I have a roads shapefile layer in ArcMap and I want to be able to view it on my Garmin64st. Ideally, it would be overlaid on a basemap so I would always be able to see it. It seems like that means I need to convert my .shp file to .img.
I'm finding various programs that claim to help with some step of this, but some of them are really expensive, and none of the free ones I've tried have gotten me to .img so far. I did download an ArcGIS Toolbox which converts .shp to .gpx, but I haven't been able to find a way to convert that to .img for free yet.
Am I missing something?
Does anyone know a simple and free way to convert a .shp to be viewed in a Garmin GPS like I've described?
If I absolutely must purchase a program, do you know of one that works?
Best Answer
I just wanted to let anyone know the best solution I found to this problem.
I got my roads uploaded through DNR GPS, which is the best program I've seen for uploading things to Garmin GPS. However, my original roads layer was much too large for it to process. It doesn't interpret roads as lines, but rather as "tracks" made up of hundreds of thousands of points, even in my relatively small area.
I just clipped my roads down to the ones I wanted most, in the most remote places not likely to be covered in the Garmin basemap. Then I split that into three separate files to make them even smaller and easier to process. Then I uploaded those one by one to the GPS through DNR GPS.
In the Garmin, they get saved as tracks, which can easily be turned on and shown on the map. I've since turned the GPS off and turned it back on, and the roads are still displayed.