Activity v Route v Course v Track

support.garmin.com/.../

It always confuses me too, it looks like a track and activity are the same except for the file extension and route and course are the same except for the different file extension. So is that correct? It just all depends on what application you want to use, edit, view your data?

Thanks

The descriptions seem very similar in some cases. I will study this article carefully and experiment.

At first glance I noticed this in the description of an Activity

"Activities are used for recording and saving a path that you have taken during an activity such as backpacking, hiking, running, etc."

That's confusing. It seems like circular logic at first read. Further, I will now add "Path" to the list of terms to be investigated further.

I think it's going to be a matter of conducting many experiments to work this device out.

“Path” is not really a thing in the Garmin world. It is mentioned here to indicate that an activity is a recorded representation of the path you followed during your activity, be it walking, hiking, driving or whatever.

The difference between course, track and route in my view are:

• a Course is a pre-planned path you want to follow and stick closely as closely to as possible. The GPSMAP will either alert you when you deviate (this is called direct course navigation) or provide you with navigation instructions to get back on the course (this is called Roads&Trails course navigation). Course files are in a format called FIT.
• a Route is comparable to how car navigation works. You specify the locations you want to visit, and the GPSMAP will determine the best route between these locations based on route navigation settings and the active routable map. There are limits on how many route points the GPSMAP can handle, around 25 I believe. Routes are usually in GPX file format.
• a Track is comparable to a Course but without the navigation instructions when you deviate. It is simply a breadcrumb trail shown in the map. Many GPX files that you find on the internet are tracks.

Personally I mostly use Courses. I create those on third party platforms like Komoot or Footpath. I import those in the Garmin Explore app, and convert them to a Course if the original format was a Track. Then I sync the course wirelessly to my GPSMAP.

If you use Komoot, you can also use the Komoot Connect IQ app on your GPSMAP, this allows for downloading the Komoot route (they call it Tour) directly to your GPSMAP.

Thanks for the detailed response

Some of this may interact with your choice of activity and the routing method implied by the choice.