Nice work! Around here in San Diego, we could use this data to discuss with our land managers the suitability of the utility roads they have designated for recreation. Grades >25% are not fun!

Haha! Yeah, I spent a lot of time figuring out where to find the files for BLM roads (i.e. “Ground Transportation Linear Features”) and then once you have that all the other pieces are right there.

The key is this page: https://www.blm.gov/services/geospatial/GISData And specifically this link on that page: https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/

Importing the OHV areas for California was easy enough that I went ahead and downloaded the OHV Shape files for Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. I’ll probably get to them before I finish with the GTLF data for California because conflating and aligning backcountry roads is a lot of work.

I skipped Alaska, though. BLM has a special relationship with Alaska and there’s a lot of unique data up there.

BLM data is generally not well represented in OSM, so there’s a lot of productive work that can be done easily. If you’re interested, pick a data set and start bringing it in to OSM!

Yeah, after attempting to use NHD for several waterways, I came to the conclusion that it’s almost always easier to draw the ways by hand.

That said, the NHD Flowline data is useful as a reference if you need to confirm the extent of a smaller, unnamed waterway. And in forested areas where the aerial imagery isn’t useful, it may be a good source of data about waterways.

The other NHD data files can also be useful for reference.

The Waterbody data can be helpful where it’s difficult to distinguish between open water and wetland using aerial imagery.

The Point data can help locate springs, which are often not directly visible in aerial imagery.

And the Line data can help determine the location and extent of dams and other features.

But in every case you want to use the NHD data cautiously and attempt to confirm and correct it using other sources.

Thanks @Skunkman56! I did see that work on feedback from PublicDomainOSM to US govt. agencies was underway. I’d really like to see that happen, especially with BLM routes where the data quality is not that good. If there’s an opportunity to try out working with feedback to BLM, USFS, or USGS, I’d be up for that.

I’ve been working on BLM routes in Imperial County, CA. There are official, numbered BLM routes that traverse desert dune areas where the sand frequently shifts.

The actual tracks on the ground follow the general direction within a few hundred yards, but vary significantly depending on where the dunes can be crossed.

I could clearly tag these ways with https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:trail_visibility=horrible. But are there other tags that would be appropriate given how navigation on the ground varies?