I'm writing this guide to help people learn how to make Garmin GPS maps, and to help figure out stuff for myself. The information here is geared toward making maps for snowmobiling, but it'll be useful for making any type of map. There are lots of guides online already. Some are very helpful, others aren't. This isn't intended to replace or compete with any of them. I've just finally figured out the method that I think works best, and I want to make it as easy as possible for other people to do it too, without wasting time going in the wrong direction. I also want to provide information especially for snowmobilers, since there seems to be some interest in snowmobile forums in making maps.

This guide is a work in progress, which is why I've added space for user comments. Feel free to add your own tips, links, resources, and corrections, and I'll update the pages periodically to include new user contributed information. Also feel free to ask questions so that I or other users can answer them.

The goal here is to provide enough information and resources for people who know nothing about map creation to end up with a quality map that they can send to their GPSr and share with others.

For now I'll be sticking with making Garmin maps. In the future, I'll try to add information on making maps for other brands too.

Let's get started!