Just ran across this while looking for something else. The Forest Service has posted online a large number of KMZ files of trail routes for the Mount Hood National Forest.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/data-library/gis/mthood/index.shtml
There is also GIS metadata files on this page, which I haven't checked out yet.
The KMZ files load for me automatically into Google Earth. They do not automatically come alphabetized, but you can right click on the folder to do so. I thought they were not working at first but noticed tiny black lines seemingly at random across the display. It turns out that all the paths are set to one point black, making them inconspicuous and invisible on dark areas of the Google Earth display.
You can turn this into an advantage by changing only those you are most interested in to something highly visible. Right click on an individual trails file, select Get Info, and choose the second tab. I change them to 2 points and click at 3 o'clock on the color wheel, moving the brightness slider most of the way up. Any color can be used at your preference.
I think the data used is not entirely accurate. Quality (number of waypoints) varies between trails. Serene Lake seems to have more than some others. And sometimes in the past trails were never accurately mapped, and the old placements may still show up. I've seen this in other mapping systems, for instance NeoTreksGPS..
It would be interesting to compare these with GPS tracks.
Thanks for posting, Bryon. It is interesting to note that this file has trails that are no longer official trails - Geronimo, Baty Butte (almost to Joyce Lake). There are some that have no name - it will take a while to plow through this. Interesting stuff.
I've done a bit more looking at these (still have a lot to compare) - a couple of things:
- The definitely have info on some old/abandoned trails - I saw a trail that meets the Elk Lake Creek trail and goes East. I seem to recall hearing about this trail, but can't recall what it was called. In this file, the name is NULL - there are a LOT of entries with a NULL name, so I'm guessing there is a lot of these old/abandoned trails in the file. I will have to go through and examine all of them to see where they are.
- The routes are VERY rough. When comparing to the actual GPS tracks that I have captured, these routes lose a lot of detail. They give you the general idea of the trail, but no detail whatsoever. You can see what I'm talking about in this comparison of the Geronimo trail:
It will be interesting to continue going through this data. Thanks again for posting it.
I've done a first pass through these trails and this is what I found:
- The location of the trails is VERY rough. I don't believe that actual GPS tracks were used to create these routes. It they were. they compressed out all the detail of the trails.
Trails that are missing from the data:
- Rho Creek
- Bissell (although White Iris IS there)
- Most of Burnt Granite - it shows the route down to Tarzan Springs, not the real trail that goes connects up to Rho Ridge.
Trails that are not "current" trails but appear in the data:
- Rapidan Trail
- "Old 1916 Trail" - This might be an old Skyline trail route maybe?
- Unknown/unnamed trail off Elk Lake Creek going over to un-named hill east of old Shelter location. Trail shows up on some old maps, but I can't find any name or description of it.
- These are named "XXNew" trails in the dataset - they appear to be old spur roads near La Dee Flats. I'm guessing they are some of the new ORV "trails" in that area.
Missing or blatantly incorrect data:
- Baty Butte stops at the powerlines - doesn't continue to Joyce Lake.
- Fish Creek Mountain - beginning is WAY wrong - too far north.
- East end of Fanton trail is all wrong
- Cripple Creek route is all wrong - it is just a line up the hill pretty much.
- Cottowood Meadows route is all wrong - it is just a line through the meadows.
- Rimrock - route is wrong and start of trail is wrong (although current maps are wrong as well). Doesn't show overlook trail (although current maps don't either which seems really stupid).
- Huxley Lake southern route is wrong.
Other interesting tidbits:
- It shows Plaza Creek all the way down to Roaring River. I don't know of anyone who has made it all the way down - at least not following anything resembling "trail". Would be interesting to follow the route on this to see if any tread is discernible - I doubt it since most of the tracks are very rough anyway.
It would be interesting to explore the Rapidan trail and also that mystery trail east of the old Elk Lake Creek shelter area. If you go to the historical maps link and zoom in on the Elk Lake Creek shelter area, you can see the mystery trail:
Interesting stuff. If anyone finds any other interesting info, please post it.
Rob, Thanks for wading through all that data and reporting on it.