# Trailforks app on Garmin Edge devices



## christiancaron (Jan 7, 2018)

Looking into buying the Edge Explore 820, but I have some questions on the Trailforks app (couldn't find any answer on the web so far).

1- is there a limit on the number of routes you can download in the app (on the GPS)?

2- is it possible to download a whole trail network instead of doing it trail by trail?

Thanks!


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Seems like it's more of a question you should direct towards the Trailforks folks. User canadaka works for TF, but he doesn't post here very often. Maybe go to TF's website and use their support system to ask.


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## christiancaron (Jan 7, 2018)

Ok, just did.


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## SpeshulEd (Oct 29, 2013)

I have never bothered with this because I'd rather just use my Garmin Fenix and pull out my phone when I'm lost as opposed to running my 820 on my bars, but from what I've read, I believe you can only download routes to the garmin. I'd imagine those routes then show up as "courses" on the garmin. If thats the case, then you should be able to load as many courses on the garmin as possible (until it fills up the disk space).

I do not believe it can handle an entire trail network. That said, you might be able to hack it a bit and load topo style maps with trails, overwriting the current road maps it has loaded in it by default. That might be more trouble than it's worth tho.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

SpeshulEd said:


> you might be able to hack it a bit and load topo style maps with trails, overwriting the current road maps it has loaded in it by default. That might be more trouble than it's worth tho.


It's not a hack with the 820 series. It's a built-in function. It takes some steps, but it's doable in Garmin's Basecamp software. There may or may not be maps available for OP's trails. But it's not too difficult to make a trail map you can layer on the device.

Like I said, it's a built-in function to layer maps. The pre-installed maps will stay where they are, with anything else added layered on top, if you choose to do that.

This same process is a bit of a hack in the 520, with a couple extra steps, but it's not a huge deal.

I don't bother with anyone's ConnectIQ apps for my Edge 520. Not sure why I'd need them. The built-in capabilities of the device do what I need.


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## christiancaron (Jan 7, 2018)

Maybe I should have included some details... I own two handheld GPS (60CSx and 62s) and a Vivoactive HR watch. I have no issues fiddling around with maps, tracks and routes in the GPS. My question is solely for the Trailforks app in the ConnectIQ store. The Edge Explore 820 takes 100 routes, but I don't think the ones in the app count towards that limit. Seems to me like the app is a container within the operating system and it will either be limited by the available memory or by the code. Hopefully the developer can answer this question on the Trailforks page.

As for downloading a region vs trail-by-trail, it's just for convenience. I would download one-by-one if need be (in the app - I don't intend to download the gpx files and export to the GPS or create my own transparent overlay). The goal was to use the app to simplify this task.

I'm perfectly happy with the watch and I could carry the 62s in the backpack for when I'm lost at an intersection in a trail, but I thought the Explore 820 would facilitate all of this in a smaller and more convenient package. Anyway, my two questions remain unanswered. If someone tried the Trailforks app, let us know (is there a maximum number of trails that can be downloaded to the app and is it possible to download a region as opposed to downloading trails one-by-one). Otherwise I'll keep you posted if I hear from the developer or if I can test myself when the Edge will arrive.


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## SpeshulEd (Oct 29, 2013)

Harold said:


> It's not a hack with the 820 series. It's a built-in function. It takes some steps, but it's doable in Garmin's Basecamp software. There may or may not be maps available for OP's trails. But it's not too difficult to make a trail map you can layer on the device.
> 
> Like I said, it's a built-in function to layer maps. The pre-installed maps will stay where they are, with anything else added layered on top, if you choose to do that.
> 
> ...


Right on! I haven't messed with any of this stuff since my 810 because everything works so much better now. I don't really bother with the ConnectIQ apps either as I've relugated the 820 to road biking only after killing my 810 in a crash.


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## Hulka (Dec 30, 2013)

I thought the Trail Forks portion of thing only worked in an off line mode type of thing. Like it would not actually show where you are just a map of the area.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Hulka said:


> I thought the Trail Forks portion of thing only worked in an off line mode type of thing. Like it would not actually show where you are just a map of the area.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


what would be the points of a GPS device if it didn't show you where you are? that's a basic function. Even the Trailforks phone app will show you where you are on the map, even if you have no cell signal, because every smartphone on the market right now has a GPS receiver in it and it can show you where you are. So long as you're able to display/store some kind of map data on whatever device you have, any device with a GPS chip can show you some kind of map with your current location. Even if the device can't display maps (many inexpensive, basic fitness GPS devices cannot), it can at least show you coordinates of your current location.


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## Hulka (Dec 30, 2013)

From Garmin page. Honestly I rather pull out my phone. Bigger display.

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## christiancaron (Jan 7, 2018)

Sigh... Not really asking for opinions, looking for facts. I googled and read too. Anyway, looks like there is not a lot of people using the app, so I'll update the thread once I received the unit and played with it. This way, if anyone is asking the question in the future, there will be an answer to find.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Hulka said:


> From Garmin page. Honestly I rather pull out my phone. Bigger display.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro












What Garmin is saying is that you can access Trailforks maps on your Garmin device without cellular reception (or without your phone, even). It does not mean it won't show you where you are on that map. Of course it will show you where you are on that map. That's the whole point of the map on a GPS device.

