CalTopo imports GPX, KML and GeoJSON files, both on caltopo.com and in its phone app. Convert your Google Maps list in the converter above, import the file into a CalTopo map, and every place lands as a marker.
CalTopo plots coordinates, not street addresses. MapsLinkQuest reads each place's coordinates straight from the Google Maps list, so there's no geocoding step. The steps below come from CalTopo's own training pages. We haven't run them ourselves, so where this page says CalTopo documents something, that's CalTopo's guide, not our own test.
Import on caltopo.com
Open a map. Click Import at the top of the Map Objects sidebar and pick the file you downloaded. CalTopo documents that you can import into a saved or an unsaved map.
A dialog then lists every item in the file, all ticked. Untick anything you don't want, or click a name to rename it before it's imported. Each item shows how far it is from your current map view: green if it's on the map, yellow if it's under a mile away, and red with the distance if it's further. Markers also show their coordinates. Click IMPORT to finish. CalTopo puts markers from a GPX or KML file in the Markers folder.
Import in the CalTopo app
Get the file onto your phone first. In the app, tap the center button at the top of the screen to open the map item menu, then tap the import button at the top right, the one with an arrow pointing out of a box. Pick your file. CalTopo documents that it takes .gpx, .kml and .json files, and that picking anything else does nothing.
The next screen lets you choose which items to import, the same as on the website but with less detail about each one. Tap Import. If a map is already open, the markers are saved to it. If not, save the map or the markers won't be kept.
What comes across
Every place arrives as a marker with its name and coordinates. MapsLinkQuest also writes your Google Maps notes and the address into each place's description in the file. We haven't checked how CalTopo shows them. CalTopo documents that it keeps colors and styles when a file has them. MapsLinkQuest's files don't set any, so expect CalTopo's default marker.
Importing more than one list
If you keep separate Google Maps lists for different trips, convert each one here and import each file. Markers from a GPX or KML file all go into the same Markers folder, so lists imported into one map mix together there. CalTopo documents that keeping folders needs a GeoJSON file that carries its folder structure, which a converted Google Maps list doesn't have. Importing each list into its own map keeps them apart. We haven't tested more than one MapsLinkQuest export at a time.
If the import doesn't work
- Nothing happens when you pick the file. CalTopo imports .gpx, .kml and .json files only. Check the file's ending. In the app, searching for the file name helps you find it.
- The GPX file won't import. CalTopo documents that a GPX file with tags it doesn't recognize may not import. Switch the export to KML in the converter above and try again.
- Some items show in red. That isn't an error. Red means the place is a mile or more from your current map view. Import it anyway, or untick what you don't need.
- The markers disappeared in the app. If no map was open when you imported, save the map to keep them.
- Only 25 places came through. The free tier converts up to 25 places per list. Longer lists need a paid tier.
The GPX page covers the file itself, and the Garmin page covers loading the same file onto a handheld GPS.