How to load a route into a navigator and a watch: a GPX walkthrough

The route is drawn, but how to get it into a navigator or a watch isn't obvious. Short answer: save the route as GPX and either copy the file into the GPX folder on the device over a cable, or import it in the manufacturer's app and push it to the watch. Let's walk the whole path: where to draw the line, how to transfer it to a specific device, and why the file sometimes "isn't seen".

Track, route and waypoints — what to load

GPX holds three different data types, and devices treat them differently:

• track (trk) — a dense polyline of many points, the "thread" you follow; this is usually what you want for navigating a ready-made trail;
• route (rte) — sparse waypoints between which the navigator works out the path along roads itself;
• waypoints (wpt) — standalone marks: a spring, a campsite, the start.

If a device stubbornly "doesn't see" the file, the type is usually to blame: the watch expects a track course while the file holds waypoints only. What is what and how to open GPX on a computer is in GPX: what it is and how to open it, and the structure is broken down in the GPS tracks guide.

Step 1. Where to draw the route

There are plenty of free planners and they all work the same way — you click points on the map, the service snaps a line onto roads and trails, then Export → GPX:

• gpx.studio — drawing and editing right in the browser, handy for fixing someone else's tracks;
• BRouter-web — routing with profiles (bike, foot, MTB), good at working with OSM data;
• Garmin Connect — the Courses section, with sending to the device built in;
• Komoot, Strava, OsmAnd, Locus Map — planners inside the apps.

Save the file under a Latin name without spaces: some devices trip over non-Latin characters in file names.

Step 2. Load it into a Garmin navigator over a cable

1. Connect the device to the computer with a USB cable and wait until it mounts as a removable drive.
2. Open the Garmin → GPX folder on it (on some models simply GPX in the root).
3. Copy your file there. Nothing needs renaming as long as the extension is .gpx.
4. Safely eject the device and unplug the cable.
5. On the navigator itself find the route in the navigation section: usually Where To? → Tracks or Navigation → Courses.

The cable-free alternative: in Garmin Connect open Courses, import the GPX and hit "Send to device" — the route travels to the watch over Bluetooth at the next sync.

Step 3. Load it into a watch

• Garmin — through Garmin Connect only (Courses → import → send to device). A file dropped into the watch folder by hand is visible too, but course navigation behaves more reliably.
• Suunto — the Suunto app, the routes section, import the GPX, then sync with the watch.
• Coros — the COROS app, Navigation/routes, import the file, sync.
• Polar — the Flow web service, add the route from GPX to favourites and sync.

The general rule: on watches the route almost always goes through the manufacturer's app; a file is placed directly only on outdoor handheld navigators.

Step 4. Load it into a phone

• OsmAnd — open the .gpx from a file manager or from mail, the app offers to import it; then My Places → Tracks, show on the map and start track navigation if you want.
• Locus Map — Import in the menu, pick the file, put it in the right track folder.
• Organic Maps, Maps.me — import the file the same "open with" way.

Common pitfalls

1. Too many points. A track recorded once per second easily runs to tens of thousands of points. Many older models hold about 500 points in a saved track and up to 250 in a route; modern ones hold thousands. A good target: one point per 10-25 metres and no more than a couple of thousand points per route.
2. Thinning. gpx.studio has track simplification; on the command line GPSBabel does the same: gpsbabel -i gpx -f in.gpx -x simplify,count=500 -o gpx -F out.gpx.
3. Wrong object type. If the device expects a course but the file only holds rte, re-save the route as a track in any editor.
4. No elevation. The watch may show no climb profile: the <ele> tag is optional and is often missing from hand-drawn routes.
5. Non-standard extensions. Heart-rate, power and other extensions from another app are simply ignored by the device — that's normal.

Easier — get a ready file straight away

If what you need is not the route itself but the objects of an area — springs, campsites, stops, summits — select the area and download it straight as GPX: you get a set of points and lines that navigators and watches read natively. For Google Earth and some apps the same area comes as KML. It's free and takes seconds.

In short

• Decide what you need: a track (trk), a route (rte) or waypoints (wpt) — devices react differently.
• Draw routes in gpx.studio, BRouter-web or Garmin Connect and export as GPX.
• Garmin navigator: cable → the Garmin/GPX folder → eject → look under tracks.
• Watches: through the manufacturer's app only (Garmin Connect, Suunto, COROS, Polar Flow).
• The main trouble is surplus points: thin them to one per 10-25 m with gpx.studio or GPSBabel.
• Points and objects of an area can be downloaded straight as GPX.