OpenStreetMap Forum

ytoledano

Member

Registered: 2009-10-05

Posts: 3

Trails in Israel

Hi
I just created my account today and I was wondering about tail markings in Israel (Hebrew: Simun Shvilim, link: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A1%D7% … 7.90.D7.9C).

According to the back of any Simun Shvilim map there are 10,000 km of marked trails in Israel. How are these represented on OSM? I know there is no good source for topographic maps on the net:
Amud Anan is extremely incomplete, costs money and is a pain to browse through;
mapa.co.il is a pay service and is also a paint to use.

So let's say I mapped a marked trail with my GPS. How do I upload it? There are parameters for each trail which I guess should be defined by tags. All of these are specified on the official maps:
1. The trail color (rad, green, black or blue)
2. Is it a foot path, for 4x4 or passable by any vehicle?
3. Are cars/bicycle forbidden from using the trail?
4. Is this trail part of the Israel National Trail?
5. Is this trail marked with a purple and is a "regional trail"?
6. Which is the recommended way to traverse this trail? (by the Trail Marking Committee)
7. The trail's number

Mapping the trails sounds very worth while to me and I'd like to hear your comments.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

Welcome!

I'll try my best, I hope others will have input as well.
The best source for info on how to map is the Map Features.
Another good source is to find a good example that's already in OSM, and copy it.

According to the back of any Simun Shvilim map there are 10,000 km of marked trails in Israel. How are these represented on OSM?

Sadly, not many are represented.

So let's say I mapped a marked trail with my GPS. How do I upload it?

Just like any addition to OSM.
You should mark it as highway=path, and network=itc (Israel Trails Committee)
You could add foot=yes, bicycle=yes, etc., where appropriate.

You could also add the standard sac_scale=* and trail_visibility=*
And maybe name=* and description=*.

Some more info:
Walking_Routes, Cycle_routes, National_Byway.

There are parameters for each trail which I guess should be defined by tags. All of these are specified on the official maps:

1. The trail color (rad, green, black or blue)

Maybe colour=red, colour=green, etc.
For standard, we should keep all lower case values, or use hex triplet format.

2. Is it a foot path, for 4x4 or passable by any vehicle?
3. Are cars/bicycle forbidden from using the trail?

See the Restrictions section in the Map Features page.

4. Is this trail part of the Israel National Trail?

This can be achieved using a relation.

5. Is this trail marked with a purple and is a "regional trail"?

Purple is the same as any other colour above, just use colour=purple
Invisible could be marked as colour=invisible.

6. Which is the recommended way to traverse this trail? (by the Trail Marking Committee)

You mean direction?
Are there any directional trails in Israel?
If yes, then you could use oneway=yes.

7. The trail's number

ref=#

Mapping the trails sounds very worth while to me and I'd like to hear your comments.

I would say that it would be great to have trails marked, and maybe we could render them nicely.
On a Garmin gps it can be easily achieved using a TYP file.

talkat.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

4. Is this trail part of the Israel National Trail?

This can be achieved using a relation.

I've created a relation for the Israel Trail.
Its number is 282071
and it can be analyzed or here.

talkat.

ytoledano

Member

Registered: 2009-10-05

Posts: 3

Re: Trails in Israel

Thanks for the quick help!

I added a new track which I did a while ago. Please tell me if the tagging is right: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=30.93 … 41&zoom=14 (I added nahal akrabim and nahal gov, tracks are red, blue and black).

Also, I've mapped non-itc tracks around my home. I have hundreds of km of runs stored in a program called SportTracks (Similar to Garmin's Training Center only 3rd party). I exported all those runs as a single GPX file (to do that I wrote a plugin for SportTracks. If someone wants it, please tell me): http://www.openstreetmap.org/?minlon=34 … 66&box=yes

Finally: why should I mark the itc tracks as highway:path and not highway:path?

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

I added a new track which I did a while ago. Please tell me if the tagging is right: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=30.93 … 41&zoom=14 (I added nahal akrabim and nahal gov, tracks are red, blue and black).

It looks great.
One note though - Always add the name:en tag whenever the name=* tag is in Hebrew (applies to school names too... ;-) ) The maps should be able to be rendered in English, and not all devices support Hebrew font.

