New GPX File Toolkit: Simple Tools to Help You Manage GPX Files
Working with GPX files should be straightforward. Anyone who regularly downloads routes knows it often isn't.
Three new GPX tools have just landed in the GPS Training Online Resource, built to do the jobs Garmin BaseCamp used to do - only simpler, and in your browser.
âš¡ The short version
- Split, trim, reverse and merge - break a long trail into daily sections, cut off the bit you are not walking, flip the direction, or join several files into one
- Premium GPX File Cleaner - strips duplicate points and elevation spikes, and adds missing elevation data
- GPX Builder - turns an Excel, CSV or KMZ file of coordinates into a usable GPX
- All three sit inside the GPS Training Online Resource, alongside the route planning software and the GPX library
A route might be going in the wrong direction. It might cover several days when you only need one section. It might be littered with unwanted data, or need joining to another file before it is any use.
With Garmin BaseCamp gradually disappearing from the picture, we have been looking at ways to provide the GPX functionality people still need, in a much simpler, web-based format.
That has led us to create three new GPX tools within the GPS Training Online Resource.
Why we built them
Garmin BaseCamp was Garmin's free route planning software, and for years it was where people went to tidy up a GPX file before loading it onto a unit.
As it winds down, the jobs it did have not gone away. Splitting a long-distance trail into days, trimming a route to the section you are actually walking, reversing a file that downloaded backwards - these are still everyday tasks.
We have deliberately kept the replacements simple. They are not intended to make working with GPX files more technical. Quite the opposite.
Tool 1
Split, trim, reverse and merge GPX files
Upload a GPX file and it loads straight into the platform. You can choose which map to overlay it on - topographic or street - and the elevation profile appears underneath.
Split
The most useful of the four, particularly on a long-distance trail.
In the video Jon uses the Hadrian's Wall Path. He splits it at Carlisle, then again at Walton, and the elevation graph splits with it. Each section comes back with its own distance, ascent, descent and point count - part one at 14.6 miles, part two at 11.22 miles, then the remainder of the trail.
You can download the sections individually, or all of them together as a zip.
Trim
For when you are not walking the whole thing. Zoom in, drag the handle, and cut the start or the end.
In the demonstration Jon drops the start to Carlisle and the finish to Heddon-on-the-Wall rather than walking through Newcastle, taking the file from around 84 miles down to 55.
Reverse
Some GPX files download running the wrong way. One click flips the direction, and it is worth doing before you start any other editing.
Merge
The opposite of split. If the only version of a trail you can find has been chopped into somebody else's day one, day two and day three, and their days are not your days, you can import the lot and bring them back into a single file.
💡 Our take: splitting is the one most people will use. Load a whole 84-mile trail onto your GPS and it will happily tell you the route will take three and a half days - which is not much help when you want to know what tomorrow looks like. Split it into days first and every figure your unit gives you suddenly means something.
Tool 2
The Premium GPX File Cleaner
GPX files come from all sorts of places and they are not always as clean as you would like.
Some will not load into a GPS unit at all. Some will not import into route planning software. Some arrive with no elevation data. And some are littered with flags and waypoints that nobody asked for.
The cleaner analyses the file and reports what it has found before it changes anything. You tick what you want it to deal with, including whether to overwrite existing elevation data, and it shows you the result.
In the video, running the Hadrian's Wall Path file through it turns up 12 duplicate consecutive points. One click cleans them, the tidied route is overlaid on the map, and you download it.
💡 Our take: this is the first thing to try when a GPX file simply will not load and you cannot see why. Nine times out of ten it is duplicate points or a broken elevation profile, and you will know within seconds.
Tool 3
The GPX Builder
This one is different, because it does not start with a GPX file at all. It starts with data you already have.
That might be a list of waypoints in an Excel spreadsheet, a CSV, or a KMZ file. It might be latitude and longitude, or grid references collected over years.