It's meant as a quick reference, anyway. Phone screen isn't big enough for detailed navigation, either. If I want to do that, I use a great, big paper map.


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## canadaka (Jun 25, 2010)

There is no limit to the number of trails or routes you can load via the Trailforks Garmin Connect IQ app, only limited by the storage space on your device or any limits Garmin has. As they are downloaded as Garmin "courses" and saved on the device in the courses folder.

Courses are really only intended for a single gps track, so a single trail or single route containing potentially a bunch of trails linked together.

With an Edge 820 you can load 3rd party basemaps though, so you can get all the trails for a state, province or country on your garmin offline in 2 different flavors.
https://www.trailforks.com/tools/garminmaps/

1. entire Trailforks basemap, including OSM data like roads and some poi. Trailforks trails and relevant POI's like parking spots, TTFs and bike shops.

2. a much smaller basemap file which is transparent and only includes the Trailforks trails and POI. You would use this overtop another basemap, like the one included on the 820.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

Harold, should we make a thread about the basics of GPS and navigation?

I think there are enough GPS/GIS guys here to provide a comprehensive dialogue about the subject. 


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## christiancaron (Jan 7, 2018)

canadaka said:


> There is no limit to the number of trails or routes you can load via the Trailforks Garmin Connect IQ app, only limited by the storage space on your device or any limits Garmin has. As they are downloaded as Garmin "courses" and saved on the device in the courses folder.
> 
> Courses are really only intended for a single gps track, so a single trail or single route containing potentially a bunch of trails linked together.
> 
> ...


Ah, I see! Thanks for the detailed answer. So I guess the app is mostly a (different/easier) way to download courses to tne GPS, and perhaps an interface which may show more details about said courses. Maybe the transparent overlay will be the better way to go for me.


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## canadaka (Jun 25, 2010)

christiancaron said:


> Ah, I see! Thanks for the detailed answer. So I guess the app is mostly a (different/easier) way to download courses to tne GPS, and perhaps an interface which may show more details about said courses. Maybe the transparent overlay will be the better way to go for me.


You got it. Much easier then previous methods to get a route or trail off Trailforks to a Garmin device. The app does have some features to browse nearby routes and that, but it's much nicer to do that on the website or app.

I also added the ability to download a route or trail GPX file from within the Android/iOS app and if you open that file on your phone with the Garmin Connect app, you can also load it on your device that way.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Le Duke said:


> Harold, should we make a thread about the basics of GPS and navigation?
> 
> I think there are enough GPS/GIS guys here to provide a comprehensive dialogue about the subject.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I tried one once, a long time ago. So long ago, that many options out now change things, or at least add new options and new lines of dialog.

We can try again, but it's a complicated enough topic that I'm not sure how we'd organize it so it makes sense, especially considering the ever-changing landscape of devices and apps.

The only thing I can think of would be to make it app/device agnostic, but that would make it too basic to be useful, I think.

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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

Harold said:


> I tried one once, a long time ago. So long ago, that many options out now change things, or at least add new options and new lines of dialog.
> 
> We can try again, but it's a complicated enough topic that I'm not sure how we'd organize it so it makes sense, especially considering the ever-changing landscape of devices and apps.
> 
> ...


Something slightly different that could add value would be to take say the top 2 or 3 devices from Wahoo, Garmin, Lezyne, etc. and do a compare and contrast of features and give a detailed explanation of said features.

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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

What would be most helpful, I think, goes beyond individual devices and their features, but certainly ties in with those features.

I think what Le Duke was talking about is different ways to navigate with your device. Some devices/apps are going to function quite differently than others, which is going to make for a complicated discussion.

You can't always say that to navigate this way, here is how you do it on device x, device y, and device z. The reality is that each device is going to have certain things it can and cannot do. People often come into the forum asking how to do x. Sometimes they have a device already, other times they want to purchase a device that can do x. Sometimes the answer is "that isn't possible" or "that is only partly possible"

Websites like dc rainmaker cover specs exceptionally well. Even manufacturer websites are a better resource than this forum for comparing specs. Actually using those devices is where things get more complicated. User guides from the manufacturer tend to be **** and publishing something comprehensive for a single device is wiki territory.


tuckerjt07 said:


> Something slightly different that could add value would be to take say the top 2 or 3 devices from Wahoo, Garmin, Lezyne, etc. and do a compare and contrast of features and give a detailed explanation of said features.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## tuckerjt07 (Nov 24, 2016)

Harold said:


> What would be most helpful, I think, goes beyond individual devices and their features, but certainly ties in with those features.
> 
> I think what Le Duke was talking about is different ways to navigate with your device. Some devices/apps are going to function quite differently than others, which is going to make for a complicated discussion.
> 
> ...


Ah, I'll readily admit I was a victim of skimming. I was thinking along the lines of how Lezyne's Mega C loaded package looks like an exceptional deal but is the Garmin worth the up charge for the Trailforks integration. My apologies for going off topic.

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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

I was thinking about a couple of topics:

1) Basics of GPS (theory) and how/why GPS can not work (terrain, jamming, etc.). 

2) Navigating using GPS. 

3) GPS + Cycling

4) Devices

5) Integration with TF, etc. 

I don’t think people need to have SME level knowledge, but knowing how something works and common pitfalls would go a long way towards alleviating some of the problems associated with consumer grade GPS. 


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