FC have vector data of all the trails and forest roads in the uk

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/datadownload

you’ll need to register and to get access to the files.

You’ll also need to figure out how to convert .shp files to kml, I’ve found one so far but it’s freeware so only giving you partial kml files.

So, anyne know any good .shp to .kml convters?

Considering how much forest roads etc are missing from OS maps it’ll be interesting to see if this is much more complete, but it’d also be grand to have all the mtb routes and walks all over the country in one handy kml file!

Anyhow, help appreciated? I’ll get there, but, if someone happened to have a licensed version of a GSI viewer and could convert, that’d be awfy nice!

btw, I’ve no idea how detailed or useful this data will be all I’m really looking at is lines on a white screen at the moment, but looks promising.

QGIS is a brilliant piece of open source GIS kit, I use it for all my converting needs (and more). Thanks for the link, I’ll have a play with the data when I get in later.

ta, will have a look at that. 🙂

I did 🙂

Provided I dont get a huge influx I dont mind firing up Civ3D to convert for you.

Presumably this could be added to Open Street Map somehow?

Cheers 🙂 figured it out, that QGIS whippersnapper suggested is a great bit of software 🙂

here’s the kml’s for scotland. at first glance looks fairly detailed, nice to have it all up on google earth, but looking at some of the forest routes though, defo still missing loads of routes. wonder if this means it’s only counting land that the FC own I’d imagine?

Anyhow, here’s the kml(google earth files) for scotland. worth having though not as detailed as I was first hoping, example, there’s bugger all in the cairngorms! If you click on a trail it should give you a data popup about it.

recreational
https://db.tt/SJ0mfTJp

forest roads.
https://db.tt/TvkbqjeV

btw I’ll fire up the english and welsh ones too if there’s any demand for that?

pleaderwilliams – Member
Presumably this could be added to Open Street Map some how?

Depends on the licence. If the data has been derived from Ordnance Survey data, then no, it can’t be as the OS retain copyright on the data.

Actually, just looked at the End User Licence and noticed under 4 General Terms:

(xii) The Forestry Commission will not allow use of the Data in internet mapping services such as Google Earth/Maps, Yahoo Maps or Bing Maps without prior consent.

I work with spatial data in my job and have to deal with licence agreements and they can be, to say the least, very frustrating in the limitations that can apply!

thats_not_my_name – Member

Fair enough, I didn’t know that, cheers. Well I’ll not post anymore(but it’s pretty easy to do…), and if any of the mods want to delete the above links please do, I can’t anymore.

Doesn’t stop you from using the data in QGIS and you can view Google Maps/OSM in QGIS using a plugin –
http://maps.cga.harvard.edu/qgis/wkshop/basemap.php

cool, cheers for that, think I will explore this QGIS a bit further, seems interesting software.

You can load OpenStreetMap into QGIS via WMS easily as well.

This page links to some QGIS projects that have the layers set up already

http://www.osmgb.org.uk/osm-gb-wiki/index.php/WMS

Thanks for this. Just installed everything and have spent far too much time playing already.
Brilliant bit of software.

I’d suggest removing the links to the converted files above, as you are breaking the licence agreement, also it says the data is derived in whole or in part from OS data and they are fiercely protective of copyright and actively take action against licence breakers. It’s something I have to be aware of in my job all the time.

the OS even put easter eggs into their maps to find people copying their data, a friend has been caught by this system and sued http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Copyright_Easter_Eggs

What was your mate doing bigjim?!

BTW – tons of stuff now available for free use and without significant licencing restrictions under their Opendata agreement – have a look at the website

OS – opendata

Might be of use to a few folk!

they’d digitised(ie traced) roads from OS data on a wee map that ended up in public domain, and had obviously digitised an easter egg and got caught out that way and found not to have paid for a licence by the OS.

Not as spectacular as the £20million it cost the AA to settle out of court when the OS caught them doing the same thing though!

Yeah Opendata is pretty useful, combined with free to view online aerial mapping we are pretty spoilt compared to how things were not that long ago.

OP may be interested in the vectormap district data in the opendata link above, but again I wouldn’t attempt to convert and redistribute without adhering to the licence.

I always mean to compare strava’s elevation outputs against the OS landform panorama data from Opendata, but it just seems too much like work…

Nasty! Although I can’t believe how many peple still get away with it – just the other day I got a flyer about one of the major housebuilders lookng to develop a site in the village where I live – they’d used OS mastermap data without any copright statement!! Presumably this wasn’t a first so …

Totally agree with you about data availability these days – and much of the work I’ve done in the past has been made a lot cheaper with Google maps and the like 🙂

I always mean to compare strava’s elevation outputs against the OS landform panorama data from Opendata

Landform panorama is still available but there’s also a new height product OS Terrain 50 available as Opendata which isn’t 30+ years old

cheer bigjim, I’ll have a look at the open data stuff, ta! 🙂

Landform panorama is still available but there’s also a new height product OS Terrain 50 available as Opendata which isn’t 30+ years old

Ah I knew there was a new 10/5m product but didn’t know the panorama had been replaced too. I wonder if it is derived from the contours like the old one or uses new shizzles I don’t understand.