OpenStreetMap
I've just added the Muir Hut as a "weather shelter" at Muir Pass, including the link to the Muir Pass wikipedia page. But when I try to add the designation Muir Pass itself to one segment of the overall trail, there isn't room for yet another name, since "name" is rightfully taken by JMT and alt_name by PCT. So how to designate a secondary attribute? Hmm.
I'm also disappointed that "trailhead" doesn't seem to be an option, when even little things like wifi access point are.
Discussion
Comment from 42429 on 13 August 2011 at 08:14
Good question!
First, ref=ABC is a tag for abbreviations. Maybe it needs to be added manually on the advanced tab.
Second, short segments with another name like Muir Pass should be added to a long distance trail RELATION. The Pacific Crest Trail relation (1225378) already exists, so you can give short ways within that relation another name.
The relation (visible on the advanced tab) indicates that this way is already part of a dong distance path, so you don't need to add this name on every segment!
Comment from MrRedwood on 13 August 2011 at 09:03
Oh, well I didn't mean to imply there were abbreviations — "JMT" is just short for "John Muir Trail", and likewise PCT is as you've noticed Pacific Crest Trail.
The tiny segment in question is http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/125842182
If I understand correctly: when I split the previous way into three pieces, all of them inherited the relationship to longer paths; changing the name of this small segment doesn't affect that. Which attribute will show up as displayed text once a user zooms in far enough? (I'm guessing "name" :-)
That seems to make sense.
Comment from SK53 on 13 August 2011 at 09:13
The usual way to mark a pass is with a node tagged mountain_pass=yes with a name=* and ele=*. This could be a node on the way marking the trail or a single standalone node.
For part of a longer trail which both have names follow the suggestion of FK270673 (a relation for the longer trail and its name, the way for naming a section of the trail).
There is a single use of a tag for trailhead with a value of start. I'm sure marking trailheads has been discussed on one of the mailing lists in the past. Feel free to use the existing tag or invent one of your own. The bulk of mapping footpaths in OSM is European-based where most footpaths form a dense interconnected network, so the notion of a trailhead is less significant. Signposts (finger posts), waymarkers and information boards are much more likely to be mapped.
Check out Lonvia's Hiking Map to see which trails have been mapped worldwide: at large scales this shows a lot of hiking related detail.
Comment from MrRedwood on 14 August 2011 at 07:58
Okay, reverted to that standard practice.
BTW, SK53, the value of searching for how tags are used and combined is nice, but is there a way of seeing *what* node has the attached "trailhead" tag? There appears to only be one, which is amusing, but I also would like to see examples of other combinations, such as trying to find if anyone is using "amenity=parking" plus "trail=yes" or something similar.
I'm also amused that while "kayak=yes" is apparently used 171 times, "kayak=no" is used 3 times. Seems a curious prohibition to specify. And when is the tag "hikingshoes" appropriately set to "high_heels"?!?
Comment from MrRedwood on 19 August 2011 at 21:52
The frustration with both of these approaches is that viewing the map doesn't show the pass. A mountain pass is roughly as important as the peaks that surround it. Those have a "natural=peak" tag, but somewhat frustratingly there isn't even a proposal for a "natural=pass".
I'll have to figure out how to make a formal proposal, but for the time being I've added that tag to the "name=Muir Pass" node preemptively.