland Navigator): Much more accurate than either Google's road maps or Bing maps, but not as current. Many roads shown on USGS topos are old and outdated. There are updates for USFS land in the PNW, but they haven't been included in Overland Navigator yet (not sure about MyTopo). Most trails have been there for a very very long time and can be clearly seen on the USGS topo maps making them still very relevant. Note that Topos also show a lot more information, which can provide inspiration for side trips when planning an off-highway route.

Satellite Imagary is a good way to see if there has been a lot of activity in the area where you are planning your route. Forest's that have been logged are likely to have re-routed trails.


Another option is to stick with Google Earth (free) and add in a few overlays. For example, here is a Google Earth Topo overlay. http://www.gelib.com/usgs-topographic-maps-2.htm

Craig, thank you for the additional information! The Google Earth topo overlay looks good, I will try it out. There is some very interesting content in the Google Earth Library site. Just need more time to check it all out.