nuvi 500 problem

You've downloaded a map and can't access a route? What exactly do you mean?

Sorry noob here - I made an off road trail using waypoints - I copied it in BAsecamp and transfered it to my NUVI 500 memory card - when I open up the card (on my PC) I can see the route I made BUT when I open my NUVI 500 I goo to POI, Where To Go, FAVORITES, ets and nothing - although I seem to be able to find the individual way points but that isn't helping me - maybe I have to learn how to make a rout using the waypoints ? I am working on this with half a brain tied behind my back _Thanks for any help you can give- I just want to make an OFF-ROAD trip on a marked trail using waypoints that I can use on my GPS

Try this, assuming you created a GPX file that contains an actual route and not just a list of waypoints ... Copy the GPX file into the \Garmin\GPX folder (either internal memory or SD card), then boot up the nuvi and go to Tools > My Data > Import Route from file.

As I read the 500 manual, it is just a basic old Nuvi in a hardened case. Therefore it is capable of inserting only "a" (a as in one) shape point between Start and Finish. Without routable roads, your only option is to make a breadcrumb cross-country trail with up to 500 waypoints

Correction:
Although I have owned a Garmin Nuvi 255 with 2010 maps for several years, I never really became familiar with it because my fat fingers and old eyeballs could not cope with that touchscreen on the Road in the daylight. Besides, I had a different brand handheld GPS with buttons that I knew well enough to operate, program, and save routes for use with only an occasional glance. My navigator co-pilot person always seemed to get the Nuvi stuck in Demo Mode and made the situation even less manageable. So she typically hid both devices.

So several years ago I came to the conclusion that no more than two Via points could be added to the Nuvi 255. Today, using a touch screen stylus, I entered 20 Via Points into a Direct Off Road Route, which worked. Then I switched to to Drive Mode, which also worked for over 300 miles of random road routing. I do not know the maximum number of Via points that can be entered directly or by route point gpx file import.

Therefore, if the Original Poster has a Nuvi 500 device that works similarly, it should be possible to create at least direct off road routing in BaseCamp. My apologies for the misdirection.

I think my problem is that I have only copied a bunch of waypoints - so now HOW to make these waypoints into a route? evertime I try the NUVI wants to put me back ON a regular highway

Your are correct 39_steps ... I missed the "off road" part of retblue's post. The 500 series can certainly import multi-point routes on routable roads (called Custom Routes on that series), but it cannot import off-road tracks.

I think I found the waypoints just not a "route" as in a regular street to street route

I will give that a try - now can these files be in more than one folder? ok I did that and I went to tools my data then to import route from file and it says select all when I do that it then says deselect all then nothing - here is the file in the GPX folder

Well they can but your nuvi can only read them if they are in the GPX folder.

While discussing folders your nuvi is rather picky (as are all Garmins) about folders. Nothing will be read from the folder Garmin Maps that you've apparently created.