Looks like Garmin has finally added the ability to create a routed course in Garmin Explore, and it actually works pretty well, although the process is a little clunky.
The What's New list from the latest version has :
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Create courses for your next outdoor adventure by snapping to trails and roads
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Sync courses to and from compatible Garmin devices
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Replaced OSM with Garmin's TopoActive maps
I used the Create Course feature today, in conjunction with a Fenix 5 Plus, and it worked great. Previously you could select a point and have Explore start navigation to that point on your watch, but now you can create a whole course, send it to the watch, and start navigation - all from the phone. The catch is that doing that is a multi-step process (create the course, add it to a collection that's being synced, sync the device, then start navigation) - but I tried it a few times and it worked perfectly every time!
This is a huge step forward for both Explore and any devices (especially watches) it works with. The inability to create a course when offline has always been a big hole in the Garmin ecosystem - but now that hole is plugged! It also shows that Garmin does seem to be at least somewhat interested in continuing the development of Explore.
