D.A.M.N. Dirt/Gravel Roads Map Project
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:31 pm
Hey Guys, I thought I'd start a new thread here and try to consolidate and expand on the info here in Creek Crossings & Dirt Roads. If this long winter ever ends, I'm looking forward to getting some more frequent dual sport riding in, since there's limited options nearby for the single/two track type stuff we love. For me, those rides more often involve loading the bike up in the truck, traveling to a riding area, and having fun for the day. Love it! But when I look back over the past couple years, I'm frustrated with how rarely I got out - partly because of general busy-ness, but also because of it chewing up an entire day usually.
Anyway, I want to take better advantage of all the dirt/gravel roads in the area. I live in south Frederick county, and though I know some of the roads in the area, I wanted to get a more comprehensive list/map together. I'm hoping that doing so will make it easy to pre-plan some cool rides of varying distances, some after-work rides when there's limited time, or longer rides for when you're blessed with that great weather and have the time to go!
I'm starting out with the theory that whoever's interested could maybe collaborate on a Google map. We all know how to use it, and the editing, ie adding a dirt road, or pictures, or comments, all seems really easy. I have found some examples that I'll attach that would be good starting points and I started one called D.A.M.N. Dirt/Gravel Roads that we could use for our purposes. Since I have no bike gps, I'm hoping to be able to plan a route and navigate it with my smartphone rather than plunking down the $$ on a gps (yes, I'm cheap). Or, if I'm out already on a ride, I want to be able to see if I'm missing some dirt/gravel nearby. I think there are some advantages and some pitfalls and would welcome your guys opinions.
I wanted to go ahead and share some of the maps/sites I've been looking at below. If you guys have additional sites to add, post em up! Maybe over time we can add them to this post and sticky it or something if it gets good. For me, I started with Frederick county and have started to surround it with Montgomery, Carroll, Loudon, Pennsylvannia, etc., but I'd like to flesh it out with Howard, Washington, Baltimore, etc.
I don't have it all figured out yet, but here is the D.A.M.N Dirt/Gravel Roads map. I’m not sure if it’s a little glitchy or what, but it doesn’t seem to be displaying all the roads at once – if you scroll down the road list on the map you’ll see there are multiple pages to click on. Odd thing is, sometimes there are 2 pages listed, then it’ll change to 3 or more... weird. Anyway cycling thru those pages displays some different roads:
D.A.M.N Dirt/Gravel Roads map
Also found examples for Loudon:
Loudon Google Map
And Michaux:
Michaux Google map
hmmmmm.... would be nice to figure out how to combine these but those last 2 seem to be locked.....
Here are some other handy links/inspiration:
Links
Frederick Rural Road map
Montgomery Rustic Roads
Pennsylvannia Dirt/Gravel map
http://grindinggravel.blogspot.com/2012 ... outes.html
http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/top ... n-maryland
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632804 (Great map project in VA)
http://www.dirtandgravel.psu.edu/pa_pro ... loads.html
http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbmd.htm (Maryland Covered Bridges List)
Anyway, I want to take better advantage of all the dirt/gravel roads in the area. I live in south Frederick county, and though I know some of the roads in the area, I wanted to get a more comprehensive list/map together. I'm hoping that doing so will make it easy to pre-plan some cool rides of varying distances, some after-work rides when there's limited time, or longer rides for when you're blessed with that great weather and have the time to go!
I'm starting out with the theory that whoever's interested could maybe collaborate on a Google map. We all know how to use it, and the editing, ie adding a dirt road, or pictures, or comments, all seems really easy. I have found some examples that I'll attach that would be good starting points and I started one called D.A.M.N. Dirt/Gravel Roads that we could use for our purposes. Since I have no bike gps, I'm hoping to be able to plan a route and navigate it with my smartphone rather than plunking down the $$ on a gps (yes, I'm cheap). Or, if I'm out already on a ride, I want to be able to see if I'm missing some dirt/gravel nearby. I think there are some advantages and some pitfalls and would welcome your guys opinions.
I wanted to go ahead and share some of the maps/sites I've been looking at below. If you guys have additional sites to add, post em up! Maybe over time we can add them to this post and sticky it or something if it gets good. For me, I started with Frederick county and have started to surround it with Montgomery, Carroll, Loudon, Pennsylvannia, etc., but I'd like to flesh it out with Howard, Washington, Baltimore, etc.
I don't have it all figured out yet, but here is the D.A.M.N Dirt/Gravel Roads map. I’m not sure if it’s a little glitchy or what, but it doesn’t seem to be displaying all the roads at once – if you scroll down the road list on the map you’ll see there are multiple pages to click on. Odd thing is, sometimes there are 2 pages listed, then it’ll change to 3 or more... weird. Anyway cycling thru those pages displays some different roads:
D.A.M.N Dirt/Gravel Roads map
Also found examples for Loudon:
Loudon Google Map
And Michaux:
Michaux Google map
hmmmmm.... would be nice to figure out how to combine these but those last 2 seem to be locked.....
Here are some other handy links/inspiration:
Links
Frederick Rural Road map
Montgomery Rustic Roads
Pennsylvannia Dirt/Gravel map
http://grindinggravel.blogspot.com/2012 ... outes.html
http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/top ... n-maryland
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632804 (Great map project in VA)
http://www.dirtandgravel.psu.edu/pa_pro ... loads.html
http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbmd.htm (Maryland Covered Bridges List)