Also, I've mapped non-itc tracks around my home. I have hundreds of km of runs stored in a program called SportTracks (Similar to Garmin's Training Center only 3rd party). I exported all those runs as a single GPX file (to do that I wrote a plugin for SportTracks. If someone wants it, please tell me): http://www.openstreetmap.org/?minlon=34 … 66&box=yes

SportTracks is great. I use it too sometimes.
However, when importing gpx files, you should make sure that there is only one track in it, or several tracks that are a direct continuation of one another.
OSM doesn't differentiate between several tracks in one gpx file, and it results in straight lines from one end to the next beginning.

Finally: why should I mark the itc tracks as highway:path and not highway:path?

??? And the difference would be?...

talkat.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

Finally: why should I mark the itc tracks as highway:path and not highway:path?

Maybe you meant highway=track and highway=path?

I would guess that a track can be used by 4 (or more) wheels vehicles ("double")
and a path cannot, so only accessible by foot/bike/horse/etc. ("single")

talkat.

ytoledano

Member

Registered: 2009-10-05

Posts: 3

Re: Trails in Israel

I added a new track which I did a while ago. Please tell me if the tagging is right: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=30.93 … 41&zoom=14 (I added nahal akrabim and nahal gov, tracks are red, blue and black).

SportTracks is great. I use it too sometimes.
However, when importing gpx files, you should make sure that there is only one track in it, or several tracks that are a direct continuation of one another.
OSM doesn't differentiate between several tracks in one gpx file, and it results in straight lines from one end to the next beginning.

talkat.

Actually, I think OSM *does* differentiate between several tacks in the same GPX file. I'll give an example: http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/ytole … ces/536496
This is a GPX file with 4228 tracks in it, each consisting of 2 points. It is the product of merging all my runs which are stored in SportTracks into one GPX file. When viewing it in the GPS Traces tab it's filled with garbage lines which connect the end of a track to the beginning of the next. But click on the edit button and you'll see it on OSM: clean and accurate.

If you use SportTracks, I'll be happy to compile a version of this export plugin for you.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

I think OSM *does* differentiate between several tacks in the same GPX file.

You're right. Cool!
This is a new feature. (See old doc here under "Multiple tracks in one GPX file")

talkat.

yaadetgar

Member

Registered: 2009-05-19

Posts: 31

Re: Trails in Israel

WoW,
I was thinking about the same thing a few days ago!
That's a great idea , hope it can be made successfully

Yaad

EdoM

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 36

Re: Trails in Israel

First of all:
WELCOME!

trails are of incredible interest for the OSM community and for the entire world.
In a land as Israel where many location are far from the paved streets this kind of information is vital.

Talba gave you all the right information so i hope you would add all the trails you have mapped in the past to the Osm DB.

Edoardo

talba

Member

Registered: 2009-03-02

Posts: 56

Re: Trails in Israel

Hi ytoledano, and welcome.
Trails sound awesome to me. I'll try and map some myself, whenever I get the chance.
Regarding http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/42065529, I think number=14261 should have been  ref=14261.

Talba gave you all the right information so i hope you would add all the trails you have mapped in the past to the Osm DB.
Edoardo

Hey, you're crediting the wrong Tal

EdoM

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 36

Re: Trails in Israel

Ops,
you're right... talkat gave the informations...

sorry talkat!

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

Some updates:

We now have about 465 km of the Israel Trail, which is about half of it.

The Jesus Trail is almost complete,
and I've just started the Golan Trail.

talkat.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

In the last months there has been a lot of off-road activity, and many tracks and paths were added.
This enabled a fast and easy addition of the new TLV-JM Bike Route.
It's still a work in progress by the KKL, but here are some additional details.

talkat.

talkat

Member

Registered: 2009-03-06

Posts: 381

Re: Trails in Israel

I'm happy to report that the Jerusalem Trail is fully mapped.

Of course, it's also in our list of Israel trails.

talkat.

saraUk

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 1

Re: Trails in Israel

see more Trails in Israel from here http://www.4shared.com/file/n14kmjuj/Tr … srael.html

or here http://dc351.4shared.com/download/n14km … 8-7ce80df9

download it's 3D and 3DX-4

Last edited by saraUk (2011-06-26 00:56:51)