What is a GPX file — and how to open one.

What is a GPX file?

A GPX file (GPS Exchange Format) is an open XML document for location data: waypoints, routes, and tracks. It is the dialect GPS devices and map apps already speak. You can email it, drop it on a phone, or copy it to a Garmin.

A track is an ordered line of points — where you walked, or the line you drew. A route is a thinner list of turns. A waypoint is a single marked spot. Map to GPS writes a track.

How to open a GPX file

• In this browser. Open the map and drop the `.gpx` file onto it. The line appears. No account, no upload.
• On a Garmin. Copy the file to the device, or import it through BaseCamp or Connect. Step by step: Load the GPX on a Garmin.
• On a phone. Open or share the file in an app that reads GPX — Gaia, WorkOutDoors, OsmAnd, and many others. The same track works.
• In Google Maps. Open Google My Maps, create a map, choose Import, and pick the `.gpx` file. The track draws on a Google map.

Make a GPX from a map

Click the map to plot. Drag to fix. Download a GPX track. That is the job — a line on a map, as a file your GPS can follow. Plot a route.

What we write — and what we don't

Downloads are GPX 1.1, a single track (`trk` / `trkpt`). That is the shape Garmin handhelds, watches, BaseCamp, and phone apps import most reliably. If terrain tiles loaded, points may include elevation. The file creator is Map to GPS.

We do not write GPX route elements (`rte`). Those files behave inconsistently on handhelds. One track, one job.

Drop an existing file to view it, then keep moving points and download again. This is not a trim, split, or merge editor.