""highway=track Implies that it's wide enough for a small motorcar to drive on" but the converse is not necessarily true, "wide enough for small motorcar does not necessarily imply track. In other words, you can't have a track that is narrower than about 1 meter, but just because it is greater than 1 meter, doesn't mean it is a track.

"functional classification" is not arbitrary. It answers the question "what function does this way serve?", These ways do not function to provide access to agricultural or forest lands, and hence, are not "tracks."

I am a user of this data as well. The fact that aps/renderers do not render the data in a manner we like is not a reason to tag in a certain way. We should submit change requests/pull request to the app/renderer maintainer.

If physical condition is important, add tags like width, surface, smoothness, mtb:scale. sac_scale, etc. and then ask that app maintainer to render based on those tags.

Thanks for the edits to OSM!
These recreational trails should all be tagged "highway=path", as they have been for many years. OSM uses a functional classification for the highway tag, not a physical classification (physical information can be placed in surface, smoothness, width, etc. tags). The only four wheeled vehicles that are legally allowed to use these trails are law enforcement, emergency, and maintenance staff. The function of the trails is for recreation by people on foot, bicycle or horse. We recently had this discussion on the tagging mailing list.

Way way/706965874 leads to a house, therefore it is not a track, it is a driveway (highway=service, service=driveway). The fact that it is unpaved has nothing to do with its functional classification. If you want to let people know that it is unpaved, tag it surface=unpaved.

unnsyede, Thanks for the reply. While on the ground feedback from driver's is valuable, most of your drivers will not be familiar with the OSM highway classification system. They may well have written "it is just a dirt track", and they would be correct in regards to written or spoken American English. However, OSM necessarily uses a more precise terminology than most natural languages, American English included. The question the driver should be answering is, "is this the normal way of accessing a house (or houses)?"

A good rule thumb is that if your driver is using the road, it is not "highway=track" (unless they are delivering packages to people camped in the National Forest - which I don't think they do).

Hi Brian, Thanks for the edits to OSM! I am interested to know with whom at the county you are working. I am trying to get permission from their GIS department to use their data as a reference when editing OSM, but so far I have not gotten a response.
Mike (tekim)
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Published using OSMCha: https://osmcha.org/changesets/85994559

Thanks! I searched the wiki for "seasonal closure", but didn't come up with anything. I will add that tag.
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Published using OSMCha: https://osmcha.org/changesets/86294894

way/749362805#map=19/40.39025/-105.31154 should be tagged highway=service, service=driveway as it provides access to a house. The fact that it is unpaved should have no bearing on the highway tag. If you want to note that it is unpaved, add surface=unpaved.

Fantastic! Thank you!

This is a driveway as it leads to a residence. The fact that it is unpaved is not relevant. OSM uses a functional classification system for the highway tag, not a physical classification.

The way that you added is a driveway as it leads to a residence and as such it should be tagged as highway=service, service=driveway. The fact that it is unpaved is not relevant. OSM uses a function classification for the highway tag, not a physical classification.

Both of these ways (way/780492787, way/780492786) are driveways since they lead to a residence, and should be tagged highway=service, service=driveway. Just because they are unpaved doesn't mean they are highway=track. OSM uses a functional classification system for the highway tag, not a physical one.

Thanks so much for your quick response, and thanks for your service as a fire fighter!

It is great to hear that a local fire department is using OSM. Let me know how I can help.

Thanks for all of the great edits to OSM. I take it that you are into 4x4s. I always thought that OSM would a great tool for off roading.

I notice that you often tag bdouble=yes on tracks. According to the wiki [0], bdouble=yes means that tandem semi trailers are allowed ("A" trailer + "B" trailer), which is probably not what you meant. Perhaps you meant a side by side ATV? It is also possible that the wiki is wrong, or that we have a tag with two meanings.

[0] bdouble=*

Thanks for the edits to OSM!
way/781994208 is a driveway as it provides access to someone's house. It should be tagged highway=service, service=driveway. highway=track is for roads which are used for agricultural (e.g. field or pasture) access, or forestry access.

Is there really a pond here? I don't see anything like that in the Bing imagery you cited as a source.

AlexC, Thanks for the quick reply. If it hadn't been for your reply I would have thought this was a little prank. What sources do you typically use? Perhaps there is a guidebook that mentions these by name?

What is the source for the names "Tarn A", "Tarn B", "Tarn C." I have hiked this area many times and have never heard those names, nor have I seen any signs with those names on them. The names are not on the RMNP map, nor the USGS Topo Map.

Hello UE_Su, Thanks for making those changes. I live in this part of Colorado, and have visited many of these locations. There are not many "forestry buildings" in this general area (meaning all of northern Colorado), but there are many residences. Regarding "sometimes you do not know": If this is the case a mapper might not want to change the value of the highway tag. In other words, if the mapper sees some buildings but is not sure what they are, and a previous mapper has tagged them as highway=residential, the current mapper might want to assume the previous mapper knew what they were doing and leave the highway tag as is. Also, a name tag, other than "Forest Road...", "FR..." or "FDR..." is a clue that the way might not be highway=track in this part of the world. There are some county roads that are tracks however.

Looks like you did an import of NHD data but didn't add OSM tags (at least not for glaciers)