A GPS that does it all? Well the new Garmin Nuvi 500 is a decent candidate. No matter if you are traveling or just enjoying a relaxing walk in the park, the Nuvi 500 will deliver what’s expected of a GPS device. It has routing capabilities, improved mapping and water proof hardware to brag about.

Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales says:

This multi-mode nüvi is the ultimate device for those seeking portable navigation in the car and in the great outdoors. This product allows us to combine features from several of our most popular automotive and outdoor navigators into one compact unit. From weekend trips to the lake, to a hike around the trail, nüvi 500 is ideal for people seeking automotive and recreational navigation in one dynamic device.

Whenever you exit your vehicle, change your mode to anything else. You will still be able to monitor accurate location details.

The Nuvi 500 will offer you a 3.5 inch water proof screen, a compass page, a track log and a removable, rechargeable battery for longer out doors activities. The “Where Am I?” feature will always show you the current location while the Garmin Connect Photos will let you choose between millions of geo located photos from Google’s Panoramio.

BlueChart® g2 Vision, and Inland Lake Vision will help you a lot if you are traveling by sea. You will get specific details about pot soundings, intertidal zones, wrecks, port plans, restricted areas and more.

For more driving fun, the historic Route 66 map guide will show you specific sites and memorable places to stop in. Preloaded with topographic maps of the 48 US states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico the 500 version is quite a catch. There’s also a 550 version which has enhanced street coverage in the USA or Canada. The European market will receive a scooter GPS for now which will be available as an extra accessory in other markets too.