WikiProject Belgium/Conventions/Walking Routes

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This page summarize some conventions for editing walking routes in OpenStreetMap in Belgium.

Mapping of walking and/or biking routes must be restricted to routes signposted by an official tourism agency that is assigning the node numbers, if any, and writing them to the signs.

In short, walking routes are mapped in OpenStreetMap relations of the type route=*.

Long distance walking routes (GR)

Mark for a GR route

GR footpaths (Grote Routepaden [1] in Dutch or Grande Randonnée [2] in French) are signed with the usual red/white signs, and can also be found in large parts in western Europe.

Tagging examples (for relations):

Tags	Description
type=route route=hiking network=nwn ref=GR5	The GR 5 path, which runs from Bergen op Zooom in the Netherlands to Nice in France.
type=route route=hiking network=nwn ref=GRAE	The GR AE path which runs from the Ardennes to the Eifel.

RAVeL network

The RAVeL (Réseau Autonome de Voies Lentes) network stretches across Wallonia [3]. These routes are for walking, cycling, horse riding and skating. They're currently tagged as cycle routes (see here, but will need walking route tags as well once.

Walking node networks

A junction in the walking node network of Scheldeland

A sign marking the route you have to follow to a junction in Klein-Brabant

Since the cycle node networks were such a success, walking node networks also started appearing in some places. They work entirely the same as the cycle node networks, but only cover small areas.

The way of tagging is almost the same. A node is tagged like:

Tags	Description
rwn_ref=35	A "35" node in the network.

The routes between the nodes are created with relations like:

Tags	Description
type=route route=foot network=rwn note=03-68	A route between two nodes. The "note" and "operator" keys are optional. Do not use the "ref" tags, they cause a rendering mess.

When the routes follow different roads in both directions between two nodes, use the proper "forward" and "backward" roles for each relation member. See Relations/Routes for details.

Information on more complex tagging situation (for example two nodes with same node number) can be found on the dutch OSM forum or applied from the extensive article on cycle networks, which to a degree follow the same logic.

Local walking routes

Many walking routes are signed with these small arrows

But the routes are complemented with six-sided signs like this giving the name and distance

With local walking routes we generally mean all other walking routes, which usually make a loop back to its starting point, and can therefore be seen as the same type of route as the themed cycle routes.

Categorizing them may be hard, since every municipality seems to have their own way of signing. Furthermore some other organizations have also put signs all over Belgium. An overview of the local walking routes in Flanders can be found here and for Wallonia here.

Foot and hiking routes are walking routes, an established course of travel along a set of ways between destinations. They are often named, numbered or otherwise identifiable. A foot route is generally a shorter, easier route, often intended for leisure. A hiking route is generally longer and/or more strenuous and may require experience to be navigated safely.

Routes that are suitable for inclusion in OSM should usually match one or more of the following guidelines:

• The route is signed or otherwise identifiable on the ground.
• The route is established, documented and/or maintained by an organization that is well known or officially responsible for this function (e.g. mountaineering clubs, tourism boards, ...).
• The route itself is shared common knowledge among a significant number of people that are not all mutually connected. This usually means that it is easy to find different sources of information about it online or many people living in the area know about it. Examples for routes matching this criteria include the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne or the Greater Patagonia Trail, which are both unofficial and mostly unsigned, but are well known among long distance hikers.

If in doubt, suitability of a route for inclusion in OSM should be discussed with the relevant OSM community.

User contributed routes uploaded to trip planning and travel guide websites should typically not be added to OSM unless other criteria are met.

To tag a foot or hiking route you create a relation with the appropriate tags and add all different ways of the foot/hiking route to this relation. The order of the ways matters. Please see Relation:route#Order matters

