How do I view a GPX file on a map?

Open the studio and drop the file in. Tracks and routes are drawn as lines, waypoints as markers, with available names and type properties. Distance, ascent and duration are not computed by the importer.

Can I colour tracks by activity type?

Yes. The GPX type element is read per track and offered as a categorical field, so walks, runs and rides each get their own colour with a legend naming them.

Does it handle a GPX file with hundreds of tracks?

Yes. Tracks are drawn as a single GPU layer rather than as individual markers, so the cost is in the vertex count rather than the track count. A file with several thousand tracks is better split into layers by year or activity.

Can I export the tracks as GeoJSON?

Yes, on the free plan. The exported GeoJSON keeps the imported geometry and properties, with an added _layer field identifying the source layer. No distance or ascent summaries are generated.

GPX · format guide

GPX viewer online

GPX is the XML format GPS devices, watches and phone apps write. MapCrafter reads tracks, routes and waypoints, draws tracks as lines, preserves available names, types and timestamp metadata, and colours them by activity or by any column in the file.

Open a GPX file 2 worked GPX examples

What a GPX file is

GPX is a small, well-specified format with three kinds of content: trkseg for recorded tracks, rte for planned routes, and wpt for individual waypoints. A single file often has several tracks from different days or different activities.

Because it is designed for recording rather than mapping, a GPX file usually carries more than coordinates: elevation on every point, a timestamp on every point, and file-level metadata like the device and the activity type. Those are what make a GPX file interesting to map — colouring tracks by ascent or splitting them by day turns a pile of lines into a picture of a week.

MapCrafter preserves the geometry and available feature properties from the GPX conversion. It does not compute distance, ascent, duration or pace summaries. Calculate these before import if you need them as numeric styling fields.

What MapCrafter reads from it

Tracks (trk/trkseg): Tracks become line geometry; separate segments retain their gaps
Routes (rte): Rendered as lines, distinct from recorded tracks
Waypoints (wpt): Rendered as points, with the name as label
Elevation: Preserved in available coordinates or properties; ascent and descent are not calculated
Timestamps: Available timestamp metadata is retained; duration and pace are not calculated
Activity type: Read from the GPX type element and available for categorical colouring

Mapping a GPX file, step by step

1
Drop the .gpx file in
Tracks, routes and waypoints are read into one layer with mixed geometry where needed.
2
Inspect the available fields
Names, types and timestamp metadata depend on the file. Derived distance and ascent fields are not computed.
3
Colour by something that matters
Use a supplied type or category for colour. Numeric styling requires a numeric feature property in the imported data.
4
Set the line weight
Track width can be driven by a numeric field, which is often clearer than colour for a dense set of overlapping routes.

Things that go wrong with GPX

Every one of these is a property of the format rather than a bug in a particular tool, which is why they keep happening.

A track shows as several disconnected lines.
That is trkseg: GPS devices start a new segment when the signal drops, so a walk under trees becomes five segments. They are drawn as one track with gaps preserved, because joining them would draw a straight line across the gap that you never walked.
The track jumps across the map at one point.
A single corrupt fix, usually the first one before the receiver had a lock. Filter points with an implausible speed between consecutive timestamps, or drop the first minute of the recording.
Distance looks too long.
Summing raw point-to-point distance over-counts because GPS noise makes a stationary receiver wander. MapCrafter does not calculate track distance. Check the method used by the tool that supplied any distance property.
Timestamps are missing.
Some devices and most hand-made route files omit time entirely. No timeline can be recovered without those timestamps. MapCrafter does not calculate duration or pace fields.
The file is XML but nothing loaded.
GPX is a namespace-qualified XML format, and a file produced by a script without the gpx namespace will not match. Open it in a text editor and check that the root element declares the GPX namespace.

GPX maps in the gallery

2 live maps built from GPX data, each showing its source columns and the geometry that was detected.

GPX questions

How do I view a GPX file on a map?: Open the studio and drop the file in. Tracks and routes are drawn as lines, waypoints as markers, with available names and type properties. Distance, ascent and duration are not computed by the importer.
Can I colour tracks by activity type?: Yes. The GPX type element is read per track and offered as a categorical field, so walks, runs and rides each get their own colour with a legend naming them.
Does it handle a GPX file with hundreds of tracks?: Yes. Tracks are drawn as a single GPU layer rather than as individual markers, so the cost is in the vertex count rather than the track count. A file with several thousand tracks is better split into layers by year or activity.
Can I export the tracks as GeoJSON?: Yes, on the free plan. The exported GeoJSON keeps the imported geometry and properties, with an added _layer field identifying the source layer. No distance or ascent summaries are generated.