Best Gaia maps for Baja

[AntonLargiader]

I know this is similar to a few other threads, but I also understand that the best maps for Mexico aren't necessarily the best for Baja, and not all of the maps out there are available in Gaia.

I have Gaia Deluxe, so I have dozens of maps available. Not all of them are available offline, though, and not all of them even apply to Baja. For instance, I think the OSM maps cannot be downloaded and the well-loved NatGeo maps only cover certain parks.

Can anyone save me some time and tell me which of those are worth downloading offline for adventure rallying in Baja? We are participating in the Baja XL in late January. I have already saved the Gaia Topo for the area, which actually seems pretty good. But I have tons of storage space left.

Is there a way to make maps from the OSM site and load them into Gaia?

Likewise, is there a way to save satellite maps in GmapCatcher and load them into Gaia?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Gaia World Imagery + Roads is what I will be DL'n for BAJA 4000

Maps.me is another excellent resource for Baja road travel

 

[amcjen]

Gaia should import Garmin (GPX) maps, and we were planning on importing the Cartographia E32 maps into both Gaia and LeadNav. Link: http://cartografiagps.com/en/

 

[Superduty]

Gaia should import Garmin (GPX) maps, and we were planning on importing the Cartographia E32 maps into both Gaia and LeadNav. Link: http://cartografiagps.com/en/

Please share how you will do that.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Please share how you will do that.

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Uploads can only be done on your desktop using Gaiagps.com. Under your user name select UPLOAD and you can upload GPX, KLM, and FIT files

 

[AntonLargiader]

Gaia World Imagery + Roads is what I will be DL'n for BAJA 4000

Wow, those are super clear, but I don't think I can store them all. What device are you using, and what zoom level will you save?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Wow, those are super clear, but I don't think I can store them all. What device are you using, and what zoom level will you save?

iPad 128 but you can get piggyback storage if needed. Many use android for higher storage but I have not found a screen can compare to Apple while driving using sunglasses. I DL Ariel maps when I go out exploring new areas. I use it a lot when in Baja trying to locate remote beach access. With Gaia you can also just DL maps for a route you pick. Its scaleable on how and what you need.

 

[Superduty]

Uploads can only be done on your desktop using Gaiagps.com. Under your user name select UPLOAD and you can upload GPX, KLM, and FIT files

Pardon my ignorance, but aren't those files all forms of tracks or collection of waypoints and not the actual map data?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Pardon my ignorance, but aren't those files all forms of tracks or collection of waypoints and not the actual map data?

Yes you are correct I was reading the post request as wanting to import GPX files.

Another E32 question - Many of the tracks on E32 are uploaded by others. How does one determine if they are single track or double track and what is needed to travel the given E32 track? Anyone here purchase E32, if so what version did you go with and why?

 

[AntonLargiader]

iPad 128 but you can get piggyback storage if needed. Many use android for higher storage but I have not found a screen can compare to Apple while driving using sunglasses. I DL Ariel maps when I go out exploring new areas. I use it a lot when in Baja trying to locate remote beach access. With Gaia you can also just DL maps for a route you pick. Its scaleable on how and what you need.

I also have an iPad 128 but since the BXL does not have a set route I'm not sure what to download and at what resolution. Just the bottom tip of Baja south of La Paz can be 50~80GB if you download it at zoom 19. But it really does have exceptional detail.

 

[Superduty]

I also have an iPad 128 but since the BXL does not have a set route I'm not sure what to download and at what resolution. Just the bottom tip of Baja south of La Paz can be 50~80GB if you download it at zoom 19. But it really does have exceptional detail.

If you are downloading imagery, it is nearly impossible to cache any large areas at high resolution, it just takes up too much memory.

What map were you looking at that was 80GB? I assume you were doing that in many different sections. In my experience, Gaia won't let you download such a large file size at one time.

 

[AntonLargiader]

The map is Gaia World Imagery that LCW mentioned at full (Z=19) resolution. Zooming in on the tip of Baja shows about 80GB estimated at full zoom. Yes, that would have to be downloaded in many smaller sections as there is a 10,000 tile limit per DL.

I started to DL them at Z=16 and realized that I could go deeper as it would only have ended up being about 12GB for all of Baja. I'm going to do it over at maybe Z=17 but I'm going to try doing it based on routes. I still have time to play with this.

 

[AntonLargiader]

Gaia just released new base maps with the ESRI World Imagery and Topo lines. I am downloading a section of them at Z=17 as a test.

 

[1Louder]

Gaia just released new base maps with the ESRI World Imagery and Topo lines. I am downloading a section of them at Z=17 as a test.

MapBox Streets HD is great for towns. As an individual you can add Google Maps. Here's how, https://www.4xoverlandadventures.com/import-custom-maps-gaia-gps/

I don't think the E32 maps could be downloaded and then imported into Gaia. Even if you wanted to host your own map data on a web server and then download. I have done that with a few geo-referenced PDF maps (think Avenza) but it is a lengthy process.

All of the gpx tracks for the baja races are available online for free.

Using an app like PocketEarth or Maps.me for major roads as a backup is helpful too.

 

[AntonLargiader]

I found that Google Maps has some road detail that the others don't in Baja, so I imported that at Z=17 into Gaia (it was only 800MB) following the custom map import instructions I found here. Downloading it to the iPad was pretty easy because the tile limit was 100,000 tiles per download meaning it was only 14 downloads.

I also have ESRI imagery for all of Baja now at Z=17, taking about 70GB. That took an incredible amount of time because the tile limit is 10,000 tiles which required 336 downloads. There may have been a different way to do it but I think this difficulty is deliberate.

I still have 46GB available so I may try to import some OSM info beyond what is in the base map. Also I will download the Google Maps info into the Google Maps app itself, which will make that extra detail routable, which it won't be as a map image in Gaia.

I'm impressed with how much the iPad holds. BTW we have several backup devices (Garmin and PC) as well. The PC has all of the Baja imagery from gMapCatcher and (I assume) Garmin Basecamp as well.