GPS Waypoints

GPS devices are a great way for hikers to navigate the Pacific Crest Trail. You can load PCT waypoints into your GPS to help you find the trail after losing it, find water, find campsites, etc.

We also have waypoints for trail angels and support people. These waypoints are for all the Pacific Crest Trail road crossings, Stores, and other vehicle-accessible points of interest along the PCT. The files are formatted to load into your TomTom or other vehicle navigation system.

Pros

With GPS you can find the trail even if it's buried under a foot of snow, and you can do it much faster and easier than you could with a map and compass. When you get to those infamous unmarked forks in the trail that don't show up on your map you can just fire up your GPS and it will point you in the right direction. The files provided (below) include waypoints every half mile of the trail, waypoints for known water sources, campgrounds, resupply points, etc. No need to deal with a map and compass.

Cons

Your GPS will leave you high and dry if it runs out batteries. Good GPS devices for hikers and backpackers are ones with field replaceable batteries (the 9V, AA, or AAA varieties are the most convenient). If your GPS device gets destroyed (ie: dropped in the river while fording) you are out of luck. Also, GPS devices can sometimes struggle while below the tree line. While your GPS device will get a fine signal over the majority of the trail, this is important to keep in mind.

GPS devices are almost always heavier than paper map options. Finally, GPS devices can be expensive. Though there are many inexpensive models available, even the inexpensive models are more costly than many of the paper map options available to you.

GPS Waypoints for the PCT

These waypoint files were created from Half Mile's PCT waypoints. They were translated from his most recent .gpx file using a program called GPS Babel. We've converted the .gpx file into several other formats for your convenience. Find the format your GPS or mapping software requires below. After downloading the file, you'll need to extract it out of the .zip folder before you use it.

  • .gpx - Garmin GPX eXchange Data Format [1,150 KB]
  • .gpi - Garmin Points of Interest Format [446 KB]
  • .vcf - Vcard Output (for IPOD) [674 KB]
  • .kml - Google Earth (Keyhole Markup Language) [1,754 KB]
  • .kmz - Google Earth (Keyhole Markup Language Compressed) [124 KB]
  • .xml - Google Maps (Extensible Markup Language)[1,409 KB]
  • .txt - Textual Output [1,041 KB]
  • .hwr - Hummingbird Waypoints and Routes Format [234 KB]
  • .upoi - iGo8 Points of Interest [363 KB]
  • .tpg - National Geographic Waypoints Format [236 KB]
  • .lmx - Nokia Landmark Exchange (used by Nokia phones) [2,076 KB]
  • .asc - TomTom POI file [211 KB]
  • .ov2 - TomTom POI file [147 KB]
  • .tmpro - TopoMapPro Places file [363 KB]
  • Tab delimited fields useful for OpenOffice, Excel, Ploticus etc. [1,194 KB]
  • .pdb - PathAway Database for Palm/OS [482 KB]
  • .dna - Navitrak DNA marker format [209 KB]
  • .psp - MS PocketStreets 2002 Pushpin [346 KB]
  • .mxf - MapTech Exchange Format [403 KB]
  • .usr - Lowrance USR [243 KB]
  • .kwf - Kartex 5 Waypoint File [390 KB]

    • GPS Waypoints for Trail Angels and Support People

    The following waypoint files have the waypoints for all the places where the PCT crosses a road. Many of the roads are Forest Service roads and may not be accessible by the public. Be sure to check your driving routes ahead of time. Also included are waypoints for all the popular post offices, stores, and other vehicle-accessible points of interest along the Pacific Crest Trail.

    Waypoints can be stored in many different formats. Find the format your vehicle navigation system requires below. Right-click on the link for your format and select "save link as" to download the file.

  • .gpx - Garmin GPX eXchange Data Format [61 KB]
  • .gpi - Garmin Points of Interest Format [28 KB]
  • .ov2 - TomTom POI file [9 KB]
  • .asc - TomTom POI file [13 KB]
  • .upt - Magellan SD files (as for eXplorist) [23 KB]
  • .pdb - PathAway Database for Palm/OS [25 KB]
  • .pcx - Garmin PCX5 [45 KB]
  • .mps - Garmin MapSource [37 KB]
  • .gdb - Garmin MapSource [35 KB]
  • .kmz - Google Earth (Keyhole Markup Language Compressed) [10 KB]
  • .kml - Google Earth (Keyhole Markup Language) [91 KB]

    • These waypoint files were created form the waypoints for hikers. We just removed all the waypoints that aren't accessible by road. So the waypoint names will match up with those in the hikers' waypoint files.

    Waypoint Naming Conventions

    These waypoint files were created from Half Mile's PCT waypoints. They were translated from his most recent .gpx file using a program called GPS Babel. Half Mile named the waypoints using the following convention.

    The waypoints beginning with 'WR' indicate water sources listed in the Water Report ('WR001' for example). 'WA' is for waypoints not listed in the Water Report. Waypoints beginning with 'PO' indicate a post office. 'RD' indicates a road. 'CS' indicates a campsite. 'CG' is 'campground'. 'BB' is 'bear box'. Waypoints named with only numbers indicate the point's distance (in trail miles) from the Mexican border. So '0900' indicates the point 900 trail miles North of the Mexican border. '0900-5' indicates the point 900.5 trail miles North of the Mexican border.