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HOW TO USE GPS TRACKS
A Comprehensive Guide to BDR Track Files
Below is a comprehensive guide to BDR track files to help you better understand the intentions and use of these files.
Each route download is one single .gpx file which contains all individual tracks for that route, including waypoints for food, gas, lodging and points of interest.
NAMING CONVENTIONS:
Each individual track file is labeled for the particular section and track classification.
For example:
CAN1 – Mammoth to Bridgeport: Northern California BDR / Main Section 1 / starting in Mammoth and ending in Bridgeport.
CAN5 ALT Bypass – Downieville Hill: Northern California BDR / Section 5 / optional bypass track for Downieville Hill when wet.
CAN7 ALT Harder – Antelope Mountain: Northern California BDR / Section 7 / optional harder track for Antelope Mountain.
TRACK CLASSIFICATIONS:
Our track file names contain a series of designations to help riders determine their purpose or difficulty.
MAIN SECTIONS:
Example: CAN2 – Bridgeport to Bear Valley
These tracks signify the main route. Each track generally starts and ends at a reliable fuel source and usually doesn’t exceed 150 miles in length unless necessary. Plan accordingly for your individual fuel range.
EXT:
Example: CAN3 EXT – Leek Springs Lookout
Extension tracks are optional excursions to viewpoints or other points of interest and generally don’t exceed the level of riding difficulty as the main route.
ALT HARDER:
Example: CAN1 ALT Harder – Obsidian Dome
Optional tracks that are more difficult than the main sections and are recommended for more experienced riders. If you struggle on the main route, do not attempt these tracks.
ALT EXPERT:
Example: CAN2 ALT Expert – Mount Patterson Summit
Optional tracks that are more difficult than ALT Harder tracks and are recommended only for highly experienced riders. If you struggle on the main route or ALT Harder sections, do not attempt these tracks.
ALT BYPASS:
Example: CAN5 ALT Bypass – Downieville Hill
Optional bypass tracks that detour around a common seasonal closure or potential obstacle such as deep sand or a steep dirt hill in wet weather.
ALT FUEL:
Example: CAN8 ALT Fuel – Adin
Optional tracks to detour to fuel if your bike range requires it for that particular section.
TRACK COLORS:
Native track colors are as follows for easy reference while navigating with your GPS device:
MAIN ROUTE: Alternating blue and dark blue per section.
ALY BYPASS, ALT FUEL or EXT: Green
ALT HARDER or ALT EXPERT: Red
WAYPOINTS:
Each .gpx file contains a collection of waypoints to help riders on their journey.
Waypoints for towns along the route will be labeled with the services they offer. For example:
Alturas – Food, Gas, Lodging and Downieville – Food, Lodging, NO FUEL
Various waypoints are also included for optional “Discovery Points” including viewpoints, lookouts, historical sites, campgrounds, hotels, trailheads, markets, or cautions for hazard areas.
NOTES:
Our designated track colors will translate to Garmin devices and Gaia, but some platforms (including Gaia) may inadvertently change the track colors. We recommend you manually change the track colors on your navigation device to match ours for easier reference.
GPS track colors do not match the official BDR Maps for reasons of readability on paper vs digital devices. For example, yellow does not appear well on navigation devices but stands out on paper.
BEFORE YOU GO:
To help in planning your route, we recommend all riders purchase the official BDR Map HERE and watch the documentary film for free on YouTube HERE.
Always check for Route Updates HERE and download the latest version of the .gpx file just before you go.
What’s the best way to navigate the BDR routes?
When scouting or riding the routes, the BDR team members prefer to use a dedicated GPS unit such as the Garmin Zumo XT or XT2, Garmin Montana, Trailtech Voyager, and others. Because we use GPS Tracks, not Routes, for navigating BDRs, any GPS unit capable of displaying .gpx track files with a minimum of 500 points each is suitable for use on a BDR.
In recent years, several third party smartphone apps have been introduced designed specifically for backcountry navigation. Some of the more popular apps for BDR navigation are:
- Gaia GPS
- Rever
- onX Offroad
- OsmAnd
- BackCountry Navigator TOPO GPS PRO
- Many others…
Make sure to download topographical maps of the entire area you wish to ride within the navigation app of your choice. It is necessary to do this before you leave, on Wi-Fi, as the map files are often quite large. Then, import the BDR GPS tracks (GPX file) into the smartphone app of your choice.
Do GPS tracks have a direction of travel?
GPS tracks can be used in either direction. They are simply a static colored line that you follow, and they do not change, move, or respond.
What is the difference between a Waypoint, Track, and a Route?
Waypoints: or Points-of-interest (POI), are a static marker such as a viewpoint, gas station, or hotel.
Tracks: are a static line on a map – as your GPS position moves the idea is to simply follow this line. If you don’t see the colored line, you aren’t on the route.
Routes: are dynamically calculated turn-by-turn directions to connect a starting and ending point – they can change as you go and are not recommended for riding BDR.
How do I download the GPS tracks from the website?
To download the .gpx file, simply input all your information, select the routes you with to download, agree to the terms, and click “submit”.
The page will refresh with the option to download the .gpx file to your computer or device.
As a general reminder:
Always download the track files of your choosing just before your ride, as track files are regularly updated. The most current gps track file is always considered the current version of each route.
Keep in mind, the most current GPS track file may not match the existing BDR Map, and any changes in the route will be reflected on the next map reprint.
How do I load the tracks to my Garmin Zumo XT or XT2?
The Garmin Zumo XT often has issues connecting to or being recognized by Mac computers.
If your XT is not being recognized when you plug it in, you can try a few things first:
- Download the BDR tracks on our website and install Garmin Basecamp (free) to your computer.
- Import the .gpx file into Garmin Basecamp.
