The Original Great Southern Brevet: Route 2021

👉 Important: please ensure you have the 'Flood' option for Leg 3 Omarama to St. Bathans. The individual track can be found here for download:

GSB21_L3a_Flood

Check out the Great Southern Brevet Route on Google Maps. The map has been updated with notes on the services you will find along the route (campgrounds, shops, motels, etc). It is a guide for those unfamiliar with the area so you can plan your stops. It does not list all services but gives an indication of where your next food or accommodation may be!


Click on image to open Google Maps

The Great Southern Brevet 2021 will follow the second variation of the Great Southern Brevet 3 possible routes. The main change is this route goes via Queenstown and takes in the Round the Mountain Cycle Trail.

The route takes you through sections of private tracks as well as remote Department of Conservation Conservation Areas and includes some of the New Zealand Cycle Trails. It is a bikepacking adventure through the Mackenzie High Country and around the beautiful Central Otago area of the South Island of New Zealand.

The following link takes you to the RidewithGPS Collection of the GSB2021 Route. The first link includes the route in 12 sections as well as elevation profiles. Click on the map screenshot below for the collection.

You will need a RidewithGPS login to download the GPX files but it is free for the basic login. The GPX files are also available to download directly from this website without a login below (these also have elevation included in the GPX).

Click on image to open RidewithGPS GSB2021 Collection with route a individual tracks

Click on image to open RidewithGPS GSB2021 Collection with route a single track for entire ride

The following links will take you to the Google Drive download for the respective file (these files include the elevation data):

Link to the Google Drive Directory with all GPX files. This may help if you have a different application requiring individual files.

The updated GSB2021 Route as individual tracks for each leg. This suits most Garmin devices. The file and track names start with GSB21 now.

The updated GSB2021 Route as a single track for entire ride. Some smartphone apps like this type of file. The file and track name start with GSB21 now.

The updated GSB2021 Services GPX file. This is the location of services (food, accommodation, etc.) along the GSB Route.

Cue Sheets

Cue Sheets are here! The Cue Sheets includes distances and turn by turn instructions as well as some notes on services (food and accommodation).

GSB2021 Cue Sheet - as Microsoft Excel file. Also available as a Google Sheets file in the download directory (see Google Drive link above).

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Garmin Compatible NZ Topomap

If you need a Topo Map of the South Island for your Garmin GPS then this link is for a partial Topo Map. It covers the South Island from Christchurch down so covers the full GSB2021 route (you will need the GPX file to see the route) and is ~340KB in size so should fit on most modern Garmins:

Click on image to take you to the Garmin Topomap download page

Map loading instructions: The map is ready to go, meaning it is in the Garmin format for the unit so no need to use Basecamp to view or load.

If you have an outdoor series Garmin GPS such as the Etrex, Dakota or Oregon then plug it into a USB port on your computer and wait for your computer to recognise it as a USB drive. This may take some time if you haven't plugged in it before but it should be recognised as a "drive" on your PC. Check "Settings", "System", "USB Mode" is set to "Mass Storage" on your Garmin so it works as a USB drive.

Click on the drive and click into the "Garmin" folder. You will see some *.img files already. Check to see if there is a "gmapsupp3.img". If there is then you need to rename the GSB file to "gmapsupp4.img" or similar to not overwrite the existing file. (Note if you have very limited memory space on your device you can save the file from your device to your PC to free up space and copy it back later). Copy the file into the "Garmin" folder (this will take some time as the older Garmin units have very slow USB).

Once complete, select "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" from the PC taskbar and eject "Garmin eTrex 20 (E:)" and then unplug from PC when message says OK to unplug.

Turn device off and then on. Once powered on again, select "Settings", then "Map" and "Map Information" (or similar). Scroll through the available maps to find one that should be something like "LINZ Topo", select it and then select "Enable". Back out through the menus and to the main screen and select "Map"

If you are not in the South Island then the map won't be visible! Zoom way out (120km zoom level) and scroll down to the South Island and then zoom back in and you should see the map detail. Don't forget you will need the separate GPX file of the actual course which will display on top of the map (see link above to download the course GPX).

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Using Garmin Connect

Garmin Connect Links: These links allow you to use Garmin Connect to send the GSB21 Tracks to your Garmin Edge device wirelessly (the next time you sync using your phone).

Please note, Garmin Connect tends to be very flaky, if you can it is best to upload the GPX file to the 'Newfiles' folder on your Garmin.