How to Download GPX Files for Hiking and Off-Road Trails

Most people who want to download GPX files are really after two things: a route worth following, and a way to get it onto the device they'll carry on the day. The file itself is the easy part. Picking the right line, and making sure it still matches what's on the ground, is where a good day out is won or lost.

This is how we do it, from browsing for a route to having it working offline on a phone, a handheld GPS or a car's navigation screen. If you're not sure what a GPX file actually contains, our short explainer on GPX files is a good place to start.

Start with where you want to go

The quickest way to find a route is to start with a place rather than a file. Our destination pages group trails by country, region and activity, so you can jump straight to hiking in the United Kingdom, hiking in Norway or off-road routes in Italy and see what's there.

Every trail on those pages has its own page with a map, an elevation profile and the facts you need before you commit. A few examples of the range you'll find:

• Moel Hebog from Beddgelert in Wales: 16.5 km with 992 m of climbing, rated Hard.
• Penobscot Mountain and Jordan Pond Loop in Maine: 12.2 km, 368 m of ascent, Moderate.
• Kinsarvik Hardangervidda Trek in Norway: 39.5 km and 1,613 m up, rated Extreme.
• Cowichan Valley Forest Service Road Route in British Columbia: a 99.4 km off-road route with 1,091 m of ascent, Moderate.
• Strada dell'Assietta Loop from Usseaux in Piedmont: 59.5 km off-road, 1,497 m of climbing, Hard.

If you drive rather than walk, the Canada off-road and Ladakh off-road pages are worth a browse too.

Judge the route before you download it

A GPX file is only a line. It won't tell you that the line crosses a river, climbs 1,000 m in the last few kilometres or follows a track that's been closed for years. So before we download anything, we spend five minutes on the trail page asking a few questions.

Take Garnet Canyon to the Lower Saddle in Grand Teton National Park. On paper it's 21.2 km and 1,147 m of ascent, rated Hard. The profile shows you where that climbing comes, and that's the difference between a sensible turnaround time and a guess. Our guide to reading an elevation profile goes into this in more detail.

For vehicle routes the surface and water-crossing data matter even more. The Georgetown High Passes 4x4 Loop in Colorado runs 271.4 km with 5,019 m of climbing and is rated Hard. That's a full day or more in the vehicle, and it's worth knowing where the rough sections and crossings sit before you set off. If you're new to this, our first overlanding trip checklist covers the planning side.

The file tells you where the route goes. The trail page tells you whether you should go there today.

How to download GPX files from a trail page

Once you've settled on a route, the export takes about ten seconds. You'll need a free TrailX account, which lets you download files from any trail page.

1. Open the trail page and sign in.
2. Find the export option and choose a format: GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, TCX or CSV.
3. Pick the normal direction or the reversed version.
4. Save the file somewhere you can find it again, ideally with a clear name.

GPX is the safe default. Almost every navigation app and handheld GPS reads it. KML and KMZ suit Google Earth and some mapping tools, GeoJSON is handy if you work with web maps or GIS, TCX is common in fitness apps, and CSV gives you raw coordinates for a spreadsheet. Our GPX vs KML comparison explains the differences properly.

The reversed version is more useful than it sounds. Plenty of loops are better walked or driven the other way round: a steep ascent becomes a steep descent, the afternoon sun ends up behind you, or a hard crossing comes early while you're fresh. Rather than editing the file yourself, just download it reversed.

If you've already got a file in the wrong format, our free format converter turns any of those six formats into any other, right in your browser. We've written more about that in our GPX converter guide.

Check the file before you head out

It's worth opening the file once before you rely on it. You can drop it into our upload and analysis tool without an account: it shows the route on a map, the elevation profile, distance, total ascent and descent, gradient breakdown and water-crossing count. Nothing leaves your browser unless you choose to publish it.

This is a good habit for files from anywhere, not just from us. A quick look catches the common problems: a route that's been cut short, a stray point in the next valley, or a track that's actually a recording with a lunch break and a detour in it. Our post on viewing a GPX file online and the guide to viewing GPX on a map cover this step in more depth.

Get the file onto your device

How you load the file depends on what you'll navigate with.

Phone. iPhone and Android both handle GPX, but the route depends on the app you open it with. Our step-by-step guide to GPX on iPhone and Android walks through it.

Handheld GPS. Most units accept GPX copied over USB or through the manufacturer's desktop or phone app. Check how many track points your device can store, because very long routes sometimes need splitting.

Car navigation. Some built-in systems and dedicated off-road units take GPX directly. Others want KML or a specific format, which is where the converter earns its place. Our guide on how to open a GPX file lists common apps and devices.

Or skip the file entirely with the app

If you're navigating with a phone, the simplest option is the TrailX mobile app, free on iOS and Android. You can open a trail directly, download it along with the regional map for offline use, and follow it with turn-by-turn voice navigation, off-route alerts and rerouting. It will also route you to the trailhead.

The offline download is the important bit. Do it at home on wifi, not at the trailhead with one bar of signal. We learned that one the hard way, and it's on our list of small habits that make hikes better for good reason.

The app also imports and exports all six formats, so a GPX from a friend or another site works too.

Licences and credit

Downloading a GPX file for your own trip is one thing. Republishing it is another. Route data often comes from someone's recording, a guidebook or a mapping project like OpenStreetMap, and those come with conditions, usually around attribution.

Our rule of thumb: use downloaded routes freely for your own trips, credit the source if you share them, and don't upload someone else's route as your own. If you've recorded a route yourself and want to share it, publish your trail so others can find it with your name on it.

Why downloaded tracks go out of date

A GPX file is a snapshot. The ground changes, the file doesn't.

Paths get rerouted around landslides and erosion. Forest roads get gated. Bridges wash out, fords deepen after a wet season, and a track that was fine in a dry summer becomes something else entirely in spring. Off-road routes are especially prone to this, because access rules and land ownership change too.

That's why we look at recency before we download, and why recent reviews and photos are worth more than the line on the map. Once you're out there, trust the ground over the file. If the track you see doesn't match the route on your screen, stop and work out why before carrying on. Our safety guidelines and off-road tips cover what to do when things don't line up.

And when you get home, leave a review. A two-line note saying "bridge out at km 12, ford is fine" is exactly what the next person needs.

Where to next?

• Find a route: browse destinations or jump to United States off-road.
• Plan your own: draw a custom route in the Route Composer and export it as GPX.
• Change formats: use the free format converter for GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, TCX and CSV.
• Learn the basics: read how to create a GPX route.
• Take it offline: get the free TrailX app for iOS and Android.