Map Resources

Pentad GPS Tracks for South Africa

Courtesy of Ernst Retief (Gauteng Regional Atlas Coordinator)



Struggling to find your way from pentad to pentad? And do you have a GPS (like Garmin) that can upload tracks?


If your answers to these questions are "yes" then the following GPS tracks of all pentads in South Africa might be of benefit to you. When uploaded to your GPS you will be able to see, while atlasing, exactly where you are in relation to the boundaries of the pentad.


There are three files in three formats. Please make sure what type file you need for your GPS and then download the relevant file. The file formats are:




However, if you have a GPS than cannot download the GPS tracks you can use it with Mapsource, a program that comes with your Garmin GPS. Below is a screen shot as an example (thanks to Dennis Walden for creating the image):


Please note that some GPS models can only load a maximum of 500 points - if you have a model like that please download the Eastern and Western files - they contain less than 500 points. The split is a few pentads east of PE.





Garmin Mapsource showing pentad boundaries



Note: To download these files, right click on the link and select the 'Save target as' or 'Save link as'. After downloading the files please refer to your GPS user manual/instructions on how to upload these files to your GPS unit.



Files for Garmin (.gdb)



Files for Ozzi (.plt)



General Exchange (.gpx)



For any additional queries please contact Ernst Retief