Organised Editing/Activities/Trails Stewardship Initiative
The Trails Stewardship Initiative is a program led by OpenStreetMap US to improve the accuracy and completeness of trail data in OpenStreetMap. The Initiative is managed by the OpenStreetMap US Trails Working Group, and represents a collaboration between land managers, the OpenStreetMap community, commercial users of OpenStreetMap data for recreation, and other stakeholders to address issues in trail mapping, outdoor recreation, and public land management. Updates, efforts, and campaigns are announced on the talk-us mailing list, OpenStreetMap US newsletter, the OpenStreetMap US blog, the OSM US Slack, and social media channels. Regular updates are provided through all channels.
More information can be found on the program page of the OpenStreetMap US website. Further background and documentation of initial efforts can be found on the United States/Trails Stewardship Initiative page.
Contact
The Trails Stewardship Initiative is led by OpenStreetMap US and the Trails Working Group. For information, please visit https://openstreetmap.us/our-work/trails/.
For any additional information or questions, please email trails@openstreetmap.us
Projects
This table provides an overview of all projects under the Trails Stewardship Initiative. Each project has its own wiki page to provide further detail and mapping guidance.
| Focus Area | Project | Dates | Status | Description | Hashtag(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | Bryce Canyon National Park - Official Trail Attributes | October 2023 - November 2024 | Completed | Support responsible recreation by improving trail attributes using official resources. Our target is for each trail to be updated with the following attributes (as applicable) based on official sources:
Each trail may have a different situation influencing which tags to use. Please see the mapping instructions provided to determine the correct situation for each trail. |
Updated trail information #TrailsStewardshipInitiative-Utah #OSMUS #TrailsStewardshipInitiative
Plus individual task hashtags: #osmus-tasks-447 or #osmus-tasks-451 or #osmus-tasks-452 |
| United States | Add missing website=* tags to State Parks | January 2025 | Ongoing | Adding missing website links to State Parks in the US helps end users of OSM-based maps find further information about the park. It also helps OSM contributors add more detailed information to the park in the future (opening hours, fees, amenities, trail rules and regulations, etc), by making it easier to locate the webpage where this information is published. | Added missing website tag to state park #OSMUS #TrailsStewardshipInitiative #maproulette |
| United States | Add missing USFS trailheads | January 2025 | Ongoing | The US Forest Service publishes a public domain dataset which includes trailheads on USFS-managed land. Many of these trailheads are not yet mapped in OSM. Mapping trailheads helps end users find places where they can access public lands.
This MapRoulette challenge has contributors review and add candidate trailhead nodes to OSM using JOSM. The trailhead nodes were prepared using usfs-to-osm, and osm_conflate was used to omit trailheads which were already present in OSM. Care was taken to transform the USFS-provided names into the format preferred by OSM (title case, no abbreviations, name is the name only, etc), but mappers are asked to review the name and correct any issues with it before adding it to the map. |
Add highway=trailhead node for missing USFS trailhead #OSMUS #TrailsStewardshipInitiative #maproulette |
Data Model
Using references identified by land managers, mappers will update the following minimum attributes as appropriate. This data model was developed by the Trails Working Group, as documented on the United States/Trails page.
| Priority | Attribute | OSM Tag(s) | Additional info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Name | name=* | Trail Name |
| Operator | operator=* | Name of land management (i.e. National Park Service) | |
| Informal | informal=yes | Social trails, decommissioned trails, and other trails not designated by the land manager; regardless of access designation | |
| informal=no | Official trail, regardless of access | ||
| Access | access=yes | Open to the public | |
| access=no | Closed trail. No one is allowed | ||
| access=private | Private trail. No trespassing; general public not allowed. | ||
| access=permissive | Private trail. General public allowed. | ||
| access=unknown | Trail access is unclear or unknown | ||
| Allowed use* | foot=designated;yes;no | Access restriction/designation for use by foot (hikers) | |
| bicycle=designated;yes;no | Access restriction/designation for use by bicycle | ||
| horse=designated;yes;no | Access restriction/designation for use with horses | ||
| dog=yes;no;leashed | Access restriction/designation for use with dogs | ||
| Secondary | Reference Number | ref=* | Official trail reference number |
| Width | width=* | Trail width (m) | |
| Official Website | website=* | Website with information about the trail, example Bristlecone Loop Trail, managed by the operator. | |
| Wiki data | operator:wikidata=* | Wikidata value for operator. Ex, NPS: Q308439. USFS: Q1891156, BLM: Q1010556 | |
| Trail Visibility | trail_visibility=* | Classification indicating level of orienteering skills needed to follow the trail | |
| Trail Difficulty | sac_scale=* | Classification indicating level of difficulty for maneuvering the trail |
* Other transportation modes such as ski, snowmobile, ATV are also encouraged if known.
Hashtag
All projects will use the #OSMUS and #TrailsStewardshipInitiative hashtags as well as project specific hashtags listed under each project above.
Timeframe
Each project will have its own unique timeframe based on project needs and scope. Large scale projects will be broken down into smaller components to encourage mapper engagement and for timely validation/data quality.
Tools and data sources
Each project will use specific tools and data sources, described on individual project pages.
Participants
This is a community project organized by OpenStreetMap US. As a result, there is not an exhaustive list of mappers.
Measuring our success
More details to be provided soon.
Training/instructions
Detailed instructions and guidance, including links to official trail sources are included in each Tasking Manager project.
Data Quality
Each project is closely monitored for data quality by OpenStreetMap US. The OpenStreetMap US Tasking Manager is the primary tool used for activities to allow for organized community validation. In cases where other mapping tools are required, secondary review or validation methods will be described in the project page. At the completion of each project, the OpenStreetMap US project lead conducts a third-pass validation over all project data.
Data quality is critical to both OpenStreetMap and the stakeholders relying on the data. Where feasible, OpenStreetMap US will also work with relevant land managers for additional quality checks to ensure accuracy.