Best Mapping Software for Garmin and PC

After having my old etrex stolen when skiing last year I’ve finally got around to replacing it with a Garmin Dakota 20. I got a good deal from The States, £100 with quite a few extras including a memory card with Topo and city maps.

I’m really impressed with how gps technology has progressed. With my old etrex I had memory map on the PC which I used for route planning and then transferred waypoints to the GPS unit (it was an etrex legend so no option AF detailed maps on the unit.) I could also print paper maps for walking etc.

My memory map is donkey’s years old and will not work on my current OS. I’d like to replace it with a good OS-like map which I could use on the PC to route plan and print maps and also transfer routes to the Dakota 20, but could also transfer maps to the GPS unit. I’m not sure if such a thing exists…

I understand that if I buy a Garmin OS map on a micro SD card I can use it on the GPS but not view the maps on the PC and also that MemoryMap is the opposite- can view on PC but not transfer map to GPS unit.

Is there a better option?

Also,if I buy a second hand Garmin map SD card will it work without a new activation code?

Thanks!

I use memory map on my pc and no buying a used sd card won’t need a activation code I bought one off here for £40 the whole of the uk for my Oregon 550 an it works a treat

Bought a brand new card the other day for my garmin touring – plugged it in, didn’t need to activate any codes or anything.

If your Garmin is plugged into your PC then Basecamp can access the maps on it.

You can also copy the map off the Garmin and onto a USB stick, plug that into your PC and again Basecamp can access it.

Plus one for base camp. It allows you to use you sd maps. Also free

Just to update: further investigation of the SD card installed in my Dakota. It appears to be the full UK Garmin 1:50k maps. On removing it and plugging it into the card reader of my PC, all the 1:50k maps appeared on Basecamp. It did say that map printing is disabled so still need to find a way around that.

I also tried to copy the copy of the SD card to my PC to enable me to access the maps without having to remove the card (or to enable me to copy it onto a bigger card to allow more free memory space): the map files do not appear as a drag and drop or copiable file).

Would like to get some 1.25k- Lakes, Peaks and some local NW stuff, ideally that is printable.