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Trails inside OpenStreetMap
I've discovered that some trails like Yellowmundee or Appin have been implemented in the free/wiki equivalent of Google Maps: OpenStreetMap, see here Appin XC route (in red).
The good thing with OpenStreetMap, is that there isn't a giant corporation behind to restrict the use of it. For example, I have an App on my iPhone that can save the cache and therefor able me to check the route while having NO reception at all.
I haven't tested, but when comparing with the trail I've traced on an other map, it's look to match.
OpenStreetMap website seems to be a bit slow to load right now, I guess they don't have a massive server behind… but at the end with a bit of patience it's working.
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I can see also:
+ Yellomundee (in blue)
+ Ourimbah (in red)
+ Awaba (in blue)
+ Glenrock (in blue)
+ Stromlo (in blue)
+ Sparrow Hill and Kowen (in blue)
+ Majura (in blue)
… and I'm sure much more. If I have a bit of time, I'll add them in this post.
Here more:
+ Manly Dam (in blue)
has many trails not in NPWS POM-these trails are now off limits to bikes now(fingers crossed if we do the right thing we may get them back)
I'll do a bit of an update on Appin from what I can see from the Bing aerial as it's better than the previous Yahoo when the track was added in 2008. Is Appin bike only or just a shared single track?
Also, blue indicates a cycleway and isn't really correct. Red is a footpath, again incorrect. They will mostly be track(firetrails) or generic path(single tracks) as per the Australian tagging guidelines.
Remember that this is like wikipedia, and so everyone can edit it. The only one in red is Ourimbah, and seems that it's a rush GPS log upload.
To compare maps, I like to use http://mapper.acme.com (mapnik is OpenStreetMap)
"Remember that this is like wikipedia, and so everyone can edit it."
Yeah, I've been actively editing in OSM for about 3 years now, if your work is done to the guidelines and to a good standard, then it will be left alone or only improved on by others. Most things can always be improved on.
Yellomundie was traced from Nearmap(when we had it) and with several GPS traces to guide. I still think it needs more as I haven't been there for 12 months.
Ourimbah does need some work. Might have to wait until one of us goes there.
Edit. Looks like Ourimbah was done by some in the UK. May have done it after a holiday in 2008. I need to visit Ourimbah.
Looks to have been traced off the mud maps rather than GPS.
Well, the thing is that we have a really nice system on this site for creating maps and keeping them up to date. This is designed specifically for cycling so has IMBA trail ratings, trails have individual names, types (single track, double track, etc). You don't end up with walking tracks, or other types of tracks not suitable or not of interest to riders. We also have elevation, plots and the ability to discuss these tracks.
It would be nice if people are thinking about trying to maintain maps of an area if we kept our trails DB up to date first, then shared these on OSM second.
FWIW, I have a little script that generates PDF maps of a given area for print directly from our trails DB. This isn't in use yet, but it could be - just another reason to try and keep the trails DB up to date.
Rob that little script to make pdf maps would be great... well at least for me
. I think the maps are really good online but I find them hard to get a good hard copy to take with me riding from them.
The problem with the Open Source Maps are that they can end up promoting trails in sensitive areas that shouldn't be ridden. The south side of glenrock is a prime example.
Relying on those maps can have you in places detrimental to keeping the legit trails.
As for robs PDF script. From the demo I had, it's a very useful tool to print out maps to take with you.
The ability to print maps would be great.
I don't have a Garmin to download the maps to and rely on the iphone. When the signal drops out (which it usually does in the bush) I loose my maps.
Any map suffers from bad or out of dated data, the commercial maps are hopeless in many areas. At least with OSM you can get on there and edit it yourself and leave a note stating why you have made the changes, I have done this several times.
If the Glenrock data is wrong or out of date, send me the updated GPX and I will trace it correctly and remove the closed tracks or update them to reflect the current status.
I find the online maps(often cached for remote areas) the only the way to go when out exploring.
Got ya Chuck, I better understand now how OpenStreetMap is working. I've sign-up yesterday on it and will try contribute in the future.
As iPhone are really popular in our days, combining it with an App that can cache the map (like the one I linked in my first post) in case you loose network or just want to load quickly the map. It's a good combination as the iPhone has a GPS unit build in… not the best one, but it does work.
But remember as a basic rule of going in the bush, always have a paper map beside your GPS.
As most people know there are numerous apps on Android that can record your tracks etc. However some allow you to create maps and load them onto the phone for offline use, others you can just cache as you browse. Not to sure about the iPhone, I suspect it would have similar apps.
Rob, would love that script to print to PDF. I guess I would need the right software for that though.
Then I could use ibooks to view maps on my iphone.
Oh, an iPhone tip that may be helpful. If you press the power button and the round button at the same time. It will take a screen shot of what is on your screen and save it to your gallary.
ok, I am the one who has updating the Glenrock OSM data.
The trail network as shown on OSM is accurate in a GPS sense. By this I mean that the trails shown on OSM exist in the field and the mapping is accurate. You will see that new stuff like seismic and the shaft alterations are on there. It is more accurate than the trail head sign that NPWS put up.
I have not deleted the southern and downhill trails because the trails are still there. When these cease to exist or NPWS start to enforce some sort of trail closure then I will remove them from OSM. Until then I think they should stay in OSM.