Get your Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUMs) in GPX format!

[Dan Smith]

Hi all,

I've been working recently to convert and process the USDA dataset which has the MVUM information in it into a format that regular people can use. Most national forests have really only old paper or PDF maps available, but it turns out that the USDA keeps this information pretty up to date in their own database. You can get this information through subscriptions to things like Gaia and BCN, but the data is freely available and I like to do my planning in other tools (even though I use BCN on the trail).

If you go here:

http://open-mvum.com/

You can download the MVUM data in GPX format and load it into whatever tool (or device) you want! The current data set I have is from February 2019, and will be updating it soon to their latest.

Enjoy!

--Dan

 

[TacomaDave]

Thanks. That will come in handy. #bookmarked

 

[vdeal]

Monongahela NF in WV is not available. Fortunately I do have the FS roads in KLM format for Google Earth but that doesn't give you the info on gate opening and closing dates.

 

[Dan Smith]

Yeah, looks like that one isn't in the data set. That's odd, since they do have them on their site. I'll do some digging and see if there's any mention of why they're skipped...

 

[tacoclifford]

Gaia has MVUM data now too

 

[KonzaLander]

Thank you for the share! I have been downloading the MVUM data from the USDA FSGeodata Clearinghouse, but this process seems significantly simplified.

 

[Cr250Ram]

Does anyone know what the colors represent for the trails? I found a legend that covered only some of the colors, and I am not sure if it even correlates to these maps...

 

[Dan Smith]

Which colors are you talking about? The GPX files don't have colors embedded in them (although I have plans for them). If you're seeing colored tracks, it might be whatever software you're using just randomly assigning them. What are you importing the files into?

 

[Cr250Ram]

I imported it into Gaia.

 

[Dan Smith]

In that case, I'm sure it's just Gaia trying to randomly colorize adjacent tracks so you can see where one stops and the next starts. No meaning other than that.

 

[Cr250Ram]

I see. Thanks I’m new to all of this navigation stuff. Unfortunately Gaia stopped letting me import these files after uploading a few... I wish there was an easier way to all this navigation stuff. What app (iPhone) would you recommend I use? Avenza doesn’t seem to have an import option.

 

[Dan Smith]

Avenza is basically a PDF viewer. Not useful for much in my experience. For planning, I recommend something more powerful than a phone/tablet. I use BaseCamp with Garmin's maps for planning, cultivate data into trips and then load them into a navigation device for actual use in the field (I use BCN on Android because Gaia on Android is garbage).

 

[vdeal]

Actually Avenza is useful. If you use Caltopo to create maps you can "print" them as a PDF - this is a georeferenced PDF. Open it in Avenza and the app will show you where you are on the custom map you created.

 

[1Louder]

Here's the latest on improvements to the built in MVUM map layer in Gaia. https://blog.gaiagps.com/updated-mvum-and-usfs-roads-and-trails/

Dan nice of you to create a tool. Lots of other apps other than Gaia and this data will be helpful to those folks.

 

[Drifterman]

Avenza is basically a PDF viewer. Not useful for much in my experience. For planning, I recommend something more powerful than a phone/tablet. I use BaseCamp with Garmin's maps for planning, cultivate data into trips and then load them into a navigation device for actual use in the field (I use BCN on Android because Gaia on Android is garbage).

Dan what is Bcn I'm breathing water here trying to learn this stuff and I'll be using android as of now thank you

 

[vdeal]

@Drifterman, BCN is Backcountry Navigator. Also, see my post on Avenza Maps above. Dan is incorrect in saying that it is not useful.

 

[hankbutitta]

This looks like a great resource! Unfortunately I'm getting a "not available" error when I go to http://open-mvum.com/
Does anyone know if these files are still available somewhere? I'm particularly interested in GPX files of MVUMs in Washington state.
Thanks!

 

[Dan Smith]

Fixed, sorry. The host rebooted that recently and it was stuck.

Note that I'm probably going to take that down permanently at some point. Was hoping to get a couple donations to pay for the resources required to run the site, but so far that hasn't worked out. Gotta pay them bills :/

 

[Shakes355]

Probably not the best place to ask, but what sort of donations and frequency would we need to achieve to help you out? Be as specific as you feel comfortable with. Depending on update frequency and your download rate, it might be possible to come up with a recommendation for folks each time we visit the site.

 

[AlejandroM]

Hi all,

I've been working recently to convert and process the USDA dataset which has the MVUM information in it into a format that regular people can use. Most national forests have really only old paper or PDF maps available, but it turns out that the USDA keeps this information pretty up to date in their own database. You can get this information through subscriptions to things like Gaia and BCN, but the data is freely available and I like to do my planning in other tools (even though I use BCN on the trail).

If you go here:

http://open-mvum.com/

You can download the MVUM data in GPX format and load it into whatever tool (or device) you want! The current data set I have is from February 2019, and will be updating it soon to their latest.

Enjoy!

--Dan

This is a total game changer!! Thanks you so much for sharing.