WikiProject Thailand/Hiking Guide

A Mapping Guide for Hikers in Thailand

Thailand has a vast network of trails, from well-known national park paths to hidden jungle routes. Contributing to OpenStreetMap (OSM) helps improve navigation and benefits the hiking community. Mapping your hikes makes trails safer and more accessible. Every contribution, big or small, helps! Here’s how you can contribute:

Basic Contributions

Track Your Hike

• Use GPS-enabled apps like OsmAnd, AllTrails, Strava, or Gaia GPS to record your hike.
• Ensure high accuracy by letting the device get a good GPS signal before starting.
• If using a dedicated GPS device, save your tracks in GPX format.

Take Notes & Photos

• Mark key points such as signs, gates, trailheads, junctions, viewpoints, shelters, water sources, and obstacles.
• Take geotagged photos for reference.

Share Your Knowledge

• If you don’t want to edit OSM directly, share your tracks and observations publicly on platforms like GaiaGPS, AllTrails, Strava or Komoot.
• Engage with local hiking groups (Chiang Mai) to encourage more contributions.

Respect Nature & Local Communities

• Follow Leave No Trace principles.
• Be mindful of private property and local regulations.

Intermediate Contributions

Upload Your GPX Tracks

• Upload your GPX tracks to OpenStreetMap.
• Select "Public" for visibility.

Making your GPX tracks public will allow them to be visible in the OpenStreetMap GPS Traces overlay, ensuring greater accuracy.

Your First OpenStreetMap Edits

• Use the OpenStreetMap web editor (iD) to edit the map.
• Add missing trails (highway=path), double tracks (highway=track), points of interest (e.g., tourism=viewpoint), and provide a trail description.
• Use the sac_scale tag to classify trail difficulty, avoiding the use of signed/legal access tags (e.g., foot=yes/no).

Congratulations on making your first edits! Your changes will appear in OSM-powered applications within a few days to weeks (or months), depending on how often they update their maps!

Advanced Contributions

Create More Detailed Edits

• Document other recommended tags such as width, surface, and trail_visibility.
• Add missing gates, obstacles, and other relevant details at the respective nodes.

Verify & Improve Existing Data

• Cross-check existing OSM data with your recorded and public tracks.
• Review available Photo Imagery in iD, such as from Mapillary.
• Realign trails using the iD Strava Heatmap and OSM GPS Traces overlays.

Discuss Best Practices

• Engage with local OSM communities (Forum, Facebook) to discuss mapping standards.

Common Tagging Mistakes

• Avoid using access tags on trails (e.g., access=yes/no, foot=yes/no) that are not explicitly marked with signage or legal restrictions. Instead, use the sac_scale tag to classify trail difficulty.
• Do not use the name tag for trails without official/signed names. Instead, use the description tag.
• Do not use a single GPX trace to realign a trail. Check for other public traces via the OpenStreetMap GPS Traces layer and Strava Heatmap extension, and average them if available.
• For trails wider than 2 meters, use highway=track instead of highway=path.
• Do not use highway=track for double tracks that serve a different function than agricultural and forestry. For instance use highway=unclassified for tracks linking settlements, and highway=residential for tracks giving access to residences.

Happy hiking and mapping!