Tips on creating/editing courses with mixed on and off-trail sections?

I'm endeavoring to get more proficient with using courses created in Explore and synced to my 67i. Many of my hikes primarily follow established trails but include sections that leave trails (for example, cutoffs to connect with other trails, approaches to peaks, avoiding areas that are seasonally not navigable, etc). If I create and save a course in Explore that initially adheres to a trail but I then need to go back to add or edit a section for off-trail navigation, I get very unpredictable erratic behavior.

Many times, if I try to add or relocate a point, the course immediately jumps to a straight line (direct) path from some other point. This happens regardless of which map layers are enabled. Toggling the road/trail vs direct icon (the one that looks like glasses) on/off before adding or moving a point doesn't seem to help. Occasionally, on some courses, things behave, but most of the time things go wonky and I have to discard the changes to start over until I maybe get what I want.

Any suggestions?

  • The 67i iCourse navigation software is binary. You can choose Direct Path or Roads & Trails. There isn't a combo choice.

    Check your Route settings in the 67i Setup Menu. There is a field there called Course Navigation. Try changing its current setting to the the alternative and see if it works any better. Make sure you synch the device to your phone after changing.

  • Yes, I understand that in the 67i it is one or the other. However, the Explore app can do both and when creating a course it is possible to mix on trail and off trail segments.  There is a icon for toggling back-and-forth between roads and trails versus off trails.. I believe that once a course is created in Explore and subsequently synced to the 67I, that it would preserve all of the course points, including both the on trail and off trail sections.

    My question is about how to edit an already created course in Explore to add some off trail sections in the event that they are required for navigation of the planned trip. that could be required to deal with a fire closure, excessive snow pack, or various other circumstances.

  • The Explore app supports the 67i. The 67i Course navigation is binary. I don't know that the Explore app allows you to make Courses non-binary just because you can toggle. That wouldn't make sense when it's known to be binary (though a lot of Garmin stuff doesn't make sense).

    That's why I think you were getting strange results.

    If you select a Course in the app you can select the ". . ." button on the screen and then select Edit to edit the Course. Then select Save at the top. You can also Save a Copy of the original Course and edit and save the copy, renaming it to reflect the edits made.

  • Yes, but the point editing behaves erratically.  Sometimes it adjusts the course to honor the location of the added points but more often, it generates unexpected artifacts and produces straight lines from random points to the new (or relocated) point.  I’ll keep tinkering with it to see if I can identify a pattern in the aberrant behavior.

  • Yes, keep tinkering.

    Straight lines are usually generated when Direct Path is the selected Course Navigation method. If you're toggling while you're editing, you're adding confusion (IMHO). The Course Navigation method applies to the entire course, not a course segment. 

  • I've seen this as well, when editing a previously created course in Explore app, the course gets messed up with straight lines to course points that do not really make sense. I don't think it has anything to do with following trails or off-trail navigation, it's editing at all that messes it up.

  • OP is talking about creating and editing courses in Explore app. It hasn't got anything to do with Direct Path or Roads&Trails navigation on the GPSMAP 67i.

  • Yes, I confused things by mentioning the 67i in my initial post.  At this point, I’m just trying to sort everything out with Explore for later export to my device.

  • Yes, I understand :) Best report your issue with editing courses in Explore app to Garmin Support. You and I are probably not the only ones who are encountering this issue...

  • When a person synch's the app to the device, it changes the one which wasn't most recently changed. So the user needs to know what he wants when doing Course Navigation prior to creating a Course.

    Either Direct Path or Roads & Trails, there is no combo. That setting should be the same on both the device and the app, after they are synched.

    8783228's problem may be something else entirely, but I would start with being consistent on Course Navigation, and determining which setting works best. If both settings give same result, then try something else.