Can you show me a GPX file example?

Yes — the one in this guide is complete and valid. Copy it into a text file, save it as sample.gpx, and every GPX tool will open it.

Where can I download a sample GPX file?

Your own Strava or Garmin account is the best source: export any activity as GPX, free. Komoot and Ride with GPS give you route files. Race organisers publish course GPX files on the event page.

What is the minimum a GPX file needs?

The gpx root element with a version, and at least one track, route or waypoint with a latitude and longitude. Elevation and time are optional. A single trkpt is technically a file; a map wants at least two.

How do I test a GPX file?

Drop it into the GPX viewer here. If it draws, it is valid; the viewer also shows how many points it has, the distance, and whether it carries time and elevation.

Files: GPX, FIT and TCX 4 MIN READ

A sample GPX file to read, and where to get real ones

A complete, minimal GPX file you can copy, with every line explained, plus where to get real sample files — a run, a ride, a route — and what to do with them in a viewer or an editor.

Words: Laus Risby · September 2026

Here is a GPX file. It is short, it is complete, and it is valid: copy it into a text editor, save it as `sample.gpx`, and any GPX tool will open it.

```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <gpx version="1.1" creator="epicefforts.com" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1"> <trk> <name>Sample run around the lakes</name> <type>running</type> <trkseg> <trkpt lat="55.6864" lon="12.5652"><ele>9.0</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:00:00Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6890" lon="12.5668"><ele>9.5</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:01:40Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6923" lon="12.5695"><ele>10.1</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:03:30Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6945" lon="12.5740"><ele>10.8</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:05:20Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6931" lon="12.5790"><ele>11.0</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:07:10Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6898" lon="12.5768"><ele>10.2</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:09:00Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6873" lon="12.5712"><ele>9.6</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:10:50Z</time></trkpt> <trkpt lat="55.6864" lon="12.5652"><ele>9.0</ele><time>2026-05-03T07:12:40Z</time></trkpt> </trkseg> </trk> </gpx> ```

Line by line

`<?xml …?>` — it is an XML file, in UTF-8. Every GPX starts this way.
`<gpx version="1.1" creator=… xmlns=…>` — the root. The version is almost always 1.1; the creator is whoever wrote the file; the namespace tells parsers which GPX this is.
`<trk>` — a track, a recording. A plan would be `<rte>`; track vs route.
`<name>` and `<type>` — optional. Strava fills them in; many tools ignore them.
`<trkseg>` — a segment. A track can have several, for example one per resumed recording.
`<trkpt lat=… lon=…>` — a point. Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees are the only required things in the whole file.
`<ele>` — elevation in metres. Optional, and often wrong: GPX elevation data.
`<time>` — when, in UTC, ISO format. Optional in the standard; required by Strava for an activity.

A real recording has one `trkpt` per second, so a one-hour run is about 3,600 of them and a couple of hundred kilobytes.

Where to get real ones

Your own account. Any Strava activity exports as GPX, free, on the website: export a GPX from Strava. Garmin Connect, Wahoo, Coros and Suunto all export one too — the device guides.
A planner. Komoot and Ride with GPS export the route you draw. These are plans, with no times.
A race. Organisers publish the course GPX on the event page for most marathons and sportives.
Other people. A public Strava activity has a download button for its GPX, without the athlete's sensors.

What to do with the sample

Drop it into the GPX viewer: it draws the eight points as a loop and reports 2.7 km, 12:40 and no meaningful climb, which is what the file says. Drop it into the editor and it becomes a print, which for eight points is a modest one. Edit it in the GPX editor — trim, reverse, split — and download the result to see what changed in the text.

The sample loop is drawn around the Copenhagen lakes from a map, not recorded, so the elevation is invented and the pace is a walk. It is an example of the format, not of a run.

Questions people actually ask

Can you show me a GPX file example?: Yes — the one in this guide is complete and valid. Copy it into a text file, save it as sample.gpx, and every GPX tool will open it.
Where can I download a sample GPX file?: Your own Strava or Garmin account is the best source: export any activity as GPX, free. Komoot and Ride with GPS give you route files. Race organisers publish course GPX files on the event page.
What is the minimum a GPX file needs?: The gpx root element with a version, and at least one track, route or waypoint with a latitude and longitude. Elevation and time are optional. A single trkpt is technically a file; a map wants at least two.
How do I test a GPX file?: Drop it into the GPX viewer here. If it draws, it is valid; the viewer also shows how many points it has, the distance, and whether it carries time and elevation.

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