GPX files can contain different types of geographic information. Waypoints, routes and tracks are especially important.

Waypoints (wpt)

A waypoint is a single location with coordinates. This can be, for example, a parking area, viewpoint, meeting point, destination or another marked point.

A waypoint describes only one specific location, but not a path or route course.

Routes (rte)

A route is a planned sequence of points. It describes which points should be passed on the way to a destination.

Routes are often used for planned tours. They usually contain fewer points than a track and describe the planned course rather than an exact recording.

Tracks (trk)

A track describes a recorded or very detailed route course. Tracks are often created by GPS recordings, for example while hiking, cycling or traveling.

A track consists of many individual track points. In GPX files, these points are organized in so-called track segments (trkseg). A track can contain one or more track segments, for example if a recording was interrupted and later continued.

In Short

Type GPX tag Meaning
Waypoint wpt single location or marker
Route rte planned sequence of points
Track trk recorded or detailed route course
Track segment trkseg section within a track