garmin

Scotland’s North Coast 500 GPX Route File – NC500 GPX

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Scotland’s North Coast 500 GPX Route File – NC500 GPX:

UPDATE : I have again completed this route in 2019 and have uploaded some videos recorded on the Hyperlapse (time-lapse) setting of the GoPro Hero 7 Black Edition.

These videos will hopefully give you a little taste of what to expect or something to wet your appetite with so you can start planning your NC500 adventure…

A link to the Ride Report is also included further down this page along with the direct link to the GPX file of the NC500 route.

UPDATE #2 : I have completed the NC500 again, this time in 2023, and this time in a car. If you are curious about fuel on the route, specifically E5 / Super Unleaded 97 Ron, then this is the post for you : https://tbni.blog/2023/09/16/nc500-super-unleaded-fuel/

Day 1 : Inverness to Ullapool :

 

Day 2 : Ullapool to John O’Groats :

 

Day 3 : John O’Groats to Inverness :

I have now uploaded my galleries and Ride Report of my 2016 trip around the Scotland’s North Coast 500 (NC500).  You can find them all here :

Scotland’s North Coast 500 : NC500 : Ride Report

One thing I did notice (for example in comparison to the Irish Wild Atlantic Way) was the lack of signage.  Unless you knew you were actually on the NC500 you probably wouldn’t know you were on it.

UPDATE : As of 2023, having completed this route again I can now confirm that the signage situation is now infinitely better. You will now see frequent signage and directions that include the NC500 markers. It is not quite as frequent as the WAW however there are far less deviations from the loop.

NC500 Sign - These Signs will keep you on the correct route

The GPX file is available from the official North Coast 500 site, along with a printable map however my Sat Nav (a Tom Tom Rider V) found it far too complex, there are thousands of way points on it, and the sat nav just just refused to load it.  The printable map is nice, but let’s be honest an A4 map covering 500 miles isn’t an ideal solution either.

Thankfully there is a good solution.  This GPX file is sat nav friendly and guides you perfectly around the route.

(This GPX file will not take into account local diversions, road closures etc etc. Use it for guidance, but ensure to follow all local laws and rules of the road. TBNI.Blog is not responsible for the accuracy of this GPX file, it has not been updated since 2016 and should be used as a tool to assist your navigation and no warranty or guarantee is made or implied by its use. The use of this GPX is entirely are your own risk.)

Enjoy

https://www.tbni.blog/downloads/North-Coast-500.gpx

(If you have any trouble downloading the file just Contact Me and I will email it to you.

If you found this file useful please consider a small voluntary donation to the site, which helps keep things online and up to date.  Thanks.

North Coast 500 : Scotland : NC500
North Coast 500 : Scotland : NC500

Preparing MicroSD Card for Use in Garmin Dakota 20 (& Other GPS Systems)

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Last year I purchased a Garmin Dakota 20 GPS System to use on my Motorcycle and also for GeoCaching. I never really used it. However I have now set up setting it up properly and getting it ready for use this year.

One good point about the Dakota 20 is the fact that it has a expandable memory by the addition of a MicroSD card, which sits neatly behind the batteries. This is a bit of a no brainer really as SD Cards are so affordable now. You don’t even have to go that big as the Custom maps from Garmin are a maximum size of 4GB, an 8GB should easily do most users. One other option is that if you have a lot of custom maps you could buy bigger, store all your maps on the device then move them around into the proper directories as required as your journey progresses. (Pretty much the whole of Western Europe on a Custom Map is squeezed into 4GB).

To utilise this all you have to do is prepare the card.

(One quick tip for when you get set up, make sure you leave the WW BaseMaps Enabled, this will give you at the very least a base map whilst your detailed maps load, removing any white screens that you get as loading occurs, it is purely cosmetic, just nicer to work with!).

To do this follow these simple steps.

1. Format your MicroSD card as FAT32 (FAT MS-DOS on a Mac)
2. Rename the Card – ‘GARMIN.’
3. Create a folder named ‘Garmin’ in the root directory.
4. Any Map files with the extension ‘.img’ are placed in this directory.
5. Copy the File Structure from your Actual Garmin GPS to that of your Freshly Formatted SD Card. The folders named below are all within the ‘Garmin’ Root directory.
6. The ‘CustomMaps’ folder will contain any ‘.kmz’ files.
7. The ‘BirdsEye’ folder will house any ‘.jnx’ files.
8. The ‘GPX’ folder will be the home of waypoints and so on just as the Garmin was itself.

garmintransfers

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