How to Import a Gaia GPS Route Into Google Earth

There may be times when you want to import your Gaia GPS route into Google Earth. Gaia’s 3D mode is a little less smooth than Google Earth’s, when it comes to moving the map around with the mouse on a laptop. So, for instance, if you’re doing a recorded visual demonstration of a hiking trail, like I did for my hiking guide to the Parker Mesa Overlook in Topanga, CA, you may want to use the powerful route building tool in Gaia, but place that route in Google Earth to make a better demonstration.

This instructional article already assumes you have a free Gaia GPS account, like I do. If not, head over to GaiaGPS.com and sign up and sign in.

I find it’s best to create your Gaia routes on a laptop/PC, then sign into your account on the smart phone app when you’re actually out in the field to view the routes you created. Thus the instructions below will assume your are on a Windows laptop/PC when working on importing your route to GE.

Gaia GPS Intro

If you haven’t used Gaia before this is what the main map looks like below. I keep mine on the default Gaia Topo layer in 2D mode, as shown.

I’ve been section hiking the Backbone Trail (BBT) in the Santa Monica Mountains. So I’ll incidentally show you how I map my BBT routes to use in the field, as we go through the tutorial. The route I’ll be focusing on is the Mishe Mokwa Trail connecting to the Sandstone Peak Trail, where I’ll be hiking a bit past Sandstone Peak. I’ll be starting from a BBT trailhead at Yerba Buena Road.

Gaia GPS map. Looking at the trailhead I'm interested in parking at to hike to Sandstone Peak. — Gaia GPS map. Looking at the trailhead I’m interested in parking at to hike to Sandstone Peak.

How to create a route in Gaia GPS

To make a savable route in Gaia GPS from your home computer, go ahead and click on the ‘Route’ option under the ‘Create’ menu on the left of your screen.

Click the Route option under the Create menu in Gaia GPS

Your map will then turn grey and want you to focus on a Shortcuts menu:

Your first step in creating a Gaia GPS route: close the shortcuts box!

Click ‘Close’ in the bottom right area of the Shortcuts menu:

The orange box highlights the 'Close' button in the Gaia GPS Shortcuts menu. — The orange box highlights the ‘Close’ button in the Shortcuts menu.

After closing the Shortcuts menu, click the route title, where it says ‘Untitled Route’, and add in the name you want to assign the route your making. Make it something easy to remember when you’re using your cell phone out on the trail. When you’re out there using the app, you’ll have to know what it’s called to choose it from your saved routes. I named mine Sandstone Peak:

I named my Gaia GPS route 'Sandstone Peak' to be able to recognize it from my saved routes on my cell phone app. — I named my route ‘Sandstone Peak’ as shown in the highlighted orange box.

How to draw a route in Gaia GPS from your home computer

Now let’s draw our Gaia GPS route. It’s important to know that for this tutorial, I’ll be drawing a route on an established hiking trail. Gaia’s software will recognize what I’m doing in this respect, and automatically help me draw the route along this trail.

Step 1: Mouse click the place you want to start from

Once you click and release the left mouse button, this will create a circular white dot with a colored perimeter. Below you can see my route color is blue, so it made my dot perimeter blue.

Step 2: Hover you mouse over the next junction you see on the trail you’re wanting to hike

After a second or so Gaia will add a line that follows the trail. My instructions on the image below for step 2 may be a little confusing, since I used the phrase ‘drag mouse’. To clarify all you’re really doing is placing your cursor over the next point on the map where there is a junction. You’re not holding down any mouse buttons at that point, like the word ‘drag’ could imply.

Creating a Gaia GPS route: us a quick left-click of the mouse to make a starting point on your trail, then hover your mouse on your next junction until Gaia is able to follow the trail to that point.

Step 3: left click and quickly release your mouse button to create your second point on the route

At that point Gaia will calculate the distance and make an elevation profile for your route.

Step 3: quickly click and release the left mouse button to add your second point on the map.

How to reposition your map on Gaia GPS, while you are still drawing your route

To reposition your map on Gaia, click and hold your mouse down on a point on the map away from the trail you’re focusing on. Now as you’re holding the mouse button down, drag the mouse in a direction where you can see your next point, or junction, of interest on your trail. Once you’ve got your next point of interest in view, release the mouse button. Then you can continue creating new points on your route by quickly clicking and releasing the left mouse button along your trail of interest, as explained in the previous steps.

To zoom in and out, either use the plus/minus buttons on the bottom right corner of the map, or the scroll wheel on your mouse.

Step 4: continue adding points along your trail

Continue to click your junction points in the quick, click-and-release fashion to add to your route. Gaia will continue to update your distance and elevation profile as you do so.

