We have developed a tracking detector with a gas electron multiplier (GEM) for nuclear experiments. The developed GEM detector was installed inside the dipole magnet used for transporting the primary beam to the beam dump and it was used to measure the momentum of charged particles. A sufficiently high spatial resolution was achieved at a high counting rate and a magnetic field for coherent pion production with a 392 MeV proton beam to study the short-range component of the residual nuclear interaction. The detector systems and development procedure are described. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.