- Make sure you are using the supplied official Garmin USB cable that came with your gps unit.
- If your XT isn’t recognized, try turning the GPS unit on first, then plugging it into your computer.
- Open Garmin Basecamp, and see if your gps device is recognized there.
- If it is, select the BDR track file you wish to transfer from the collection list on the left, then at the top of the window select “TRANSFER>Send “xxxxtracks” to Device“
- The tracks will now be on your GPS unit. You may need to go into your device and manually make each track ‘visible’ by selecting ‘show on map’ for each track.
The Zumo XT and XT2 units come equipped with Bluetooth capabilities and can connect with your phone.
Another method for transferring our tracks to your Zumo and using additional features is as follows:
-
- download the Garmin Drive, Garmin Explore, and/or Garmin Tread apps to your phone using the app store.
- Note: Zumo XT uses Drive and Explore, while Zumo XT2 uses the Tread app.
- make sure you pair your cell phone to your Zumo via Bluetooth.
- navigate to our website to download the BDR track file of your choosing using your cell phone.
- upon downloading the tracks, you should be given an option of where to open, save, or ‘send’ the .gpx file.
- when your phone gives you the option of where to save or download the file, select the Garmin Drive app. (You may have to search for the app to select it.)
- The Garmin Drive app should then open, confirming it has received the .gpx file.
- With your XT connected to your phone via Bluetooth, it should give you the option to ‘send’ the file to your XT.
- Now the tracks should appear on your Zumo XT, just like you transferred them via cable.
Additionally, you can now use the Garmin Explore or Tread app to view the tracks on your phone, add or modify waypoints, change tracks colors, and more. All these changes will appear automatically on your XT the next time they are both turned on and synced via Bluetooth.
For a detailed video on how to pair your phone, use the Tread and Explore app and convert tracks to routes, click HERE
WAYPOINTS:
The Zumo XT will automatically display the waypoints on your map, however it does not have the option to display the name of the waypoint on the map, just the icon.
The XT2 however will also display the name of the icon on the main map.
The XT2 however will also display the name of the icon on the main map.
These devices to waypoints as ‘favorites’.
If you aren’t seeing them visible on your map, you can try this:
True Garmin Waypoints (also referred to as Favorites in the XT) can be made to show up on the XT map using the following menu:
Settings->Map&Vehicle->Map Layers->Collections->Choose what you want to appear on the map.
For example if you downloaded the ORBDR tracks, you should see ‘ORBDR-xxxx2025’ under collections and make sure you turn on that to make it visible.
How do I load GPS tracks onto my older Garmin GPS without bluetooth?
Connect your Garmin to your PC or Mac via the supplied USB cable
Either:
Copy the downloaded GPX file into to the GPS device by dragging the file into the “GPX” folder on your connected Garmin device.
OR
Download Garmin Basecamp. Import the GPX file to Basecamp then use “Send to device” to transfer the GPX file
***Some GPS units require that you manually select to display each track on your device, such as the BMW Nav V and VI.
After loading the GPX file to your device, simply click on your tracks app where you can view all the loaded tracks. You must then select each track individually and choose to ‘show on map’. You can also change track colors in this screen.
PLEASE NOTE: Some units such as the Nav V and Nav VI and Zumo 396, only allow a maximum of 15 tracks to be displayed at any given time.
When you import our tracks, they are all loaded onto your device, but you have to manually select to ‘show on map’ the tracks you wish to see.
With this limitation, we suggest you only make visible to first half of the route, then when you finish those sections, turn those tracks ‘off’ and select the remaining tracks as ‘visible’ on map.
How do I download GPS tracks onto my phone?
GPS Tracks can be downloaded for free on the BDR website at https://ridebdr.com/gps-tracks/.
Click on the GPS Tracks, Download GPS Tracks button. Fill in contact information, agree to the terms, hit submit. A link will appear for you to download and save the GPS file on your computer/phone.
How do I navigate a BDR using Gaia?
GAIA GPS is a powerful and easy to use GPS navigational app that we can recommend for riders who plan to use a smart phone or a tablet for navigating the BDR’s.
Simply download the GPS track file from our website, then manually ‘import’ the file into your Gaia desktop or mobile app. You may need to be logged in.
Can I use Google Maps to display BDR tracks?
There are some different options for backcountry navigation using a smartphone. Google Maps is not well suited for this purpose as it’s not designed to work with GPS tracks and waypoints that we use for the BDR routes.
We always recommend a dedicated GPS unit first, followed by a dedicated cell phone app such as Gaia or OnX Offroad.
All I have is an iPhone/iPad. How can I download tracks to my GPS?
See the topic regarding loading tracks to a device. Garmin has an app called Garmin Drive you can install on your iPad which allows you to transfer GPS tracks from your iPad to your Garmin device.
Here is a link to the how-to article Garmin has posted on their website:
How do I get turn-by-turn directions using the BDR tracks on my GPS?
Our GPS tracks are a static line meant to be followed and aren’t designed to provide turn-by-turn directions.
Specifically, this is in order to prevent unintended ‘rerouting’ by your gps. Think of the tracks as an embedded line painted on the ground, you simply follow the line. If you don’t see the line, you’re not on the BDR.
Newer GPS units such as the Garmin XT and XT2 allow users to convert a static ‘track’ to a ‘route’ by using the trip planner.
This will then give turn by turn directions on the track. However, we still don’t recommend this method as there is still a chance for unintended rerouting and you may not know whether or not you’re actually on the route itself.
How do I use maps on my phone if there isn’t cell service?
It is important to download offline maps before leaving internet service and have the BDR GPX file downloaded on your phone.
With a Gaia or OnX Premium account for example, you can download the offline maps of a designated area while on wifi. This will allow you to have the full map data, even when there is no cell service.
We strongly recommend doing this before you go.
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