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View GPX files on topographic maps with Gmap4. 100% free, no ads, full screen.

Former Member
Former Member
Here's an example of displaying a GPX file on detailed topographic maps:
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://sites.google.com/site/gmap4files/p/helpfile/Johnson_Ridge.gpx&t=t2

I am the author of Gmap4 which is a 100% free enhanced Google map viewer. Since it runs entirely online there is nothing to buy, nothing to download, nothing to install. The detailed topographic maps are courtesy of the MyTopo company (USA and Canada).

Gmap4 can display these file types for anywhere in the world:
GPX files
KML files
KMZ files
Google MyMaps

You must first place your files online in order to view them with Gmap4. If you do not have your own website for hosting your files, then the free Google Sites works great. For tips on using Google Sites see p.14 of the Gmap4 'Help' file:
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4_help.pdf

Gmap4 uses the new version 3 of the Google maps API (Application Program Interface).

For more examples and info please see the Gmap4 homepage:
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.html

Enjoy!

Joseph
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    This is great stuff and sounds exactly like what I was looking for.

    FYI, I don't have any experience with developing web sites (but I would like to learn).

    I took your advice and created a data holding site in Google Sites. Then from TC, I tried exporting a GPX file.

    I uploaded this file, captured the link and then tried to send the data to gmap4 but I got an error msg:

    ==============
    Message from Gmap4

    1. Failed to read kml from MASU server.
    Message #24.
    ==============

    But I couldn't find a reference to error msgs in your otherwise excellent PDF doc, so I didn't know what the root of the error was.

    I then thought that something must be weird with the Garmin GPX export data. So I downloaded GPSBabel.

    But when I looked at the list of GPSBable input formats, I did not see anything for Garmin GPX. But I did see Garmin TCX.

    So back to TC and export a TCX file. I imported this and exported as "GPX XML". Again sent it to gmap4 BUT got the same exact error again.

    I am unsure what to do now. Can you help?
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    Thanks for the kind words.

    Please go to the contact page on my website and email me the download link to your gpx file. I'll take a look.

    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.html

    Joseph
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    Thanks for the download links pointing to your gpx files.
    You did a good job making your files and uploading them to Google Sites.

    I used Gmap4 and it displayed both files without any problems. Here are the URLs I built to launch Gmap4. I included &t=t2 at the end so the detailed topographic map is displayed.

    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://sites.google.com/site/joe00data/home/hike-data/7_24_20101_58_02PM_history.gpx&t=t2

    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://sites.google.com/site/joe00data/home/hike-data/POST-ElGranda-2010-07-24.gpx&t=t2

    Keep in mind that the URL cannot have any spaces.

    I'm using Firefox 3.6.6
    There is a section in the 'Help' file that lists the browsers that the Google Maps API officially supports.

    Please let us know if the above URLs work OK for you.

    Joseph
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    Thanks Joseph!

    Your links work and my original links now work also.

    I have rebooted since I got the error. Maybe that fixed something. I am running FF 3.6.8 but I also run a lot of add-on's and plug-in's.
  • love gmap4. I host my own gps files myself and use gmap4 to display them. I like that gmap4 is uncluttered without unnecessary (ahem-mapmyride) and I can size the map however I want (ahem-GarminConnect).

    I would like it if gmap4 could read other data in my gps data file, like heart rate, cadence, elevation, and display graphs for those values. as it is now, I have to use another service to get that data displayed on my website. it works, but it's more time consuming.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    I've been playing with it a little and like it also.

    I would like to see Garmin give us some options (maybe a UI) for editing the KML files they create on export. It is really strange how the Garmin file use these big ugly black disc icons. It doesn't look easy to edit a KL file manually.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    love gmap4.


    Thanks for the kind words. I'm continuing to add enhancements to Gmap4 and will keep your ideas in mind.

    Right now I am working on adding trip planning tools. You will be able to click the map to add waypoints and/or routepoints and then save a GPX file which you can upload to your GPS.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    Gmap4 has been updated to version 1.8.3

    New stuff:
    Powerful search feature
    Print maps
    Current magnetic declination

    The present-day magnetic declination for the map center is now always displayed in the lower right corner. This value is produced using software from http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html combined with data from http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/back.shtml.
    Since the magnetic declination is always changing, the older value printed on maps can be wrong by several degrees.

    I also updated my links page to show (1) reviews of Gmap4 and (2) sites that are already using Gmap4 to produce online interactive maps.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4_links.html

    Finally, if you are interested in the search feature and/or print feature, please check the ‘Help’ file (and use the Table of Contents) to be sure you have seen the most recent info on those features.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4_help.pdf

    The link below will display a world map. To test-drive the search feature click Menu==>Search.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=38.259207,-16.760195&t=t1&z=2

    Enjoy,
    Joseph
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    Gmap4 has been updated to version 1.9.1 dated January 17, 2011. This version adds support for UTM coordinate grids. All UTM support in Gmap4 uses the WGS84 datum. This UTM support works worldwide. For more info on UTM coordinates see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system

    (Pay back time: When you visit other outdoor-related forums, please do a search and see if Gmap4 has been mentioned. If not, it would just take a moment for you to pass the word along. Also, are you doing the social network thing? Consider saying something nice about Gmap4.)

