Downloadable GPX files make accessing hidden spots easier for hikers

Walkers can download GPX from Walking Access Commission maps.

“We’re excited about this technology,” says the Commission’s national operation manager Kirsti Douglas. “Because it means people accessing the outdoors can walk along public access that borders or passes through private land.” Anyone who wants access to the outdoors can use this technology. Hikers, hunters and anglers are three of those outdoor recreation groups who often want to get to public access spots that are off the beaten track.

Walkers often want to walk along an unformed legal road, marginal strip or easement that is not marked on the land itself. Those public accessways are marked on our digital maps though. Downloading the GPX files for the coordinates of that accessways from our maps means people can be more confident, even without a phone signal, that they are not accidentally crossing private land.

This technology also benefits landholders like farmers and forestry owners because it means people are less likely to wander onto private land without permission.