Navigation System Options

[Rock Taxi]

I had a long drive home yesterday from the Thanksgiving Holiday, and wanted to take "the scenic route" home. I plugged my destination into Google Maps on my phone and then picked a slower, but more rural route than the fastest one. I both wanted a relaxing and relatively traffic free drive, and to go through small towns I hadn't been to before.

After just a few turns, Google Maps started routing me back to the Interstate system because it was the fastest route. In searching the web, it appears I cannot turn the fastest route function off in Google Maps to stick to my desired route, and I don't think the Ford Navigation system is any different. 99 times out of 100, I appreciate the fastest route option as I truly am trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, but this time I did not want that. I ended up wasting time, miles and didn't really accomplish my goal very well. I certainly did not take the path I intended at all.

I am curious if anyone has ideas about what Navigation Apps would allow me to set a road trip with destinations and routes of my choosing rather than have the app choose my path purely based on efficiency.

Help!

Ed

 

[Chris21667]

I had a long drive home yesterday from the Thanksgiving Holiday, and wanted to take "the scenic route" home. I plugged my destination into Google Maps on my phone and then picked a slower, but more rural route than the fastest one. I both wanted a relaxing and relatively traffic free drive, and to go through small towns I hadn't been to before.

After just a few turns, Google Maps started routing me back to the Interstate system because it was the fastest route. In searching the web, it appears I cannot turn the fastest route function off in Google Maps to stick to my desired route, and I don't think the Ford Navigation system is any different. 99 times out of 100, I appreciate the fastest route option as I truly am trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, but this time I did not want that. I ended up wasting time, miles and didn't really accomplish my goal very well. I certainly did not take the path I intended at all.

I am curious if anyone has ideas about what Navigation Apps would allow me to set a road trip with destinations and routes of my choosing rather than have the app choose my path purely based on efficiency.

Help!

Ed

honestly .... maybe this is old school but i look at google maps and use the road i see and just make my own route .... even if it sents me the wrong way .... found some cool routes but also found places i will never go again

 

[Brucee19]

If you hit the 3 little dots you can select avoid highways and depending on where you are it will give you multiple options with similar drive times.

 

[SManZ]

For motorcycle nav, where avoiding main roads is the entire point, I use OsmAnd. You can set a destination and set avoidances, and then let the app figure out the best route. It is really helpful for setting up routes on the fly by dropping markers on the map and stringing them together. Best of all, it works entirely offline because all map files are downloaded to your phone and it only relies on the GPS receiver in your phone.

The app will also read .gpx files so you can plan a trip and load them in. I do all my motorcycle trip planning this way.

Its not a really intuitive app to use, but once you figure it out it is a very powerful tool!

https://osmand.net/

 

[Rock Taxi]

If you hit the 3 little dots you can select avoid highways and depending on where you are it will give you multiple options with similar drive times.

That's a good idea! I am going to try that on my next journey and see how it works.

Ed

 

[RaptorTremor]

I am on the road all day everyday and in my experience Google isn't as good as me. I am very familiar with my area but sometimes I'll use Google to make sure I'm going to the right spot. Many times it will have me go down some back road that it thinks is faster but really isn't. When I'm on a road trip or going somewhere I'm not very familiar with I'll run waze so I get the police reports which have saved me many times.

 

[LVRaider]

I am on the road all day everyday and in my experience Google isn't as good as me. I am very familiar with my area but sometimes I'll use Google to make sure I'm going to the right spot. Many times it will have me go down some back road that it thinks is faster but really isn't. When I'm on a road trip or going somewhere I'm not very familiar with I'll run waze so I get the police reports which have saved me many times.

Heck yea,I use Waze every road trip and man it sure does help... I see an report everything on there,I can see why the LEO's don't like it... lol

 

[bc_suv]

Anyone use 'onX Offroad' or similar to find new trails to explore? I kind of like the option to filter routes by vehicle type as I'm precious about my paint.....