Step 4: keep clicking on your route junctions to make more points Gaia can follow to create your route

Step 5: Use the buttons at the bottom of the map to update your distance and elevation profile

Once you have your forward route highlighted you also have the option to backtrack on your trail using the buttons at the middle bottom area of your map. Doing so updates your distance and elevation profile. Your choices are ‘back to start’, ‘out and back’, and ‘reverse’.

I’ll be using the ‘out and back’ button because I know I have to walk back to my car after the hike. It will add 3 more points to my junction points, but they are often kind of hidden under the original points I made. See the orange highlighted box below.

I’m using the Out & Back button to create a distance and elevation profile that reflects me walking back to my car after the hike.

Step 6: save your route

Now with the extra 3 points on my map, and my updated distance and elevation profile from clicking the ‘out and back’ button, I can hit ‘save’ near the bottom left of the screen to save my route. Again I drew an orange box around the save button in the image below, so you know where to look. Looks like my hike is 4.83 miles not including the side trails I see to Inspiration Point and Boney Peak.

Click 'Save' to finalize your Gaia route. — Click ‘Save’ to finalize your route.

Step 7: export your Gaia GPS route

Once saved, the notes and routing mode boxes will be replaced with route related options. One of which is the the export function, allowing you to export your route. Click on the carrot of the export box. See the orange highlighted box below:

My orange box highlighting the 'Export' box. — My orange box highlighting the ‘Export’ box.

Once the export options become visible (GPX, KML, and GeoJSON), select KML, as that’s the file Google Earth needs to paint your route onto its map. Or in other words that’s the file you’ll need to import your Gaia GPS route into Google Earth.

Then go through the normal, windows-based process saving a file to your local hard drive. The name of the file will be based on the route name you used. I used Sandstone Peak, so my file name will be sandstone-peak.kml. Make note of which folder your file is in. Most of the time the default folder is your ‘Downloads’ folder.

Click the carrot on the 'Export' button, then click 'KML' to create a file Google Earth likes. — Click the carrot on the ‘Export’ button, then click ‘KML’ to create a file Google Earth likes.

How to import a KML file on Google Earth

Go ahead and load up Google Earth on your browser. This is not the downloaded version. Just the one you see when googling ‘Google Earth’ and clicking the appropriate website on Google search.

Step 1: Click the ‘Projects’ button

Click the ‘Projects’ button in GE, as highlighted below with the now infamous orange box.

Click the ‘Projects’ icon in Google Earth to get started

Step 2: select the ‘New Projects’ button

Click the ‘New Projects’ button, again in the orange box below. This will bring up a drop down menu.

Click 'New Project' to get started on importing your Gaia route. — Click ‘New Project’ to get to the ‘Import KML’ file option

Step 3: select the ‘Import KML file from computer’ option

At the bottom of the drop down menu (orange box below), there is the ‘import KML file from computer option’ that you’ll need to click. At that point just find your created KML file on your hard drive, and go through the normal Windows based process of selecting it to upload. Upon a successful KML import, Google Earth will paint your route on its map and zoom in on the area of the earth where it’s located for you to observe.

Click the 'Import KML file from computer' to import your Gaia GPS route file — Click the ‘Import KML file from computer’ to import your Gaia GPS route file

Step 4: edit your project’s title

Your next step is to click the pencil icon towards the top of the left menu, in order to add in a title and description of your project:

Click the pencil icon so you can add a title and description to your Gaia GPS route import on Google Earth. — Click the pencil icon so you can add a title and description to your Gaia GPS route import.

Doing so brings up the appropriate boxes to add the title and description. I added ‘Sandstone Peak’, and ‘hiking sandstone peak’ to my boxes. Click the back arrow when finished:

Click the back arrow above the project title to get back to the main project page.

Step 5: edit the route’s width and color

When you import your Gaia GPS route into Google Earth, it will, by default, be 1px in size. This is rather thin and hard to see so you’re going to want to beef it up a little. Click the pencil icon next to the Gaia GPS generated (KML file) route name, as shown below with the orange box:

Click the pencil icon to get to the route appearance editing tools.

Next, right above the color pallet selection boxes, there the option to change the route’s line from 1px to 3px or 5px or whatever you want. See orange box below for its location:

Route is kind of hard to see at 1px, but you can modify this in the route edit options

Here I changed my route to 3px and you can see the line is more conspicuous on the map:

Now that the imported Gaia GPS route is 3px on Google Earth, you can see the route much clearer — Now that the Gaia GPS route is 3px on Google Earth, you can see the route much clearer

You’re welcome to change the colors too if you’d like by pressing on any of the color boxes present.

Again hit that upper left hand side back button once you are done editing your route.

Final step: Enjoy your Gaia GPS route on Google Earth

Tilt, zoom and rotate your Google Earth map to look at your Gaia GPS route from different angles. Here are a few angles for my Sandstone Peak hike I have planned, next time the rain stops in Los Angeles.