Setting up your GPS for Trail Navigation

To enable routing by snowmobile or ATV trails, turn off any routing highway maps such as Garmin City Navigator or routing highway maps that are built-in to your GPS. Otherwise, your GPS will route you by highway instead of trails.

Turn on trail maps from Backwoods GPS Trails. A non routing topographical map may also be turned on to provide background to the trails. Topographic maps typically shows highways and other useful map features, but does not route on highways. Use TOOLS->SETTINGS->MAP->MAP INFO – check uncheck boxes.

The navigation settings should be set to navigate ON ROAD, even when routing by trail.

For snowmobile trail maps, to avoid being routed over ice crossings, set avoid TOLL ROADS in your GPS’s navigational avoidances menu. To avoid being routed on un-groomed off-trail riding, set the FERRY avoidance in you GPS.

Turn off the trail maps and the routing highway maps back on when you are ready to navigate by automobile.

Highest contrast between the trails and the background can be achieved by setting your GPS display to NIGHT MODE. Highly visible bright cyan trails are displayed over darker background. Garmin Oregon GPS models do not have a Night Mode.

For those who are using the more complicated Garmin Montana series GPS, some suggestions for  settings can be found here.