Convert GPX to OpenTrails

[alanjosephwilliams]

Description

Tons of folks record their GPS traces as the hike, run and ride trails. That data is typically exported in the GPX format. A tool or script to convert GPS into OpenTrails would be one way to diversify the input sources of OpenTrails.

I think the potential applications for this data among trail stewards and park governments are broad. We could see some valuable analysis conducted with sets of traces a la Strava's Metro dataset, or it could be a quick way to verify trail alignment and visitor experiences.

[alanjosephwilliams]

Per the suggestion of Alex Woo (not sure if he has a GH handle yet), here are a couple of tools we could use as a starting point:

• gpsbabel
• gpsvisualizer

[AndyDangerous]

Is this still a thing? I happen to know about a gpx2geojson converter that could maybe be exposed as an API. Even if not, I'd be happy to help put something along those lines together.

[alanjosephwilliams]

Hey @AndyDangerous! Absolutely. Other projects have been getting more love because the primary use case of OpenTrails is helping governments/stewards publish official data for visitors—which is typically held in ESRI formats.

That said, so many park governments are interested in using open data as a way to improve the quality of their data over time. Converting gps traces into OpenTrails is a the beginning of that—getting traces recording by avid trail users back in front of the rangers and stewards.

Could you link to the converter?