Hoe do I add waypoints to a route so that Garmin watch will recognize them
Total posts in this topic: 19
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Tim Slater Tuesday 13 May 2025 11:47:33
Thanks Peter. I'm still experimenting to find what works best for me. I'll post my workflow when I've found something I'm happy with.
Plotaroute has taken me a while to get used to but I'm blown away by its functionality. Brilliant.
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Peter Höglund Friday 09 May 2025 10:24:18
Tim: For my new Fenix I'm interested in seeing if I can use waypoints in a more sophisticated way...
If you have paths/roads on the map and use auto-plotting (N/A for @boo), then you get most of the directions automatically, but no other fancy editing of 'waypoints' that @boo described. To avoid all Garmin changing of course-points/directions, then copy the fit file manually to watch or wirelessly with the Gexporter mobile app (only Android) and the Gimporter/GRouteLoader watch CIQ app.
If you have a Garmin watch that supports the up-ahead feature, then you can get many of the Garmin watch symbols if you use the plotaroute counterparts. See this table for help. (unfortunately, not possible to paste here anymore due to size limitations here in forum (please increase)).
Another thing you can also do with plotaroute is to fill the 'Saved Locations' in the watch with BOTH your Labels and Direction course points.
Create a dummy route and plot Labels off route or Course points in the direction list. Then download it as a GPX Track with POI's as Waypoints.
You need to manually copy the gpx file to the NewFiles folder on the watch.'Saved locations' in the watch can be used for Waypoint navigation either with the use map or direct navigation, or just to show them on the watch map.
Maybe too much work for some, but useful in some use cases. -
Tim Slater Tuesday 06 May 2025 08:23:07
The process you followed is pretty much what I recommended in my missing post 😂. For my Garmin Instinct I decided a while back not to bother trying to get meaningful waypoints on it - just too much faff for me. I prefer instead to use it in combination with a paper map. For my new Fenix I'm interested in seeing if I can use waypoints in a more sophisticated way but at the moment, like you found, it's looking like it will be a lot of effort.
Unfortunately the turn-by-turn directions that Garmin Connect can add automatically are a bit of a pain, for example when going up a zigzag path when there are alerts on the watch every few metres.
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Mark Worthington Tuesday 06 May 2025 05:42:30
I can't add a screenshot here cos there's no way to upload one from my PC.
Just copy/paste a screenshot (probably best to crop first) ....
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Mark Worthington Tuesday 06 May 2025 05:40:52
Great, that's what the How To Add Labels And Symbols To A Route Map? advises.
You are trying to do something which is pretty manual, routing where there are no paths, adding "waypoints" for specific places. If you find anything that will do this "automatically", please post back! -
Boo Ids Monday 05 May 2025 21:10:19
OK - I've figured it out although having done so it's not much better than Garmin Connect for adding waypoints - which is not a ringing endorsement. I've only tested it on a Garmin Instinct.
For anyone else who comes here confused about adding waypoints** which will appear on Garmin Instinct (and possibly other Garmin watches) here's what I did to make it work. My use-case is Munro Bagging.
- Plot your route. I did it with a combination of auto on foot (for where there are paths) and auto off. You have to be a bit careful with this to avoid straight-lining everything, but it can be made to work.
- Once the route is plotted and saved and still in edit mode hit the "DIR'NS" button at the RHS of the edit screen.
- In the Directions/Notes panel top left click "ADD"
- Move the "edit" box along the route to where you want a waypoint.
- Click "Add Directions Here" in the Directions box top left.
- In the "Label" box type the name of the waypoint. You can also add a label and colour, but these are irrelevant for the Garmin Instinct cos it's B&W. It might work for other, more expensive, watches. I don't think the "Directions/Notes" is relevant for the Garmin Instinct but I just repeated the name of the waypoint to be safe.
- Repeat for all the waypoints you want
Now, when you synch the route with Garmin the "directions" labels will appear as course points and when you synch them with a Garmin Instinct they will appear as waypoints**
**There might be other formal, technical, local or pedantic definitions of "waypoint" but when I use "waypoint" here I mean something that appears on the Garmin Instinct as a waypoint (WPT) and can be added to a field on the watch such as "distance to next wpt" or "time to next wpt".
Thanks to all who tried to help. It's been a good, friendly introduction to the forum. Happy trails.
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Boo Ids Monday 05 May 2025 20:30:15
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Boo Ids Monday 05 May 2025 20:24:49
...also, is there a way to make this forum default to oldest first?
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Boo Ids Monday 05 May 2025 20:24:08
@Mark - I've just checked the directions. There are no directions on the route, but that's OK because I don't want them. I just want waypoints so that my Garmin watch shows the distance to the next bealach, summit, bridge, or whatever features I've added to the course.
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Boo Ids Monday 05 May 2025 20:09:05
@Mark. I just add labels. As far as I know I don't add directions, certainly not knowingly (I don't want directions). I can't add a screenshot here cos there's no way to upload one from my PC. What I do is edit the route, click on "Annotate Map" and get a box that says "`ADD SYMBOLS AND LABELS TO THE MAP" which wants a name, symbol and colour with a then add a coloured symbol with a name to the map on top of the route line.
