Create a Path in Google Earth

This post will cover creating a new path in Google Earth, saving it to file and creating a path or track. Lastly, I will explain how to work with an existing path or track.

First:
Open up Google Earth and enter a location in the Search box. If you are starting at a location with no street address, locate the starting point in Google Maps and right-click on the starting point. Selecting "What's here" should fill the coordinates in the search box. Copy the coordinates and paste them in the Google Earth search box. Click on the search button. Your location should now be visible on the screen.

Second:
Click on the "Add" menu and select "Path". The "New Path" dialog box with appear. Click on the "Style, Color" tab and Click in the box next to "Color:". Select a color that will show up well on your map. Click in the box next to "Width:" and select a thickness that will show up well. Now click on the map and start drawing a line. You can also click several times to create a series of straight lines. Make sure you DO NOT close the "New Path" dialog box before you finish drawing your path since this will end your new path drawing mode. Once you are done, click "OK" in the "New Path" dialog box. Your new path will appear in the "Places" side panel.

Third:
You can edit or rename your new path by right-clicking on the path in the "Places" side bar and selecting "Rename". You can also select "Save to My Places" to make it persist when the program is terminated. Editing the path is accomplished by right-clicking on the new path and selecting "Properties". This will bring up the "Edit Path" dialog box. Here you can change the setting of the path and the path direction and size. To change the path direction click on anyplace of the path while the "Edit Path" dialog box is open and drag that part of the path around. You can also delete part of a path by right-clicking on anyplace of the path. This will delete a point on the path.

You can also import an existing track in "KMZ" format. If you have a GPS device that has a recorded track, just download the file to your computer and then convert it to "KMZ" format with the GPS Visualizer Conversion utility. Once you have completed the conversion, download the converted file to your computer and double-click on it to bring up Google Earth. The existing track should be visible now.

Tracks can have their own topographic overlays. I have explained the procedure in my previous post called "Create a Map Overlay for Google Earth".