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John Abell Tuesday 13 Jan 2026 22:27:07
I downloaded a track I made a few days ago in two forms, both tracks, and one with directions, and the other, without.
I did this so I could read the content of the GPX files to see what the difference was, and was surprised to see that they were almost identical, except that the 'Directions' version included a single random coordinate in the first section near the top.
So I copied that coordinate and pasted it into Google Maps to see what the significance of that point was, and nothing, it was just a point in a paddock somewhere, that it doesn't seem to me to be able to have any relevance at all.
Anyone know what the point of Directions' is if all it's doing is what I explained above? -
Julien Plotaroute Wednesday 14 Jan 2026 05:17:21
Hi John,
Check out this topic, in which Peter Höglund and I tested all the possible outcomes.
I hope this helps.
Julien
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John Abell Thursday 15 Jan 2026 06:00:00
I looked at the discussion on the download outputs, and it reinforces my thoughts that the whole download procedure is at best poorly described.
For instance I can design a winding path of 150km that takes me all over the place, so if I download this as a route, it ignores everything I've done, and lists the final destination coordinate. So what was the point of using Plotaroute at all for a route?
(see my example below).
Outputting the same path as a track gives me a long set of coordinates, as expected, something the GPS can display.
Doing the same but with directions, gives me the same set of coordinates, plus some random location up in the header.
So what I'm seeing is the that the only useful thing Plotaroute can do for me is a track, displayed as a static line on my GPS, which is okay, as that generally is what I want, but it's pretty basic. I can import that same Track GPX into Osmand for example, and it will make it a detailed route with navigation tips. It would be nice if the route would actually export in a way that a Garmin GPS will follow the chosen path and give nigation directions.=====================================================================================================================================================================
Route created on plotaroute.com NorthernLoop150km 438 FINISH FINISH FINISH Flag, Blue -
Julien Plotaroute Wednesday 21 Jan 2026 14:14:28
Hi John,
Sorry for the late reply. For some reason, your post was flagged as spam, and I unblocked it today.
First of all, I do agree that the download procedure could be described better. I have said so in the discussion with the breakdown and I have added this to the list of improvements I share with the devs.
I have looked at your NorthernLoop150km route and the reason why the "route" download is of no use is that there are no directions and no labels on the route.
For example, if you use the "Snap route to map" feature on this route, it will generate directions for it and the GPX > Route > Directions file will now include those points. So your GPS device will only plot the route between those points.From what I can see, the random set of coordinates (-35.033341,138.849827) is the end of the route.
I hope this helps a bit. Maybe using the "Snap route to map" feature and generating directions is what is missing for your route export to be useful.
Best regards,
Julien -
John Abell Thursday 22 Jan 2026 10:46:00
Hi Julien
I was quite hopeful for a while, as the "Snap to Map" started to make sense to me, particularly as the button title says:"SNAP route to map * Fix GPS errors and generate directions"
But it then didn't make sense, because I'd already created the path within Plotaroute, so by definition it was already "snapped to map".
But I ran it anyway because of the "Fix GPS errors and generate directions" promise, expecting to see some option to "Generate Directions".
There wasn't.
So I exported the route again, with directions, for a 150km path, and here is the output:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Route created on plotaroute.com NorthernLoop150km 438 FINISH FINISH FINISH Flag, Blue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, there's not much to it, just a single co-ordinate for the destination, the 150km of path ignored.
Now presumably I'm not the only person who gets a result like this, as any path when exported as a route has the same outcome, just a single final co-ordinate.
This brings me back to the beginning, that what does downloading a complex route achieve?
I'm quite mystified, and very keen to see if I'm doing something fundamentally wrong.
Regards
John -
Julien Plotaroute Thursday 22 Jan 2026 12:22:40
Hi John,
Two questions:
1. Did you go to the end of the "Snap route to map" process?
I'm asking because when I'm looking at your NorthernLoop150km, it still has no directions.
When I copied the route and used Snap route to map, directions were added correctly.2. How did you plot the route initially? Website/web app? Did you use any specific feature? Did you use auto-plotting?
I'm asking because I have just plotted the start of your route with auto-plot on the browser version of Plotaroute and right away it adds directions.Looking forward to your answer to get to the bottom of this issue.
All the best,
Julien -
John Abell Monday 26 Jan 2026 02:11:40
Hi Julien
I have just realised that what's going on here is a difference in understanding the terminology.
I've always understood "Directions" to mean that the GPX includes 'turn-by-turn' directions, when it is just displaying comments, something of little use or interest to me at all.
So perhaps I can clear up what my issue is, which is that I can create a 150km long path for example, and when I export it as a track, it outputs a long detailed path.
When I export the same 150km path as a route, it completely ignores the 150km, and outputs just the destination coordinate.
I guess I'm expecting a route to also include the path by which it gets to that destination, pretty much like a Google Maps KML file that gets sent to your phone which then follows that path and gives left/right directions.
Sorry for the confusion.
CheersJohn
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Mark Worthington Monday 26 Jan 2026 09:25:42
Isn't it the device itself that creates the Track Navigation (Off/On Course)? In the Garmin world, this is "turn-by-turn guidance", which takes the PR gpx (track) and creates the turn directions.
Personally, I turn that off as I've found that Garmin can fight what I've created in PR. It's the latter that I trust and follow. But then I'm even more old school, as I turn the map off and just follow a breadcrumb trail, as my eyes are not so good for looking at such map details when cycling! -
Julien Plotaroute Monday 26 Jan 2026 11:50:12
Hi John,
Thanks for clarifying!
What you're looking to achieve, like Mark says, is not something you'll achieve with the Route download option.
Like it says in the tooltip, the Route option is for devices that calculate their own routes between waypoints.
So Track is to keep what you have plotted and Route is to let your device calculate the route again (with more or less waypoints to guide it, if you have added directions/labels)
I hope this clears things up a bit more.
Best regards,
Julien -
John Abell Wednesday 28 Jan 2026 11:16:26
Now I understand that "Directions" just means comments, I realise that Tracks, as I've been using for many years, is what I want, and that 'routes' are a dead end for complex routes.
What I've also realised, is that a Garmin Zumo has a function whereby it converts a track to, in Garmin speak, a Trip, which is turn-by-turn version of a track.
I can see now how they are doing this, which is by laying the string of coordinates in the track over their roads layer, and working out where all the road junctions are along that string, and then calculating turn-by-turn 'directions' if I dare use the word here! All performed within the GPS as Mark suggests, and nothing to do with Plotaroute.Much easier once you understand how things are working.
Many thanks for you help Julien.
