About

GPS data exchange between applications requires strict adherence to the GPX 1.1 schema defined at topografix.com. Malformed XML tags, out-of-range coordinates (latitude outside ±90°, longitude outside ±180°), or missing namespace declarations will cause import failures in Garmin, Strava, Google Earth, and similar platforms. This converter parses raw CSV rows, validates every coordinate pair against WGS-84 bounds, and emits schema-compliant GPX 1.1 XML with proper xmlns declarations. It supports three output modes: waypoints (wpt), tracks (trk), and routes (rte).

The tool assumes a flat CSV structure where each row represents one geographic point. It approximates real-world positions only to the precision provided in your source data. Datum transformations (e.g., NAD27 to WGS-84) are not performed. Pro tip: verify your coordinate order is latitude-first. Swapped lat/lon is the most common cause of GPS tracks appearing in the wrong hemisphere.

Formulas

Each CSV row is parsed into a geographic point structure. The converter validates coordinates against the WGS-84 ellipsoid bounds before generating XML.

Valid point ⇔ −90 ≤ lat ≤ 90 ∧ −180 ≤ lon ≤ 180

Where lat = latitude in decimal degrees (north positive) and lon = longitude in decimal degrees (east positive). Optional elevation ele is in meters above mean sea level.

CSV Row Format: name , lat , lon [, ele ] [, time ]

The GPX output wraps each valid point in the appropriate XML element. For waypoints: <wpt lat="..." lon="..."><name>...</name></wpt>. For tracks: points are nested inside <trk><trkseg><trkpt> elements. For routes: points become <rte><rtept> elements.

Coordinate Precision: 1° ≈ 111km ∴ 0.000001° ≈ 0.11m

Six decimal places provide sub-meter precision sufficient for most GPS applications.

Reference Data

GPX Element	XML Tag	Required Attributes	Optional Children	Use Case
Waypoint	wpt	lat, lon	ele, name, time, desc, sym	Individual POIs, geocaches
Track	trk → trkseg → trkpt	lat, lon	ele, time	Recorded GPS traces, hiking logs
Route	rte → rtept	lat, lon	ele, name, time	Planned navigation paths
Metadata	metadata	None	name, time, bounds	File-level description
Latitude Range	−90.0 ≤ lat ≤ 90.0		-	WGS-84 constraint
Longitude Range	−180.0 ≤ lon ≤ 180.0		-	WGS-84 constraint
Elevation	ele	None (optional)	-	Meters above MSL (mean sea level)
Timestamp	time	ISO 8601 format	-	UTC recommended
GPX Version	1.1		-	Current standard since 2004
Schema Namespace	http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1		-	Required for validation
Common Delimiter: Comma	,		-	Default CSV separator
Common Delimiter: Semicolon	;		-	European locale CSV
Common Delimiter: Tab	\t		-	TSV files
Coordinate Precision	6 decimal places		-	≈ 0.11m accuracy
Max File Size	10MB		-	Browser memory constraint

Frequently Asked Questions

The expected column order is: name, latitude, longitude, elevation (optional), timestamp (optional). The converter also supports an auto-detect mode for files with a header row containing recognizable column names like "lat", "lng", "elevation", or "time". Without a header, strict positional order is enforced.

European-locale CSV files often use semicolons as field delimiters and commas as decimal separators (e.g., 48,8566;2,3522). Select the semicolon delimiter option and the converter will correctly parse comma-decimal coordinates like 48,8566 as 48.8566 degrees.

Waypoints (wpt) are independent points of interest with no sequential relationship. Tracks (trk/trkpt) represent an ordered sequence of points actually recorded by a GPS device - they include timestamps and form a breadcrumb trail. Routes (rte/rtept) define a planned path between points that a GPS device can follow for navigation. Choose tracks for recorded data and routes for planned paths.

Yes. The output includes the correct XML declaration, GPX 1.1 namespace (xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1"), schema location attribute, and creator tag. All coordinate values are formatted as decimal degrees. Element nesting follows the XSD specification. You can validate the output at xmlvalidation.com against the schema at topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd.

Invalid rows - those with non-numeric latitude/longitude, values outside the WGS-84 bounds (latitude beyond ±90°, longitude beyond ±180°), or missing required fields - are skipped. The converter reports the exact line numbers and reasons for each skipped row. Valid rows are still processed and included in the output GPX file.

Files up to 10 MB are accepted. For CSVs exceeding 5,000 rows, parsing is chunked to prevent browser UI freezing. A progress indicator displays during conversion. Tested reliably with datasets up to 50,000 waypoints. For files larger than 10 MB, split your CSV into multiple files before converting.

No. The converter passes coordinates through as-is. GPX 1.1 assumes WGS-84 datum. If your source data uses a different datum (e.g., NAD27, OSGB36), you must convert to WGS-84 before using this tool. Failing to do so can introduce positional errors of up to several hundred meters depending on location and source datum.