Dear user hjk456,

OpenStreetMap is a database created by volunteers and hosted by a non-profit organisation, committed to depicting the “truth on the ground”. Our data is available under an open license and free of charge to everyone. The data is being used by a wide range of applications, from hiking as you observed up to emergency services.

Part of the ground truth is marking ways with the correct access tags, such as “private access”, “no motorized access”, etc.

We will usually not entertain requests to delete trails from our database altogether unless they actually cease to exist; we believe that even a closed or dangerous trail should be in our data (and marked as such) because it can still be useful for orientation, or in emergency situations. It is however the prerogative of the map maker to decide whether or not to show such closed trails, and how to visually mark the status.

Please refrain from deleting such ways, and do not “edit-war” with other users restoring them. ​​​​​​​ I have set this message so that you need to read it first before you can continue editing.

Kind regards,
Tom
Data Working Group