The example Jon gives is an estate that has recorded its trees with ten-figure grid references, and ended up with a spreadsheet full of them. Drag the file in, paste the data, or import it - the tool shows you how it intends to separate the columns, then builds a GPX file you can load onto a GPS.
💡 Our take: specialised, and most walkers will never need it. But if you have a spreadsheet of coordinates sitting on a laptop doing nothing, this is the tool that turns it into something you can navigate to.
Watch the new GPX tools in action
Jon takes you through all three tools with real GPX files, start to finish, in just under twelve minutes.
Video transcript
Lightly edited for readability.
Introduction
0:00 Hi, this is Jon here from GPS Training. What we are going to do in this short video is look at the new GPX tools we have created, which sit within our GPS Training Online Resource.
0:11 If you do not know it, the Online Resource is our online training platform. Within it there is premium Ordnance Survey route planning software, a GPX directory, and our AI bot which is trained on our own data.
0:20 If you go to the GPS Training website and click on Online Resource, it takes you to a separate website. You need to log in.
0:34 You get this free for the first year if you buy a GPS unit or a GPS watch from ourselves, or alternatively you can pay £50 a year for access. Within it there is the route planning software, lots of training videos covering all the GPS units and watches we sell and support, and the GPX library.
Why the toolkit exists
1:01 Within this toolkit we have created three brand new tools which will hopefully help you work better going forward.
1:11 With Garmin BaseCamp going, we have created some tools which replace some of the functionality we used to see within Garmin BaseCamp, which was Garmin's free route planning software.
Tool one: split, trim, reverse and merge
1:26 The first one we are going to look at is split, trim, reverse and merge GPX. Really simple process. We just need to upload a GPX file. I will upload the one for the Hadrian's Wall Path, which I downloaded earlier.
1:42 You can choose which maps you want to overlay it on, the topographic or the street map. Underneath you have the elevation data, and at the top you have the tools: split, trim, reverse and merge.
2:13 Split is exactly as it says on the tin. If you are walking the Hadrian's Wall Path you can split the GPX file at Carlisle, then work out your next day's walking. We are going to walk to Walton and split it there.
2:27 What you will see underneath is that the elevation graph is now split. We have part one, which is 14.6 miles with the ascent, descent and how many points are in there. Part two is 11.22 miles. Then we have the remainder of the trail.
2:43 You can download the GPX files individually - part one, part two, part three - or download all three as a zip, or clear it and go back to how it was.
3:02 The benefit of splitting tracks like this is that if you load the whole of the Hadrian's Wall Path into your GPS unit, it will tell you that at your walking speed you are looking at around three and a half days.
3:45 You could say you are walking the Hadrian's Wall Path but starting at Carlisle. You could cut it, or alternatively you can just trim the first part of the GPX file.
4:00 Zoom right in on Carlisle and use the tool at the bottom to move it. Or we can say we are not going to walk the last bit through Newcastle, and finish at Heddon-on-the-Wall instead.
4:33 That has brought it down from 84 or 85 miles to 55 miles. You download the trimmed GPX from there, or reset it back the way it was.
5:12 Reverse is fairly obvious. If you download a GPX file and it is the wrong way round, you can reverse it before you start editing it.
5:20 Merging is for when you find a GPX file that is in lots of different sections, where somebody has edited a long-distance trail. It is the only one you can find, and they have put in their day one, day two and day three, which are different to yours. You can bring all of those into one GPX file.
Tool two: the Premium GPX Cleaner
5:48 Next is the Premium GPX Cleaner. Often you get GPX files which for whatever reason will not load into your GPS unit or import into your route planning software, or have no elevation data, or are littered with lots of flags - especially the ones the Ordnance Survey app creates, which people worry about.
6:49 You tell it what to do. There are various boxes, and you can tick them if you wish. You can overwrite the existing elevation data. It tells you what it has found.