    Here’s a map of Grand Canyon Village with a UTM grid.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=36.059592,-112.139836&t=t2&z=14&coord=utm

    To toggle UTM support on and off, click Menu ==> UTM On/Off. If UTM is ‘on’ then Gmap4 gives you UTM information in three ways:

    1. A UTM grid is displayed. This UTM grid is displayed on both the MyTopo topographic maps (USA and Canada) and the standard views (aerial, etc) provided by Google Maps.

    2. The lower right corner of the screen will always show the UTM zone and UTM coordinates for both the cursor and map center.

    3. You can get the UTM zone and coordinates for any point on the map by right-clicking that point.

    Things to keep in mind

    You can build you own map links by using URL parameters. If you want your map to appear on the user’s screen and already have UTM turned on, then add this URL parameter: &coord=utm

    Here is a comparison:
    With UTM on
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4/helpfile/Stafford_Creek.kml&t=t2&coord=utm
    With UTM off (default)
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4/helpfile/Stafford_Creek.kml&t=t2

    If you zoom out far enough then you will not see a UTM grid. Instead you will only see vertical red lines which mark the edges of the UTM zones.

    UTM grid lines that are near the edge of their zone often appear curved when displayed using the map projection used by Google Maps. The grid lines in the adjoining zone will curve in the opposite direction. For example, the next map is centered near Lake Tahoe. The red line marks the edge of adjoining UTM zones. Double click each side of the red line (this changes the map center) and watch the UTM grid lines change. The grid lines are calculated based on the UTM zone that contains the center of the map.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=39.115536,-120.208437&t=m&z=8&coord=utm

    Some MyTopo topographic maps already have a UTM grid printed on them. Caution! Some of those printed grids are based on the older datum NAD27. Those older grids will have a uniform offset from the grid displayed by Gmap4 which is based on datum WGS84 . For example: Here is a map showing part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area in Washington State where the MyTopo maps have a UTM grid based on the WGS84 datum. Click Menu ==> UTM On/Off and you will see the faint UTM grid printed on the map:
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=47.47229,-120.80588&t=t2&z=14&coord=utm

    By contrast, here is a map showing part of the Yosemite Valley area in California, where the MyTopo maps have a UTM grid based on NAD27. Note the uniform offset between the two sets of grid lines.
    http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=37.736733,-119.568449&t=t2&z=14&coord=utm

    Usually (but not always) the different zoom levels use a different scale for the UTM grid. To learn the grid scale, compare the cursor coordinates (lower right corner) as you point to adjacent grid lines. If you want to know the zoom level, right click the map.

    Maps with UTM grid lines can be printed. File ==> Print Preview

    If you know of any other map viewing software that can display the MyTopo topographic maps along with a UTM grid, I would enjoy knowing about it.

    Future UTM improvements

    There are different methods for putting labels on the grid lines. I am pondering what will work best.
    Another possible improvement is to let the user change the line width, color and/or spacing.
    Other ideas?

    Next Gmap4 update

    Bad news: The ‘Search’ feature of Gmap4 no longer works very well for placenames. This feature uses Google’s ‘geocoding’ service on the backend. OK, I admit it. Gmap4 was pushing the envelope in its use of that service. Whoops - Google pushed back. Guess who won? I will add a second search tool that is designed to work well with placenames.

    Good news: The existing ‘Search’ feature of Gmap4 still works fine for searching on (1) anything related to addresses including names of many settlements that no longer exist and (2) any reasonable way to write a latitude/longitude pair.

    Finally, if you find Gmap4 to be useful I hope you can take a moment and do some ‘pay-back’ by letting other people know about it.

    Enjoy!
    Joseph - Gmap4 author
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 14 years ago
    I just promoted Gmap4 from version 1 to version 2.

    Little reason: I added support for viewing the set of topo maps that used to be known as Terraserver and now are known as Microsoft Research Maps. Click the map type button in the far upper right and select “US Topo”. You can really see the quality difference compared to the MyTopo maps.

    The US Topo maps often load a bit slow. Part of the reason is that each map tile must be re-projected on-the-fly in order to match the map projection used by Google Maps. I added support for these maps in case they show old (abandoned?) trails that are not on the MyTopo maps.

    Big reason: This update introduces a new text file format that makes it super easy to produce maps. For a quick look, scroll down a bit on the Examples page: http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4_examples.html

    This new file format is so easy that middle school students can quickly learn how to produce maps.

    Maps can include:
    * Many different kinds of symbols (i.e. markers/icons)
    * Lines of any color and any width
    * Balloons that appear when symbols are clicked
    * Links in the balloons
    * Clickable photo thumbnails in the balloons
    * And more

    Did I mention that this is truly easy?

    For the details, you can search the Help file on ‘delimited’. Or just go to page 32 in the 5-6-2011 version of the Help file. http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4_help.pdf

    Homepage: http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.html

    Enjoy.

    Joseph