For the purpose of recording your trails for Top Trail, you ​are free to use any GPS device designed for outdoor/​recreational use or a GPS app installed on your smartphone. There are many to choose from: some apps free, others are not but they are relatively inexpensive. When choosing a GPS, the critical feature/requirement necessary to work with Top Trail is the ability to export tracks (your recorded trail) from the app or device in .GPX file format. Top Trail requires a .GPX file to calculate your mileage and render your thumbnail trail image.

Start Your Ride

Most importantly at the start of your trail ride remember to start your GPS! Before long turning on and starting your GPS when you mount up will become a habit— a good habit!

End of the Trail

When the ride is over, be sure to save your final track and either clear your track or turn off the app or device.

At Home

If you’re not using EasyTrails GPS, you will need to get that track from your device or app to your computer. The way you do this varies depending on which app or device you’re using. For instance, with EasyTrails you can upload your recorded trail directly to your Top Trail member account using your phone. When using a GPS app on your smartphone, you may have to email the GPX file to yourself or log into the app website, find your trail and download the GPX file to your computer that way. When using a Garmin device, connect to your computer with the USB and use Garmin Basecamp or Garmin Connect (a free program from Garmin) to download the .GPX file of your ride to your computer. With the .GPX file now on your computer,  we recommend filing place it into a folder on your hard drive (for example, your “downloads” folder). The download process will vary depending on what app or device you’re using. Once again, you should know where your downloaded tracks are being saved on your computer so that you can find them when it’s time to upload to your Top Trail account. It makes sense to rename your individual .GPX files with the date, the horse’s name, and the area ridden (081614LeoJAR for example) but you are not required to do this. It just helps for future reference.

Upload Your Trail

Still on the home computer, laptop, smartphone internet browser sign in to your Top Trail account and click on “Add Ride” and follow the prompts.