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When you export a file from Rendzo, you can choose between two GPX formats: Track and Route. They describe the same journey in fundamentally different ways, and the right choice depends on how you plan to use the file.

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What is a Track?

A track (<trk> in the GPX file) is a detailed, point-by-point recording of a path. It contains every GPS point along the way — often thousands of them, sometimes spaced just meters apart — so the line on your device matches the planned path exactly.
When your GPS device loads a track, it simply draws the line and shows your position relative to it. The device does no routing of its own — what you planned is exactly what you see. Choose Track when:
  • You want to follow the exact path you created, meter for meter
  • Your planned path uses trails, singletrack, or unpaved roads your device’s maps may not know about
  • You picked specific roads deliberately and don’t want a device second-guessing them

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What is a Route?

A route (<rte> in the GPX file) is a sequence of key points — typically turns and decision points — without the detailed path between them. Your GPS device recalculates the path between the points using its own routing engine and its own maps.
Because the device is doing the navigating, routes get real turn-by-turn directions (“turn left on Oak St”) on devices that support them — something a plain track can’t provide on many units. Choose Route when:
  • You want turn-by-turn navigation prompts from your device
  • The journey follows normal roads that any map knows about
  • You want the device to be able to re-route based on on-device settings like traffic, missed turns, etc.
Because your device recalculates the path with its own routing engine and maps, the path it produces can differ from the track you defined — a different road here and there, especially where its maps or routing preferences differ from Rendzo’s. If following the exact planned path matters, export a Track instead.

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Side-by-side

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How Rendzo builds each export

Track export writes every point of your file exactly as planned — the full geometry produced by Rendzo’s routing engine, plus whatever optional data you include (time, elevation, heart rate, and so on). Route export distills your file down to its turn points. Two sources are combined:
  1. Your anchor points. Every anchor you placed while planning is included. Since an anchor stores the position you clicked — which can sit slightly off the road — each one is snapped to the nearest point on the actual track before export, so route points always lie on your path.
  2. Significant bends in the path. The routing engine often adds real road geometry between your anchors — a dogleg, a curve, a jog around a block — that has no anchor of its own. Rendzo analyzes the track shape and adds a route point wherever the path bends meaningfully (more than about 50 meters from a straight line). This keeps the exported route faithful to the path you planned, even where you never clicked.
The first and last points are tagged with standard start and end markers (Flag, Green / Flag, Red) that Garmin and most other devices display as start and finish flags. Straightaways contribute no points, so a typical route stays compact — well within the point limits of older GPS units (many cap routes at around 250 points).
Time, heart rate, cadence, temperature, and power data are never included in a route — those belong to recorded tracks. Elevation is included on each route point when your file has it.

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Which should I export?

If you’re unsure, export a Track. It works on every device, requires no routing capability, and always shows exactly the path you planned. Reach for a Route when you specifically want your device to navigate — turn prompts, re-routing — and the journey sticks to mapped roads.