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New Garmin Oregon 600t - Map Details appear to be lacking at best

Former Member
Former Member
I just got a Garmin Oregon 600. I've been using a Garmin Oregon 400t for about 3yrs, and while in some case the maps were poor, at least basic street level detail was there. On the Garmin 600 I just bought it seems like most of the streets just aren't there. Almost anything below a Hwy level just doesn't seem to show up.

I'm attaching an image that shows this. The bottom road is Alt-90 (see Main st / US 90 on the geocaching.com map) the road going SW/NE is Hwy 59. The road out in front of where I work is West Airport. Look how the Garmin has it stopping at Hwy 59. This is a 4 lane road that goes for another 15 miles west of 59 as a 4 lane road the whole way. It's not new either. I can zoom all the way in and this road doesn't even show up, let alone the neighborhood roads around there.

Am I doing something wrong? I've went into setup map -> advanced setting -> Detail -> Most. Nothing seems to have changed.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    Ok Garmin units usually come with a very basic "basemap" of the world or region (e.g North America). Now the 600T also comes with pre-loaded topo maps (of the US in your case). Now maps can enabled/disabled on an individual basis.

    The question therefore is whether your topo ("detailed") maps are enabled or not (they should be by default).

    BTW I'm assuming here that you have a 600T and not just a 600.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    No, I have 600, not a 600t. The subject is a typo and unfortunately I can't edit the subject line, only the post.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    The 600 has nothing but a bare-bones basemap.

    You'll have to add (free or paid) maps to get any detailed maps. The T in your 400T means it came with topo maps.

    https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-trail/handhelds/oregon-600/prod113532.html#specsTab

    Basemap: Yes
    Preloaded maps: no
    Ability to add maps: Yes
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    The 600 has nothing but a bare-bones basemap.

    You'll have to add (free or paid) maps to get any detailed maps. The T in your 400T means it came with topo maps.


    Understood. My false assumption was that the Topo maps where only Topo maps and not a more detailed road map as well, thus my confusion. I'll be taking this back to REI to upgrade just as soon as they have some 600t's in stock. Hopefully before I leave for Geowoodstock next Wed.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    Frankly I never bought a Oregon 450T (got a plain 450) because the pre-loaded topo maps are only 100K. Granted they cover the whole US but I purchased Garmin 24K topo's for my unit which do contain roads and they're autoroutable. Plus I already had the US 100K topo's

    Your choice of course.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Frankly I never bought a Oregon 450T (got a plain 450) because the pre-loaded topo maps are only 100K. Granted they cover the whole US but I purchased Garmin 24K topo's for my unit which do contain roads and they're autoroutable. Plus I already had the US 100K topo's

    Your choice of course.


    Grabbed 8GB uSD card I had in one of my old smartphones. Wiped it, pulled a 3.6GB OSM Routable IMG Map file of the US and tossed it on there. I checked it out and it's got all the roads and tons of walking/hiking/biking/park paths to boot. I also, know where I can KMZ topo's if I want them. I think I'm good sticking with this unit :D
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Try www.gpsfiledepot.com for free topo maps.No point paying for the 100k maps unless you absolutely need to have the entire us on the unit.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Oregon 450t and Routable Maps

    Looks like StuartMW (or someone here) may be able to answer my question. I have an Oregon 450t, and just bought and installed the Garmin 24K topo (Northeast) with routable maps, which I thought would keep the error message from popping up telling me there were no routable roads in this area. I'm not trying to route to Rome or Peru (as other people in this forum were) and I understand that there must be routable maps from my location all the way to my destination. However, if I am only plotting Geocaches within a few miles of my home, does that error message mean my particular area is not mapped for routing? (Here in small town, central Indiana) Or have I just not found the right combination of settings yet? (I've tried every type of activity.) The trails at Mounds State Park even show up on the device, but so far I seem limited to direct routing.

    Thanks!
    Sharon
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    I can't test your route even if I had it (I don't have 24K Topo Northeast) but for a route to be "calculable" the start/end points must be close to roads/trails that contain routing data.

    Now if your geocaches are half way up a mountain with no nearby trails/roads then you'll get an error. The solution is to put your points near a road/trail. You could then create a separate direct (point-to-point) route(s) from/to your real start/end points.

    Now depending on your activity (automobile, hiking etc) there may be exclusions for certain things. For example if your active profile is "automotive" and you're trying to create a route along a hiking trail then you'll probably get a weird route or error.