Waypoint (GPS)

A waypoint is a specific point stored as coordinates in a GPS device, phone app or navigator. Riders use waypoints to mark destinations, important junctions, fuel stations, campsites and viewpoints, or to build a route that a navigator follows from point to point.

A route is a sequence of waypoints that the device connects by road, while a track is a recorded breadcrumb trail of the exact path. For off-road and adventure riding, tracks are usually more reliable, because a navigator may otherwise recalculate the route onto roads you did not intend to use.

Tips: name waypoints clearly, back up important ones offline, and check that the coordinate format (decimal degrees or degrees and minutes) matches between devices. In rally raid, waypoints are part of the official route validation.