7:06 There is not an awful lot wrong with this file, but even before you clean it, it will tell you exactly what it is going to do. Let us bring in the Hadrian's Wall Path one as an example and see whether that has any problems.
7:21 There - 12 duplicate consecutive points. You can clean that file and it will clean the consecutive points.
7:41 When the file is clean it overlays it again on a similar map to the previous tool, and you can download that GPX.
Tool three: the GPX Builder
8:36 People often have a list of waypoints in an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document. It might be that they have an estate and have marked the trees over the years, given them a ten-figure grid reference, and ended up with a spreadsheet.
8:52 What this tool does is let you import Excel, CSV or KMZ files. Drag them in, import them, or even paste the data, and it will show you how it is going to separate it and create a GPX file for you.
9:19 It is very specialised, but if you have data you want to convert into a GPX file - latitude and longitude, or grid references you have collected in an old way - this tool will convert it for you.
The wider GPX library
9:57 All the long-distance trails in the UK are there to download, and we update these accordingly. Because we are an organisation, people tell us if there is something wrong and we can update it.
10:18 We also have the day walk directory, which you have been uploading lots of walks into. We have 264 walks available. You click on an area, zoom in, find the walks, and clicking on one brings up all the information.
10:44 Within the Online Resource we are building up this GPX resource of files which other people have walked - in this case all the long-distance trails - and then we have given you these new tools to help you manage that data a little better.
Close
11:07 Really nice simple tools that we have created for our customers at GPS Training. I hope this helped. If there are any questions, just leave a comment below.
11:16 If you can continue to support GPS Training by subscribing to the Online Resource, it is really appreciated. It enables us to bring more tools and resources to you going forward. So not only from myself but all the team here at GPS Training, thank you very much for watching.
What else is in the Online Resource
The new tools sit alongside everything else in there:
- Premium Ordnance Survey route planning software
- Training videos for every GPS unit and watch we sell and support
- The GPX library of UK long-distance trails, kept up to date
- A day walk directory of 264 walks, uploaded by customers
- Our AI assistant, trained on our own data
The library gives you routes to download. The toolkit gives you the means to adapt them. The idea is to get your GPX file into the format you actually need, then get on with enjoying your walk.
Frequently asked questions
How do I split a GPX file into daily sections?
Upload the file to the split, trim, reverse and merge tool, then place a split point wherever you want the day to end. Each section comes back with its own distance, ascent and descent, and you can download them individually or as a zip.
Can I reverse a GPX file that downloaded the wrong way round?
Yes. The reverse function flips the direction of travel in one click. Do it before you make any other edits to the file.
What do I do if a GPX file will not load onto my GPS?
Run it through the Premium GPX File Cleaner. Duplicate points, elevation spikes and missing elevation data are the usual culprits, and the cleaner tells you what it has found before it changes anything.
Is there a replacement for Garmin BaseCamp?
Not a like-for-like one, but these three tools cover the GPX jobs most people used BaseCamp for - splitting, trimming, reversing and merging routes - and they run in a browser rather than needing software installed.
Can I turn a spreadsheet of grid references into a GPX file?
Yes, that is what the GPX Builder does. It accepts Excel, CSV and KMZ files, and works with latitude and longitude or grid references.
How much does the Online Resource cost?
It is free for the first year when you buy a GPS unit or GPS watch from us. Otherwise it is £50 a year, which also covers the route planning software, the training videos and the GPX library.
The tools are live in the Online Resource now.
Log in and have a look, or join and get the lot.
Already a member?
Log in to the Online Resource and you will find all three GPX tools waiting for you. No extra charge, nothing to install.
Log in and go to Tools → GPX File Toolkit.
Log in and try the toolsNot a member yet?
Sign up and you get the GPX toolkit, the route planning software, the training videos and the full GPX library.
Join the Online ResourceSources: the figures and demonstrations in this article are taken from our own walkthrough video, recorded September 2026. Distances, point counts and the number of walks in the day walk directory were correct at the time of recording.