Garman Nuvi Help

[GreatWhite]

I want to plan a trip using my Nuvi to a campground in the Sierras. I have gps coordinates.. but I don't think that helps with the Nuvi. However, without a physical address, how do I input such.

For instance, we are planning to go to Union Valley Reservoir in Eldorado County, Calif. I really know how to get there but would like to try to use the GPS to find my way. I know it's on Icehouse Road and the closest physical address I can find is a resort on a different lake on the same road.. 9000 Icehouse Road.

Any help..

ALSO, I am not doing well on putting in waypoints. I want to take that same trip from my house in Healdsburg, CA.. but the planned route takes me on a road I'd rather not take. I am trying to enter the intersection of Hwy 101 and CA-37.. but I don't see how to do that without having some sort of address. I tried entering road 1 as Hwy 101 and 2, CA37.. Nuvi doesn't seem to like that for me.

Any help..

Thanks all. See, I knew there are some experts out there

[Chuck 1935]

I have the same problem. I have added via points on occasion to take me the way I want to go or break the trip into segments and save as #1 #2 etc. As for the final destination if I don't have an address,I will move the pointer to the spot I want to go to and mark it. Before going on a trip I put in all the places I want to stop at ie campgrounds, cheap fuel stops etc.

[chiefdave]

I have a Garmnin Nuvi 350. To enter and intersection press Where to, then use the arrow down and select Intersection. Select State, Spell city. Then enter Street 1 address, Street 2 address . It should find the intersection. If you have GPS coordinates, select Where to, then arrow down to Coordinates. Enter N and W coordiantes. You can change formats for coordinates by pressing Format at the bottom of the screen. Select the GPS format you need and enter information. Should direct you to formats based on how you set up your GPS. Fastest Time or Shortest Distance. Hope this helps.

[pkendzor]

Our Nuvi works the same way as Dave's We use the coordinate feature a lot

[Tallyrver]

I have Microsoft Streets and Trips ,I downloaded a 30 day full trial to see if it worked for me. I used it to plan a trip from Florida to St Louis ,added fuel stops ,rest breaks and all kinds of other stuff. It is easy to inport the route into the Garmin via the usb cable. I bought the full version with the gps adapter for $69.00 but have not used it for navigation ,just the Garmin.

You can also find other downloads for it including low bridge warnings.

[Rick Long]

You'll find your best answers to GPS questions here: POI Factory | new & interesting places for your GPS

[Gary RVRoamer]

I haven't found the Intersection feature to be very usable. It works great if you use the same name and spelling as in the Garmin database, but that seems problematic. While I may know a road as Route 62, Garmin may know it as Hwy 62 or Rt 62 or SR 62 or maybe even McDilly Rd. And I've found Interstates listed as I58 or I-58 or I 58, with no consistency from one to another either.

Coordinates on my Nuvi 250W works as the others described.

[Jack R]

Try this site. It has helped me when trying something new.

Garmin Nuvi GPS Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets and Ideas -- Page 1

[dc8cappie]

You can purchase garmin mapsource which you can use to plot a route. You can then drag the route from where it wants to route you to another road. This isn't the easiest as it tends to only drag that section between junctions but I've done it so I know it can be done. If you know where the turn off is for your off road location is you can make it a point and you can mark your destination by going to GO TO POSITION and inputing the lat/long.

Hope this helps a little.

[BryanL]

see Finding Sierra Nevada Unit WBCCI Rally Sites for some ideas and links. Once you figure out how to copy a GPX file to the proper place on your Nuvi, you can use a utility such as GMaptoGPX to transfer a google maps route to your Nuvi.

Do make sure you don't have the 'settings, navigation, avoidances, dirt roads' checked to avoid. If you go off roads known to the map, you can change the navigation preferences to "off road" but that is a royal pain IMHO.

You may have the 'where to, custom routes' option available (depending upon model and software level) where you can create and edit a route by setting up a series of waypoints.

Always have a backup! The Benchmark Atlas (my preference) or the Delorme are not too expensive and can serve this purpose.

[GreatWhite]

Thanks to all for the helps. I'll have to check them out once I get back from this week trip. Chiefdave.. that's aproblem when you don't have street addresses for an intersection.. just the names of the intersecting highways.

This is kind of easy on the GPS in my wife's Honda.. it has a 'joystick' to move the pointer anyplace.. On the Nuvi.. I can't figure how to look for the lake we are going to.. once I put in the start point. I can use the "-" button to back out.. but it only goes so far.. and I can't seem to scroll the map as on hers.

I should have more time when we return home.

Thanks again.