Tags of the relation

Key	Value	Explanation
Required
type	route	This relation represents a route.
route	hiking foot	route=foot is used for routes which are walkable without any limitations regarding fitness, equipment or weather conditions. As a guideline, you could say that ordinary shoes or trainers (at a pinch, even flip-flops) are adequate for this type of walking trail. route=hiking is used for routes that rather match Wikipedia's definition: "A long, vigorous walk, usually on trails, in the countryside"). As a guideline, you could say that a hiking trail needs walking shoes or hiking boots because you will encounter sharp rocks and/or heavy undergrowth and/or muddy terrain and/or have to wade through shallow streams. Don't use route=pilgrimage (almost non-existent). Instead, add pilgrimage=yes to a hiking-route.
Recommended
network	iwn nwn rwn lwn	International walking network: long distance paths that cross several countries National walking network: used for walking routes that are nationally significant and long distance paths Regional walking network: used for walking routes that cross regions and are regionally significant Local walking network: used for small local walking routes
Useful and tags. These tags are not at all required, but can provided additional and valuable information
ascent	ascent	The ascent covered by a route in metres. If a route has start and end point at different altitude use descent too
colour	a hex triplet a css colour name	The major colour of the symbol used on the route. Colour code noted in hex triplet format or as CSS/HTML colour name. Example: "#008080" for teal colour in hex triplet, or simply "teal" as a css colour name.
descent	descent	The descent covered by a route in metres. Use it only if it differs from the ascent (different altitude at start/endpoint of a route).
description	a short description	What is special about this route
distance	distance	The distance covered by this route, if known. For information of users and automatic evaluation e.g. of completeness. Given including a unit and with a dot for decimals. (e.g. 12.5 km)
educational	yes/no	When the route is Educational trail
historic	yes/no	When the route is a historic or heritage trail
name	a name	The route is known by this name (e.g., "Westweg")
name:code=*	localised name	For adding localized names in different languages, add additional name:code=* tags with a suffix on the name key, where code is a language's ISO code.
operator	operator name	The route is operated by this authority/company etc. e.g. "Schwarzwaldverein", "Alpenverein"
osmc:symbol	*	Represents the symbol used on the route. Some renderers uses the osmc:symbol=* to indicate a route on the map.
ref	a reference	The route is known by this reference (e.g. "E1"). Node network routes use ref=mm-nn where mm and nn are the node reference numbers.
roundtrip	yes/no	Use roundtrip=no to indicate that a route goes from A to B and instead of being circular (roundtrip=yes).
signed_direction	yes/no	Use signed_direction=yes to indicate that the route is to be walked in only one direction, according to the signposts on the ground. The ways within the relation should be ordered, as they are used to determine the direction of the signposts. (Note: Since 2019, it's preferred not to use oneway=yes anymore, as it could cause confusion with oneway=* as a legal restriction. See discussion on tagging mailinglist).
stage	a reference to a stage	Sometimes longer routes are divided into stages. With this tag a stage reference can be indicated.
state	alternate	Sometimes routes may not be permanent or may be in a proposed state. See also the life cycle tags for this usage.
survey:date	yyyy-mm-dd	Date of the most recent survey
symbol	symbol description	Consider using osmc:symbol=* instead. Describes the symbol that is used to mark the way along the route, e.g., "Red cross on white background" for the "Frankenweg" in Franconia, Germany
website	*	Website that describes the route
wikipedia	language:page title	Wikipedia page that describes the route

Elements of a relation

Routes consist of ways that mark where it leads. For hiking and walking relations it will by typically primarily highway=path, highway=footway, highway=track, highway=steps with some highway=cycleway, highway=service, highway=residential. Sometimes also highway=unclassified and other roads higher in road importance will appear.

A route relation may have one or more ways as elements. A route relation can also have other route relations as elements, called parent relation containing child relations or super relations.

Some mappers also add nodes as relation members, e.g. for major guideposts on the route.

Roles

Most of the time, elements will be added with an empty role. For recreational route relations, a basic functional role set has been approved, see Roles for recreational route relations. The approved roles are: main, alternative, approach, excursion, and connection. When no role is set, main is assumed. The roles are applicable to way members and relation members.

Ways and Relations

Role value	Explanation
None or main	The role value for the main section(s) of a signposted or in any way waymarked route.
alternative	A signposted or otherwise waymarked alternative branching off then rejoining the main route at a significantly different point. The alternative is used instead of a section of the main route.
excursion	A signposted or otherwise waymarked side track which rejoins the main track at or close to the same point where it left, e.g. to visit a place of interest. The excursion is an optional addition to the main route.
approach	Signposted or otherwise waymarked access route to or from transport infrastructure e.g. parking, train station, bus station, cable car. An approach is used in addition to the main route.
connection	Signposted or otherwise waymarked link route from one recreational route to another recreational route and vice versa. A connection is used to switch from one route to another. Note that an approach might act as a connection, e.g. when it ends/begins at a major train station where other routes also pass through. In that case, use the role approach. Given this definition, the connection should appear in both routes involved.
guidepost	A guidepost with directions regarding the path in question.

