I'm using a Garmin 60CSx, Garmin 24K Southwest Topo Map, Google Earth and the way points from the Arizona Massey and Wilson book.

Which is more accurate, Google Earth or the Garmin Topo map?

I'm using the Arizona Massey and Wilson book and their GPS way points to plot my route. It seems their way points are always 175~250 feet off when I compare them to the trail in Google Maps.

So, how would you GPS Gurus plot a course? Would you take the way points and plot them on Garmin Maps, then adjust them to align more with the trail as shown in Google Earth?

I know these units will never be dead on, I'm just trying to get the way points as close as I can get them to the actual trail on either Garmin or Google Maps and then upload them to my Garmin unit?

Thanks!!

 

I have a 60CSX and yes the garmin topos are off a bit. However if you have actual points from a 3rd soure, use them and plot them on mapsource and then download it.

 

I'm using way points from a 3rd source, but they are always off up to a couple hundred feet. So my question is... adjust the way points to the actual trail as viewed in Google Maps?

 

Make sure your gps and the source of your waypoints are the same map datum. There are many different settings in most gps's.

When I want to make an offroad trip to follow in my gps, I trace the route on my pc, using National Geographic TOPO. Then, I load topo into the gps. The topo and the gps are both set to an equivalent datum: NAD83/WGS84. Most of the time they agree very closely. The gps does drift around an average point a little, mostly due to atmospheric conditions.

When navigating with a gps, I always bring a paper topo, compass, and a handheld altimeter, in case the gps goes TU.