An excellent idea which will be very useful to many.
Can I make one request. On single track roads, please do NOT label a passing place as a parking spot.Passing places are not for parking, the clue is in the name!
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I have exported my TomTom list of SOTA parking spots, and now have them in the correct format as a csv and KML file, but don’t seem to be able to import either of the files as single import.
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Google maps includes a download maps option - so as long as you set that up for the area you regularly use or want to drive to - the navigation keeps working without cell coverage.
Ed.
Update:
One restriction of Android Auto - the connection between Google Maps on your phone and the car’s multimedia system- is that only the standard saved groups are visible from the car’s system (want to go, favourite, etc.). If you create a new personal group - e.g. ‘SOTA parking spots’ on your phone, that folder is not accessible via the car’s display. Most cheaper rental cars these days don’t come with the manufacturer’s GPS-Navi, as the rental car companies want to charge you an extra €90 or so for a stick-on the windscreen model from them. Some, but not all, come with Android Auto/Apple iPhone connectivity via USB cable to your phone. A very, very few come with Android Auto/Apple iPhone connectivity over BT & 5GHz Wifi (note 5 GHz not 2.4GHz).
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My car has a satnav inbuilt, but I never use it for SOTA, other than as a point of cross reference to my Garmin satnav which I program with the appropriate parking spot grid reference,. I consider the inbuilt satnav to be too road orientated… some parking spots are on tracks rather than roads and the inbuilt system is just not programmed with the relevant data. Horses for courses as they say.
When planning actiivations, I always read as many reports as I can and not just those relating to SOTA. Usually parking information is given in some form - a description or even an actual grid reference. I use Google Earth or Google Maps to get a visual of the actual parking spot so I can evaluate its suitability and know what it looks like before I set out. With a fairly large vehicle, I have rejected some parking spots as being too shallow or not long enough and have had to undertake further research. I did start to schedule parking grid reference data on a series of spreadsheets for several Scottish regions along with other information such as ascent distance, height gain and even projected timings for the walks, but family commitments brought that to an abrupt halt (as indeed it did to activating). C’est la vie.
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That’s exactly why I don’t use Google…
Aside from the fact that I’ve found there are quite a few things Google doesn’t actually know, there’s also a good chance I won’t have mobile coverage in remote areas.
I used to use “Here We Go”… but unfortunately, it was sold off and became unusable.
For the past few years, I’ve been quite happy with Magic Earth. It allows me to download maps and use them offline, too. It’s pretty accurate. Unfortunately, it’s no longer free.
The vast majority of cars can display this on their screens… the only exception was a rental car I had in Ireland — a Volvo XC — where it wasn’t possible. Volvo apparently has a partnership with Google, so third-party navigation systems couldn’t be used—and the built-in sat-nav was absolutely terrible. It didn’t even recognize the road to “The Priest’s Leap” for parking near EI/IS-020.
There are probably different versions of Google Maps.
73 Armin
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…totally agree with your Armin; I haven’t used google for 4 years.
Geoff vk3sq
It seems like a great idea! Now that the heat is unbearable and I barely go out, I’m taking the opportunity to add those SOTA summits where it’s hard to find a place to park or where the starting point is closest to the summit.
I usually upload my GPS tracks showing the exact starting point where I left the vehicle, along with the entire route up to the summit.
Hopefully this will encourage many operators who don’t have a GPS unit to at least share or make known their starting point.
Unfortunately, not many people share this information, or they don’t know how to do it. In my region there are many activated summits, but I can’t gather even the minimum information about them, and honestly, I have no idea how to get there.
Here my little contribution
73 de JP3PPL
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Well my first weekend of navigating by Google Maps and using parking spots saved by the SOTA community - was a 100% success.
Thanks to everyone that is collaborating and contributing to this project - and please remember to enter the SOTA reference 2x - one in the “Edit Notes”, and one in the “Add Label”.
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I took @M0HGY for a spin in the new wheels earlier this evening. We experimented setting navigation destinations using SOTA references. It seems as if you need to “Add label” from within your own account for these spots to be searchable using Google Maps. So I suspect (not 100% sure though TBH) that even if the contributor of the parking spot as added a label, you need to do it yourself while signed in, in order for that to be a location you can search for.
Anyway Jimmy and I continue to add parking spots for the G, GW, GI, GM, GD, GJ and GU summits (and possibly some EI, ON, PA, LX and EA8 summits) bit by bit - everyone is welcome to join in!
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Havent used it myself but Organis Maps is supposed to be a good google maps alternative. it works completely offline.
list of other non US based alternative apps/software - > GitHub - anitwek/alternatives-to-us: A curated list of non-U.S.-based alternatives to popular services, focusing on privacy and global accessibility. · GitHub
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How easy is it to download the list of parking places to something other than Google Maps?
I’ve recently changed car and am learning the differences to the built in maps between this and the previous car. The new one is much more capable but also I currently benefit from subscription to the connected car package (live real time traffic information (RTTI), parking places (non-SOTA) live fuel prices etc.) The annual sub is a lot and I’m unlikely to punt when this runs out but I continued to get RTTI 3 years after the sub expired in the last car, no map roads updates though.
I’ve checked, and I can enter an abstract lat&long i.e. 55.9123, -3.5678 straight into the GPS. This is possibly the only advantage of a touch screen in a car, the on screen keyboard instead of cursor or jog-dial. The GPS routes me to that point even if off road. I can send locations from Google Maps direct to the car GPS via the manufacturer’s app but that just means adding another attack surface and set of security holes. 
If you can export the list then that would be useful for those who don’t use Google Maps & Android Auto.
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Its seems theres an extension to Chrome (and chrome based browsers) called “ExportMyMap” that allows export of a list suitable for excel and csv. I have tried it but it seems only the owner of the list can export the car parks one although your welcome to a list of mine if you need a tool hire shop in Wigan.
Another list produced the list below which if the name was the summit reference would suit. This one just happened to be from what I had from the Hog roast weekend. There are other columns but nothing of relevence (website, photo etc etc)
| name | fullAddress | country | countryCode | lat | lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shooting Box car park | Shooting Box car park, Long Mynd, Bishops Castle | United Kingdom | GB | 52.55267 | -2.85569 |
| 52°37’56.9"N 3°20’01.4"W | United Kingdom | GB | 52.632472199999995 | -3.33372 |
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