Maps & apps for GPS

I have not used traks4africa, but from what I have seen on the PC screens at Navworld, it has contour intervals of > 50m. Honestly,if you look at the Amphitheatre region it will take 10 minutes to find which way is north, the tugels falls or whatever. Maybe I saw it incorrectly, but my take is that Traks4africa is completely useless to hikers

@AndrewP I agree with you about tracks4africa and contours, but they are exactly the same as the Garmin topo and rec maps which also only show 50m contours.
I am now mostly using my smartphone with the wikiloc app for viewing maps - the downloadable South Africa map on it has 10m contours. Of course getting your existing data into it is another episode altogether

Wikiloc is fantastic, I have it (and the pre-downloaded map) on my cell phone. It was useful for my Nepal trip, and still remains useful in SA. The major problem of course is cell phone battery life, but lets be honest, for day hikes, this is not a problem. And for a weekend hike, a battery pack will get you through.

About the only issue I have with it is that the screen does not show the scale, so it is not easy to see if you have 5, 10 or 20km still to go for the day.

Have a look at this link, you can import a planned track into Wikiloc. This is useful for transfering your data from Basecamp into Wikiloc before the trip:
help.wikiloc.com/article/114-import-routes

Interestingly, an updated downloadable OSM map has been posted at:
www.gmaptool.eu/en/content/africa-south-osm-topo-routable

This map has 2 significant advantages over the link provided earlier:
- Contours are now 25m instead of 100m
- The map is routable
I do not know if it is more up to date, but assume it is.

Below is a comparison of the map products I have loaded on my PC + GPS units.

Topographical 2009 map in Mapsource. Because of huge “tiles”, I can fit most but not all of the Drakensberg onto my old etTrex HC Venture. As such, for a GT, I am always blind for part of it.



OSM map in MapSource. I am able to select 100% of the Drakensberg, and send the maps to my old eTrex Venture HC. Big plus here for the OSM map!



Topo 2009 in Basecamp. No paths at all



Topo 2013 in Basecamp. Still no paths. The dark green background for the “park” is in my opinion rather over powering.



OSM in Basecamp. Note the number of paths shown, once again a big plus for OSM!



Zoom in to the OSM map, showing the path I took for Mlambonjwa Pass + Bell traverse vs the path shown on map. The path detail is accurate.



Now, what does this routablity mean? Well, create a route on the OSM map between 2 random points on a marked path, and you get this done automatically, the system sees that you can link these points via a proper path, and gives you an accurate route to travel between the points. Your expected distance is thus accurate instead of just a straight line distance.



Accurate distance is given. No cumulative height gain is given for a route with Basecamp because Basecamp itself has issues (I have seen this trend for 3 map products now, so it is definitely Basecamp, not the map at fault).



And, you get an elevation profile



For info, Topo 2009 is NOT routable.

Topo 2013 is routable, so you get a similar picture – BUT, 2013 does not have the paths shown, so you can only get elevation profiles for straight line routes, or for a track you manually trace out.

At this stage, while we are still on a PC, I am inclined to feel that the OSM map is the best option for users out there. Especially people with old GPS units and hence the 2009 map. I will go a step further an suggest that for users with an old GPS unit, your best option right now is to KEEP the old unit and put the OSM map on it - there are a lot of negatives related to upgrading your GPS (You have to replace Mapsource with Basecamp, licencing for the nwr Garmin maps mean that you can only plan routes with Basecamp if you either plug in the GPS or take out the SD card and plug into your PC, in which I assure you that one day you will get out into the hills and curse that the SD card is still at home, and as indicated in the next post, the dark green background for the "park"makes it very difficult to use your Topo2013 map within the SA side of the Drakensberg)

Now, for a few screen shots off the GPS units. In the comments that follow, please consider that when I look at a GPS unit, I am still moving, and typically use less than 2 seconds to process everything on the screen. “Orienteering map” type principals thus apply to me at least, where I need as big a contrast as possible between symbols to process the information very quickly. If you are happy to stare at the screen for 10 seconds, these comments might not apply

On my eTrex Venture HC, a comparison between the OSM map and the Topo 2009 map. I tend to feel that the Topo 2009 map is better
OSM Map on my old eTrex HC Venture



Topo 2009 on the same device
?



On my eTrex 30 a comparison between the OSM map and the Topo 2013 map. My opinion is that inside SA, the OSM map is easier to read, while in Lesotho, the Topo 2013 is better.
Contours on the Topo 2013 map are clear in Lesotho, but almost invisible on the SA side of the border.



Contours on OSM map are difficult to see anywhere, but are at least visible in SA. I would like to see the occasional height listed such as 3000m.



It will take a bit more time for me to learn to work with these products in an optimal way. I anticipate though that the following is going to emerge:
- I will mostly retain the use of the topo 2009 / 2013 maps on my GPS units. As most of my time is spent inside Lesotho, this makes sense
- I will use the OSM map within Basecamp to plan my trips (because of the better path coverage)
- If you currently have nothing, then I suggest getting the OSM map (which is free!), as it will help you tremendously to have contour lines marked on your GPS unit
- Time will tell what I do for a hike mostly in SA. Here, I might go for the OSM map simply because the green on the Topo 2013 map is in my opinion too over powering. The contour lines are almost invisible!
- In any event, I have now loaded the OSM map onto my GPS device itself, and still have the 2013 Topo SD card loaded, so can switch between the maps on the fly.
- It will also depend on how you use your “overall product”. A routable map on your PC is very useful for planning trips. A routable map on your GPS is only useful if you change your mind during the hike. For a day or weekend trip, this is unlikely to be of use. But, for a multi day hike it could be a factor worth considering. For my Nepal trip, a routabe map on my GPS played a significant factor, but for a Drakensberg Grand Traverse, I doubt it would help much. i.e. OSM on your PC and Topo on your GPS

@AndrewP Thanks for the links - very useful.

AndrewP wrote: Wikiloc is fantastic, I have it (and the pre-downloaded map) on my cell phone. .

help.wikiloc.com/article/114-import-routes

We are huge fans of Wikiloc - slowly adding trails where ever and whenever possible.

Which raises a question I dont know where to post.... There are perfect paths out there that are not any maps! How do they get to be there and who is using them so frequently! The only answer we have is game... I had a route planned and ended up on another path altogether, very glad I had way points pluged in and could see that I should end up where I needed to be. It was a great path with purose and direction but not on any maps I have found.

PeterHowells wrote: I am now mostly using my smartphone with the wikiloc app for viewing maps - the downloadable South Africa map on it has 10m contours. Of course getting your existing data into it is another episode altogether

My GPS took an irretrievable swim in the Mnweni this morning, guess I'm going to try Wikiloc on my phone..

Is wikiloc good for navigating to waypoints etc, or really only for tracking?

You can do both effectively. Browse previously recorded routes in your chosen area and follow themor or If you are going to somewhere new record the track for others... I am making a concerted effort to log waypoints like caves, water falls, path junctions etc.
Sorry to hear about your GPS's final waypoint.