Free Open Source Routeable Garmin GPS Maps

[ladybugkids]

A contact in Germany recently shared a website that offers free open source routeable maps for your Garmin GPS. After loading select maps onto both my Oregon and my Nuvi, they appear to be the equivalent of Garmin City Navigator. My Oregon provided turn by turn directions to a cache in Anchorage this afternoon and the maps loaded onto the chip for my Nuvi and launched without a hitch.

Here's the link: OpenStreetMap

To use the site,
1. Choose the mapset you want from the pull down menu (you can also select multiple custom map tiles from the global map)

2. Click "Download map now!" This will open an online directory with a number of files in it

3. Click on osm_generic_gmapsupp.zip and select "Save File" and specify where on your hard drive you want to save it

4. After the file finishes download, unzip the file. This will extract a *.img file with "gmapsupp" in the name. You can drag and drop this file directly to the chip on your GPS or you can replace "gmapsupp" with the name of the country, region, or state to avoid overwriting the file with your next download. (You can have multiple img files on your GPS

5. Drag and drop or copy and paste the *.img file into the Garmin folder of your GPS. If your chip doesn't already have a Garmin folder, you need to create one before you drag the img file over

6. Reboot your GPS and enjoy turn by turn routing to addresses, geocaches, and points of interest

7. Send OpenStreetMap a donation to support their efforts for open source GPS maps. Garmin City Navigator Europe costs between $70-$100 and gets linked to a single GPS, so if you lose the GPS, you have to buy a new copy of City Navigator, so these maps are worth a lot.

[barnacle9]

Thanks for posting Mike - I will take advantage of that for sure!

[NorthWes]

Yet another item of interest...

[Mac5115]

Wow, very cool! Thanks.

[ladybugkids]

The Open Source maps worked great in Western and Eastern Europe during the past ten days. They do lack phone numbers for businesses, so when I needed a hostel number in Ljubljana, Slovenia, I did resort to City Navigator Europe which I have installed on my handheld. I imagine a quick Google with my Blackberry would have worked just as well to get the number.

[NorthWes]

I see some destinations which were on my cruise list too...