When bushwalking there are two sorts of routes - on and off track. Graphhopper is very useful for tracks, but not for off track journeys. It would be nice if a user could put waypoints on a map and Graphhopper joins them. Also, the times are optimistic.
Finally, sometimes there’s a gate, often at a car park, with provision for walkers to get past the gate. This may be a stile, a narrow opening or something else. Graphhopper sees the gate as an obstacle and will not let the route go through the gate. For bushwalkers, gates on Graphhopper should not be an obstacle.
I just wanted to ask about off-track routes and by a coincidence I found this fresh topic.
For off-track I mean that there is no way in OSM. As a hiker I can walk across forest or meadow even if there is no path. It would be nice to put special via-points (VIA1 and VIA2) and tell GH to treat them as if they are connected by a way with specified properties (eg. by specifying speed and priority). GH could internally do 2 routings: from START to VIA1 and from VIA2 to FINISH. Then it would combine all 3 segments.
There are often small gaps in the track network which could be traversed off-track (eg 10 m through the meadow or forest without a path) and user is aware about it - that he/she will be off-track for a minute instead of long detour.
Yes, it can be implemented on application level, but if this feature was directly in GH it would make developers life easier .
At the moment I do not see much value of such a teleportation mechanism. And there are many challenges in meaningfully fill the gaps like how would the turn-by-turn instructions look like? Or, what value should we assume for the time it took? etc
@Walker it is often better when you create separate topics here for each of the problems you are trying to solve
The end of the financial year is not a good time to start a new activity.
Peter, sorry, first post. I am unfamiliar with nuances on this forum.
This
is from the Cotter River to the helipad. There’s a locked gate at waypoint 1, and this was an obstacle to GH. The gate is still locked but GH can now go through the gate. I checked two other locations with similar gates and they are also no longer obstacles. The gate issue seems to have been resolved.
This
is from the summit of Mount Bogong to the foot of The Staircase. There’s a walking track down The Staircase north-west from the summit region, but GH goes the long way around. Why? There’s a seasonally closed gate on the road.
As I have a limit if two links per post I’ll split the post here.
is from a walking track to a Mount Solitary. The track is open
GH veers off the track and like Bogong goes the long way round.
When I said that waypoints could be joined I meant off-track waypoints. When bushwalking or cross-country skiing it’s possible to go off-track, especially skiing. GH does not allow off-track routes. Martin’s description is apt. His suggestions for off-track waypoints and then joining them has merit.
By “waypoint 1” you mean the starting point (green marker)? Because the link you provided only has a start and target marker, but no via-points. What do you mean GH can now go through the gate? The route was blocked until recently, but now it is no longer blocked? You can right-click the map, choose ‘Query OSM’ to find the actual OSM elements like the gate. Ideally provide such links to OSM here so we can check the tagging of the gate.
Ok, the gate is closed seasonally. And you are looking for a routing profile that uses it even in the off-season?
GH does not allow off-track routes.
Yes. Can you give a detailed description of what you were hoping GH could do in this scenario?
Thanks for your reply. I pasted the wrong link, sorry. This GraphHopper Maps | Route Planner and GPS Navigation
has a locked gate at waypoint 2. I had to add waypoint 1 to make the route via the walking track. In nearly all cases, locked gates like this are to keep vehicles out of crown land, and walkers are allowed. That is, on GH, such gates should be a barrier for vehicles and no obstacle for walkers. The latter seems to have been achieved. However, GH sometimes takes routes that are much longer than the direct and easier route.
This
[GraphHopper Maps | Route Planner and GPS Navigation] GraphHopper Maps | Route Planner and GPS Navigation
is from Mawsons Hut to Jagungal, all off track except for the first 150 metres to the creek. I have done this or similar for over 50 years, summer and winter, both directions. It would be good if GH could join the waypoints. The blue dotted lines are not viable in places, heavy scrub and cliffs.
See this link. (see the custom model via clicking on the gear button in the top left corner)
GH sometimes takes routes that are much longer than the direct and easier route.
Are you sure about this considering the elevation differences too? Probably you know the location and can say what is problematic about the current choice? (except that it does not follow the official hiking network path)
The blue dotted lines are not viable in places, heavy scrub and cliffs.
The blue dotted lines means that there is no path found and instead it snapped the requested locations to a nearby road. There does not seem to be a mapped road.
Thank you. My coding days are many years ago, and I have no punched cards to hand.
The route with my waypoints is the Australian Alps Walking Track, with much of that GH journey on foot tracks. If the waypoints are removed it’s 4 km shorter, 400 metres less climbing, and all on roads, unappealing. Potable water may be a problem on that route. This is an interesting alternative, but not good for bushwalkers.
That’s helpful. I thought that this was so but was unsure. There are some short paths to and from focus points like the easiest river crossings and saddle, but mainly there are no tracks there. Some tracks on GH are in the wrong place, have never existed or are now overgrown. This does not matter much as people going there usually know about reality.
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