(the above table is a template, you can edit it directly via this link)

Tagging examples:

Tags	Description
type=route route=foot network=lwn name=Geitepad	The Geitepad ("Goat path"), a walking route in Wilrijk in Antwerp

Wallonia

The markup of local touristic walking routes is strictly ruled by the regional decree of 1 April 2004 (amended 2005-07-20 and 2008-10-23). Valid colours are red, yellow, blue and green. The routes are globally administered by the CGT (Commissariat Général du Tourisme). More information and links to decrees and annexes on its page: Les itinéraires touristiques balisés with the 'Guide du balisage' and the 'Itinéraires reconnus'.

This is the list of possible values for the symbol=* tag (whatever the colour):

Pedestrian walking routes (route=hiking or route=foot)		symbol=rectangle	colour=green	osmc:symbol=green:green:green_rectangle
Cycling routes (route=cycling)		not defined at the moment		not defined at the moment
MTB routes		not defined at the moment		not defined at the moment
Horse routes	"cavalier" marker	not defined at the moment		not defined at the moment
Skiing routes	Arrow marker	symbol=arrow	colour=red	osmc:symbol=white:red:white_arrow
All-together usage symbol			colour=red	osmc:symbol=red:red:white_backslash

All these symbols can take only four colours, with the official Pantone and corresponding HTML colors codes as follows:

rouge	colour=red	pantone 1795 C	#d22730
vert	colour=green	pantone 355 C	#009739
bleu	colour=blue	pantone 3015 C	#00629b
jaune	colour=yellow	pantone Yellow C	#fedd00

However, it has been observed on the field that other colours are still in use (e.g., orange, purple). Furthermore, there are also old markers for local walking routes with different symbols: cross, "X", right-angled triangle, diamonds, etc.

Flanders

Signs of Natuurpunt walking routes

Natuurpunt has a large number of local walking routes all over Flanders. The routes, have one or several information signs - coloured symbols on a white hexagonal plate - with the name of the route, and the signs with arrows have, next to a colour, also a shape, like a rectangle or triangle. In some cases a logo is used, like the "Aardgas" logo.

The routes should be tagged like the other local walking routes above, but should have an additional symbol=* tag, next to colour=*.

This is the list of possible values for the symbol=* tag:

	symbol=square	colour=red	osmc:symbol=red:white:red_rectangle
	symbol=rectangle	colour=blue	osmc:symbol=blue:white:blue_bar
	symbol=triangle	colour=green	osmc:symbol=green:white:green_triangle
	symbol=disk	colour=yellow	osmc:symbol=yellow:white:yellow_dot
	symbol=aardgas (*)

(*) when the route is signed with this logo, you shouldn't use the colour=* tag.

Similarly many routes (e.g. those of the 'Regionale Landschappen') are marked with these signs:

	symbol=rectangle	colour=green	osmc:symbol=green:white:green_bar	name=* Groene rechthoek
	symbol=diamond	colour=blue	osmc:symbol=blue:white:blue_diamond	name=* Blauwe ruit
	symbol=disk	colour=orange	osmc:symbol=orange:white:orange_dot	name=* Oranje bol
	symbol=triangle	colour=red	osmc:symbol=red:white:red_triangle	name=* Rode driehoek
	symbol=hexagon	colour=yellow	osmc:symbol=yellow:white:yellow_hexagon	name=* Gele zeshoek
	symbol=trapezium	colour=purple	osmc:symbol=purple:white:purple_trapezium (*)	name=* Paarse trapezium
	symbol=boat	colour=purple	osmc:symbol=purple:white:purple_boat (*)	name=* Paarse boot
	symbol=cross	colour=brown	osmc:symbol=brown:white:brown_x	name=* Bruin kruis (**)

Some examples of names: Oudsberg Rode driehoek, Mechelse Heide Blauwe ruit, ...

(*) The trapezium and boat are not yet supported on Waymarkedtrails.

(**) Only when it is a proper walking route <-> aanlooproute, verbinding

Pilgrim's paths

In Flanders the Compostelagenootschap is currently working out paths for pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela. More info about the workgroup here. The paths should be signed sometime in 2009.