Does anyone know how fire roads / forest roads are shown on a 1:50k os map ? Or any gpxs / directions in N Wales to nice long routes along these roads.

Does anyone know how fire roads / forest roads are shown on a 1:50k os map ?

Double row of black dashes.

s8tannorm wrote:

Does anyone know how fire roads / forest roads are shown on a 1:50k os map ?

Double row of black dashes.

With trees surrounding them (well, some of the time!)

Looks like this:


but there's no distinction from any other types of non-paved double track. So it could be anything from a smooth fireroad to a vague path that a landrover once drove down.

You beat me to it Touch

Always worth cross referencing it back to Google maps (or Bing as you can flip between OS maps and earth) as some don't always exist

Beware the Scottish single dashed line This can be anything from a landrover track to something that may or may not have existed at some time in the past.

Another site worth checking is geograph.org.uk - it's a site that aims to get a photo in every OS grid square, so obviously some squares have more shots submitted than others but it does give an idea of what the area can be like. Be warned, it's not an easy site to navigate.

s8tannorm wrote:

Does anyone know how fire roads / forest roads are shown on a 1:50k os map ?

Double row of black dashes.

Bonza. Thanks for that

Make sure you read the map and make sure you follow it its amazing how far you can travel on a forestry track to find a dead end!

And remember new ones spring up all the time!

whitestone wrote:Beware the Scottish single dashed line This can be anything from a landrover track to something that may or may not have existed at some time in the past.

and the existence of the path may change halfway along too!

Cheers guys. I'm still trying to teach myself how to compose off road routes, combining bridle ways, these forest roads and connecting them up with roads.

combining bridal ways

Just be careful, that ^ is very different to a bridleway

s8tannorm wrote:

combining bridal ways

Just be careful, that ^ is very different to a bridleway

Ahhhhhhh well spotted!

ootini wrote:Cheers guts. I'm still trying to teach myself how to compose off road routes, combining bridal ways, these forest roads and connecting them up with roads.

There's a nice one here, but it's a bit out of the way

Seriously though, it takes a while to get to know an area. Trying to plot a multi day route and hit all the best bits without any prior knowledge is hard or takes a lot of research. I guess that's what makes MTB marathon type rides popular - you can do a massive route without needing to know what you're going. Ultimately, getting to know an area with lots of day rides is helpful. That's effectively what I've done for the past 20 years, and gradually the gaps between the areas I know well get smaller and smaller such that I can ride from north to south Wales without barely needing to look at a map.

edit: not quick enough on the bridal puns