Transfer GPS Data to Google Earth (And Back) On Apple Mac OSX
Get Waypoints & Tracks Into & Out Of Google Earth on OSX
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The guide I wrote about getting waypoints in and out of Google Earth and your Garmin Forerunner 205 or 305 seems to have helped a number of people, which is really good to know. These days there's a lot more info out there, but when I started looking a few years ago the cupboard was bare. The main problem, it seems to me, is that the GPS makers all have their own proprietary apps they ship with that try to help monitor performance, do mapping and more - and then they point you toward these specialized online sites that they have a business relationship with for handling tracks.
For my money, nothing beats Google Earth for portability and for depth of detail and because I do a lot of trail running, these more generic mapping programs aren't helpful. I need to be able to see a gap between trees or what looks like a little wooden bridge to find new ways around. I've got Google Earth running on my Windows desktop, my Apple MacBook and my iPhone and I can always check it or take it on the go to match up my GPS Watch trail with the real world during breaks. For its part, Google has done a good job of making Google Earth accept tracks and waypoints directly from your device and it's gotten even better in the last year or so. Still, what happens when you've laid out a series of markers that you want to put back into your Running GPS Watch?
I initially had the same problem on my Apple OS X device that I'd had on my PC before, but many times there's a slightly more graceful app for the Mac compared to the PC, so I went looking anew. If you're a Mac user looking to upload waypoints & tracks and other data back into your Fore Runner, start by downloading GPSBabel for OSX by clicking here. There may be even sleeker solutions out there, but GPSBabel has worked out great for me. For my examples here, I'll be using my Garmin 305 as the testbed, so my example will refer to a 305. Adjust accordingly for your situation!
Getting Coordinates From Your Device
In fairness, you don't really need to do this part. Google Earth will bring in Tracks and Waypoints just fine on its own, it just won't let you send them back to the device. Given this reality, using GPSBabel to get coordinates out is a bit of overkill, but since it is a major function it bears explaining.
So, once you've installed GPSBabel For Mac, fire it up and you'll see something like the below:
To get started, plug in your Garmin Forerunner or other device and then follow these instructions:
- Under "Input" Select "Device" on the left.
- Because you're downloading from your GPS, select your GPS type in the "Format" menu (in my case, Garmin serial/USB protocol).
- For "Device Name" you'll probably need to leave it as "usb:" assuming your device syncs via USB.
- I wanted to pull down both Tracks & Waypoints, so I checked only those two, but select what you want.
- Under Output select "File" and then for Format select "Google Earth (Keyhole) Markup Language"
- Click the "File name" button and select a place to save your file.
Once you've done all this, make sure everything's plugged in and hit the "Apply" option on the lower left.
Doodle-dee. Deedle-doo.
You're done transferring! Now remember where you saved the KML file and either drag-and-drop it into Google Earth or go to Google Earth, select "File" > "Open" and then navigate to the file in the Finder window that appears. Once you open the file, it will appear in Google Earth under "Temporary Places". Now you're done, done, done! You've got a clean path and set of waypoints.
Uploading Tracks & Waypoints Back To Your GPS
This is the really important part. If you're like me and you spend time arranging annotated waypoints and tracks in Google Earth to map out trails for running, hashing, orienteering or anything else then the one-way relationship between your GPS and Google Earth can be really damned annoying. That's what sent me looking for a solution in the first place when I wrote the Windows article on transferring coordinates to and from a Garmin Forerunner using GPSBabel. So, if you want to send your carefully crafted waypoints and tracks back to your Garmin Forerunner Running GPS Watch (or most other GPS watches) here's how!
If you don't still have GPSBabel open from the first set of directions, open it up!
This time, I'm going to upload some waypoints and then follow the inverse of the above instructions to get going.
- Go to Google Earth and select the waypoints that you want (either an individual waypoint or a folder of waypoints) and then "Save As" to save them as a KML file. I called mine "Waypoints.kml".
- Once you've saved them, go to GPSBabel and select "File" under the Input pane.
- Then click "File name" and a Finder window pops up where you can navigate to your file.
- Under "Format" select "Google Earth (Keyhole) Markup Language".
- Under the Data pane, select "Waypoints" in my case because I'm just uploading waypoints.
- Under the Output pane, select "Device" and for Format select your device type (in my case, Garmin serial/USB protocol).
- And for Device Name you can select "usb:"
- You're done, just click Apply on the lower left.
You should see a brief dialog box and then the lower pane on GPSBabel will populate with a message like "gpsbabel -w -i kml -f /Users/you/Documents/Waypoints.kml -o garmin -F usb: Translation successful" - you're done! Now power up your Garmin Forerunner or other GPS Watch and check for your waypoints (and/or track and/or routes!) and you'll find what you uploaded.
