Maps & preparation
Export a trail as a GPX file from Aus Trails
By Aus Trails · Reviewed against the current app.
A GPX file is the portable form of a route: a list of points other software can read. Aus Trails can export any trail in the library as GPX, which is what you want if you carry a GPS watch or a handheld unit rather than a phone. This guide covers the export, and is explicit about what the format carries.
Download the route as GPX
Open the trail you want and use the download option on the trail page. The file contains the mapped route geometry for that trail, named after the track, and lands in whatever folder your browser uses for downloads.
The export is per trail. There is no bulk export of the whole library, and importing someone else’s GPX into Aus Trails is not a current feature — if you want a route of your own in the app, the route planner is the tool, and those routes are stored on your device.
- Open the trail page for the route you want.
- Choose the GPX download option.
- Transfer the file to your watch or handheld using that device’s own software.
- Check the route displays correctly on the device before the walk, not at the trailhead.
What a GPX file actually carries
A GPX file carries the shape of the route — a sequence of coordinates. It is not a map. Loading it onto a device shows a line; the terrain, tracks and labels around that line come from whatever base map the device already has.
That distinction catches people out at the trailhead. A watch displaying a correct GPX route against an empty background is behaving normally. If you want the surrounding map as well, you need offline map coverage on that device, which is a separate download in its own software.
When you do not need GPX at all
If you are carrying a phone, the offline area download in Aus Trails is usually the better route. It caches map tiles and, once you have opened the trail page while connected, the route itself — and it keeps the live location and off-route features that a GPX on a third-party device will not have.
GPX earns its place when the device is not your phone: a watch you want navigation on, a handheld with longer battery life, or another mapping app you already trust. Preparing both costs little and covers a flat battery.