GPS coords for Charles Wells' 4X4 books

[theMike]

I have taken the time to input EVERY waypoint for every trail in Charles Wells' Moab book and BOTH of his Colorado books.

They are in the format that Garmin Mapsource uses so I can give anyone the file if they desire. I spoke to Charles before posting this and both he and I want to stress that the GPS data that's in the Moab book is about 10 years old (NEW UPDATED BOOK ON THE WAY EARLY 2008) when GPS's weren't that accurate/reliable. While I did my best to input and proof read the data accurately I can't take resposibility for either the accuracy of the positioning or the data itself.

The Colorado books coords are right on it seems. I have done a few trail using the coordinates and they were pretty damn accurate. It's amazing how things have changed so much over a few years.

EDIT: You don't have to email me for them now. They are avaliable for download HERE (further down the thread). Thanks Eric for setting that up. Each book has it's own file. There are 403 points in the South Colorado book, 229 in the North Colorado book, 429 in the original Moab book, and 420 in the 2nd Edition Moab book.

EDIT 02/08: CHARLES HAS PUBLISHED A 2ND EDITION MOAB BOOK. THOSE FILES SHOULD BE AVALIALBE TOO. I POSTED A QUICK THREAD HERE ABOUT THAT BOOK.

In addition to retailers, Charles sells his books directly from his site at www.funtreks.com. One thing he offers that you won't get in a retail store is sprial bindings for I believe an additional $3. Giddy-up!

Mike

[Eric]

Normally I don't condone the blind dissemination of trail locations, however the waypoints in these files are sparse enough that they really need to be used in conjuction with Charles' books. Not only for level of difficulty and what to expect along the way, but in many cases the text is required to find your way between the waypoints. Mike's efforts just save you the time of entering the data into a usable format. For now I've uploaded them as attachments, but I may create a GPS-specific page in the future if we continue to expand this collection. If we do, I would suggest very highly detailed routes so the designated trail will be very clear to the enduser.

Disclaimer:
Use at your own risk. Neither Mike, Charles, or CO4x4.org are responsible for any errors. This information may help you find a trail, but it won't necessarily help you stay ON the trail. Therefore, by downloading these files you are acknowledging that you intend to supplement the waypoints with the details in Charles' books and/or with a guide that is familiar with the trail.

.gdb = Garmin DataBase format (Version 2)
.gpx = GPS eXchange format
.txt = Tab delimited text file

Note: The datum for the Moab file is NAD27, all the others are WGS84. The initial Moab text file had the wrong datum, and has been replaced with a corrected version.


As Mike mentioned, more info on the books can be found here:
http://www.funtreks.com

Waypoints have been added for Moab Second Edition.

[landmark]

Wow, I was about to tackle this project-- Thanks for speaking up. Much appreciated!

[Doc_Floyd]

I second the information viz. Moab - I contacted Mr. Wells viz. some coordinates on the Lockhart Basin trail which, if entered, same out on Topozone as several hundred meters distant. So, I would take such with a grain of salt and verify every one with a current Topozone or TerraServer on-line check. (Not that it is all that difficult to get lost on Lockhart Basin, but in the summer when it is 115 degrees and not another soul out there, getting lost could have dire consequences.) The reference to an entirely different datum would account for the differences, I suspect.

[Jers79CJ]

Thanks a million this is great! I like the nameing convention you used for Moab and Col Vol1 waypoints, when i get some time I might rename the Col Vol2 waypoints.

[greenjeep]

The irony is, Chuck will be here for most of March doing an updated version of the Moab book.

[thunderstrike]

Be sure to order the SPIRAL BOUND books... pages won't fall off.

[theMike]

If anyone finds any typos in the data (not positioning errors), please let me know and I will get it fixed ASAP. I would like the files to match exactly what Charles has published.

[DaJudge]

Be sure to order the SPIRAL BOUND books... pages won't fall off.

If you have one that isn't spiral-bound you can get it done at Kinkos or any other print shop for just a few bucks. Kinkos charges $3.00 per volume for comb binding, $4.00 per volume for coil binding. If the size is not 8.5x11 there is a $5.00 setup fee for each adjustment of the machine. Coil binding 2 of Wells' books would be $13.00 (2 volumes @ $4 each plus the $5 setup fee.)

http://colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthrea...ghlight=spiral

http://colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthrea...ghlight=spiral

[ZukGuy]

When Chuck wrote his first book on the Moab area, I believe the government was still jittering the coordinates from the satellites. They stopped doing that a few years back. Chuck's 2nd edition of the Colorado books have the updated lat/lons in the book.
HTH.

[robert.l.brown2]

ihave a megallen, and i cant get these files to work on it,, you have them for a megellan, or the garmin???

[newracer]

I got them to work on my magellan, I think I used the gpx file.

[Eric]

Files added for the Moab 2nd Edition (thanks again Mike).

[Eric]

The Moab 2nd Edition files had an error, these files have been corrected and replaced. Those that grabbed the initial version will want to replace them with the new files.

[TRAILRUNNER]

what would be a decent unit that you could use this trail info with?thanks

[theMike]

Hey guys. I worked with Charles late last year to get every one of his books (4X4 and ATV) available for you to download to your GPS, either by individual trail or an entire book. They are downloadable HERE.

I use the Garmin 60CSx and love it. The files on his website are all universal GPS (.gpx I believe) and should, I say should, be useable on just about anything.

[shadetreezj]

Nice collection!

Just a tip for the Garmin Mapsource users;

When you load a file (.gpx for example) to the device, it erases the previous set. At least it does on my Oregon 300. To work around this, open Mapsource twice. I set up my 2 instances side by side, minimize as necessary to show the map/track/waypoint window on each.

I use the left instance as the master.

Load the .gpx files to the right instance by opening whatever file you want. The file will appear in the window. Right click/copy, then paste into the window on the left instance. When you get done loading multiple files into the master, save as, then load to device.

I have over 75 local trails loaded up.

It might be a quirk of Mapsource, but this method is a work around. Albeit clumsy.

[Gizmo42]

Thats the way I do it too.

Also, in case everyone doesnt already know, there is a new edition of the South Colorado book that came out a few months ago and they just came out with a new edition of the North Colorado book. I have the south one already, very nice with better paper, color, and more detailed maps. Going to order the north one when I get back from Moab.

[texlurch]

I ordered the book, but the GPS chip is definately something to add!