I switched from an old Apple Watch Series 3 model to a Garmin Epix 2 last December and I could not be happier with my choice. Battery life is amazing (I get 7+ days even with regular activity) and I like all the fitness functionality that my Garmin brings with it out-of-the-box compared to the rather simplistic Apple Watch tracking you get by default.

Also, the OLED display of the Garmin Epix 2 is amazing and I like to use it for navigation while hiking and running. However, the Epix 2 without Saphire Display only comes with 16GB of storage, so when I saw that downloading the Garmin included maps each a large portion of that, I was looking for an alternative to only download the region/countries I actually need/use.

You can find excellent ready-to-use maps on opentopomap.org

They offer various different packages, such as a map containing the Alps or maps by countries

You can find a screenshot taken from their website below:

Map Installation

Simply copy the *.img file you downloaded to the /GARMIN/ folder on your Epix 2 and you are good to go :)

You can enable/disable the maps in settings.

Navigating

Now that we have our maps, we also need a route to follow :)

There are two ways to start using route navigation on a Garmin Epix 2:

1. Use routes available in Garmin Connect app: Go to More/Training & Planning/Courses
2. Download .GPX routes and load them to your Garmin Watch using the Connect app

To start a following a route, you start a Hiking activity and got to Navigate: Courses & More. Here you can pick course that you sent to your watch using Garmin Connect. You can also select to follow the course in reverse.

Voilá, and we are ready to enjoy routing on our Epix and still have plenty of storage left for music and apps.

Happy hiking!