How to set up Waypoints On the Instinct Solar - Edited: no longer works for me.

you can also use plotaroute.com and export the route as a .fit file and save it in the newfiles folder in the Garmin watch. you will still have the same issues regarding the outgoing and returning leg though, but the waypoint data should be accurate

Thanks for replying, Leslie.

I've seen references to plotaroute in my attempts to make waypoints work on the Instinct, but it's no good because it hasn't got maps/satellite that are useful for plotting routes in the mountains. Even if it had, I can't make waypoints work.  I can annotate the map, and the annotations appear on the Instinct map, but they aren't waypoints - the WPT NEXT on the Instinct just has "finish" and ignores all the "waypoints" I've added.  I think that the annotations are added to the map, not the route and I can't find a way to add them to the route.  I can see that plotaroute might be able to autoroute between waypoints, but that's no good to me because the areas I hike in haven't got paths or route data.

I can live with my method above, but things could be so much better. 

The fundamental problems are (i) Garmin markets the Instinct as an adventure watch but provides bugger-all tools for users to use it for hiking, backpacking or adventuring, and (ii) they don't give a toss once they've sold you the device. /end rant

This forum link may help to get Course Points to to display properly in your navigation data fields.  

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/192222/next-waypoint-and-distance-to-next-showing-distance-to-next-turn

Open the forum link and you'll find more links in the Related column on the right side of the screen. 

There are some funnies with plotaroute, but honestly I've found it the best method for me so far. I use it on my enduro, but I have used it on my instinct when I had one. I have found it works well about 90% of the time. You can select a wide range of different maps including topo, street, contour etc - it has good mountain maps for my area (New Zealand)

I reckon you should give it another go because I can crack out a good route with waypoints and distance and on to my watch in about 5 - 10mins.

I have found the method needs to be quite particular though:

1. go to plotaroute.com, click "Plot a Route"

2. find your area and select the best map type

3. plot your route by clicking anywhere to select the start location, then click to add points along the route until you reach the end

4. click the "DIR'NS" icon to add directions

5. click add to add a waypoint, then move the waypoint along the route to the correct location

6. click add directions here

7. *important* - this is what I have found to be most reliable - always add a waypoint right at the very start and right at the very end. call the start waypoint "Start" and the end waypoint "Finish"

**The only information I add to the waypoints are under 'Label' and choosing a symbol.**

the symbol doesn't always work but I've found it more reliable to choose one

add as many waypoints between start and finish that you need

8. once finished, select download, change to a .FIT file and enter a name.

9. connect Garmin watch and copy the file to /Garmin/Newfile

10. course will be available to start in your activity, the first waypoint should be 'Start'. once you hit the waypoint Start it should then give you time, name, distance to the next waypoint. You should be able to see the total ETA to finish and also it will track you along the elevation chart. If it doesn't show start as the first one or doesn't track you then I just delete it and recreate it again (about 5-10% of the time)

The waypoints will only be visible when navigating that route though, and I dont think they show up as markers on your map.. they are just in all the course route / waypoint data. So then I use Garmin explore to quickly drop a bunch of waypoints so then they will show up on my map and give me some situational awareness when out in the field, and will still be visible if I stop navigating. 

I now have a nice folder on my computer of all my .fit course files which i can drag and drop on my watch, especially after I delete everything by accident with Garmin explore.. I can also quickly drop them on my partners watch and we can have the same routes 

Thanks, but that was the first article I found when I started trying to fix this and it doesn't really help.  It's just full of "this works for me" and "this doesn't work for me" posts.  I'm beginning to suspect that "my" method might only work for me an perhaps I should delete the post to avoid confusing people.

Thanks, but this doesn't work for me.  I plotted a short route from my house and named a waypoint at the end of the street.  The WPT Next field says "turn", but hasn't got the name of the waypoint.  There seems to be a recurring theme around the various forum posts - what works for some people doesn't work for others.  Maybe it's device or software dependent.  I wish Garmin would take this seriously and sort it out. 

Thanks again.  I'll stick with the way I do it.

And now it doesn't work.  It was working fine yesterday,  but today, having not changed anything, the WPT Next field is now blank.  I've checked that the course points are still there in Connect.  I've deleted all the courses on my Instinct and re-synched with Connect.  I've created new courses and added course points and synched.  The time and distance to next seem to be OK but the names of the course points don't appear on the map (on Instinct) or in the WPT Next fields.  What a pile of crap this software is.