Sanctioned trails not displayed on map

[riogrande]

Using my 66i, I have seen for some time that many Forest Service and BLM trails in western US states (eg. Colorado) no longer appear on the Garmin Base map for my area. All of these trails are named/numbered and I've confirmed that they are part of the Land Agency trail inventory, and they appear on official paper maps. I know that these base maps rely on OSM, and I've confirmed that many of the trail disappearances are also seen on some of the other OSM-derived maps I've loaded into the 66i. Some of those maps show some of the trails lacking in the Garmin base. None of the 4 maps (Garmin + three others) show all of the sanctioned trails. (For reference, ALL santioned trails are shown on Gaiagps base maps, which also rely on OSM, with enhancements).

This is very strange. Why would named/numbered trails be deleted from base maps? Has anyone else noticed this?

~Bob

[GPSrChive]

Can you be much more specific about which maps and map version are loaded on your device, and specify some of the trails that were available with older versions of the same map, but not the current version?

[riogrande]

Maps installed:
TopoActive NA US 2025.10 updated 8/11/25 prior to that used 2 previous versions
(don't have version #s for these next three, but they were downloaded/installed within 1 yr ago)
otm-us-west
OpenMapChest US West
us-west_gmapsupp

Here's one place I see the problem:
Courthouse Mountain lat="38.135026" lon="-107.575801"
Trail 6218 begins on west side of FR 860, southeast of Courthouse, to a junction with the Courthouse Mtn summit trail. 6218 then continues west into next drainage. All of my Garmin maps do NOT show 6218 (or indeed any of the trail network) west beyond the Courthouse junction. (NOTE: I cannot verify that this particular location did or did not show the other trails in the past, because I hadn't looked before July 2025.)

At the moment I don't have other examples. Even if this has been an issue for OSM and Garmin maps for a while, it's a big problem. No sanctioned trails should be left off the map. (By sanctioned I mean trails and roads currently approved in Forest Service or BLM documents, and so mapped and labeled for public use.)

[GPSrChive]

TopoActive Map data is largely based on OSM map data.

The other three maps you listed are also using OSM data as the core map.

Upon checking the OSM map page for the coordinates you listed, I do not see Trail 6218. I do see Trail 6144.

Do you have a map to share that shows Trail 6218?

I was able to find more info using this USFS Interactive Map.

Turns out the OSM data mistakenly marks part of Trail 6218 as Trail 6144, and has no data for Trail 6218 southwest of the Trail 6144 intersection.

OSM Map

Courthouse Mtn OSM.png

The USFS map does show it correctly.

USFS Map

Courthouse Mtn 6218 E.png

Courthouse Mtn 6218 W.png

Courthouse Mtn 6144 S.png

I loaded some Outdoor Maps+ map layers for the area on one of my Garmin devices, and found these trails correctly identified in the FS Topo map layer.

FS Topo vs OSM

1652.bmp

2190.bmp

I also found Trail 6218, for unknown reasons, is displayed in the current Garmin City Navigator maps.

If you want these trails to be part of the OSM based maps, someone will have to add them to the OSM map database, and hope that Garmin and other map makers add the new data with their next OSM based map updates.

[Przekątny]

Here's one place I see the problem:
Courthouse Mountain lat="38.135026" lon="-107.575801"
Trail 6218 begins on west side of FR 860, southeast of Courthouse, to a junction with the Courthouse Mtn summit trail.

Trail 6144 (continuation of trail 6218) to the summit of Courthouse Mountain (N38.13509° W107.57495°) is marked on the Topo Active 2025 map; the issue may be related to the display on the device.

Sometimes, the OSM developers mark the feature using an unusual Polyline type for the device.

There may also be a zoom issue. Try increasing the map detail; you'll see lower levels displayed when zooming in between 300 and 500 meters.

I once had a situation where campsite locations weren't displayed on the OSM map, even though the map file contained locations. They were marked with the wrong Point type, which the device couldn't handle.

Changing the Point type to one accepted by the device resulted in the campsite locations appearing.

[Przekątny]

Trail 6218 from the junction you mentioned is not marked on the map.

The missing trails can be filled in by creating a transparent trail map in an .img file.

[riogrande]

Thanks for all your replies. It's not a zoom/detail issue. Appears to confirm that the it's at the OSM level, I just am at a loss to understand why so many would be left off when they are all publicly available from the Land Agencies. Yes, all the trails appear on FS and BLM paper maps - both in my example and everywhere else. My old Explorer+ had a much better map showing trails and land boundary types. I have seached for other maps compatible with the 66 but they appear too difficult to build, or seem to be blocked by the device firmware.

There are of course much better maps available for phones (such as Gaia, which I do have) but I generally do not carry a phone while hiking. Those maps show all official routes, sometimes with useful additional encoded information.

[Przekątny]

Yes, all the trails appear on FS and BLM paper maps - both in my example and everywhere else.

If you can obtain a paper map in an image file, you can customize it for display on the GMSmap 66.
The GPSmap 66 supports paper maps in digital files after converting them to KMZ files.

[riogrande]

I considered scanning/importing individual maps into the 66, but that's not the solution I'm looking for. And it seems like it's not an easy solution. I really need a wide-area but detailed map layer that's ready to go at any time. Aside from the OSM alternatives and Garmin's own $100/yr USGS, I don't know of any others that fit my needs.

[GPSrChive]

Aside from the OSM alternatives and Garmin's own $100/yr USGS, I don't know of any others that fit my needs.

Outdoor Maps+ is $50/year and provides access to nearly 40 premium map layers, including the trails you are looking for, and counting.