Gravel and Dirt Roads - How to Tell?

[rbentnail]

I don't know a way to see them on the zumo. Not sure in which country you reside, but in the states, most of the states have their own maps of unpaved roads. I use the multi-state https://gravelmap.com/#6/35.728/-87.508, and since I do most of my riding in VA, once I get outta NC, I use their map https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/i ... dd5885ec74
This doesn't get you what you asked for, but let's me plan my routes while I have those maps showing on one of my screens.

The gravel road less than 2 miles from me is shown as paved on both of those maps

[shealbi]

Gravelmap is user generated, so we would all appreciate your corrections to the site

[Peobody]

Evidently it has no clue between paved and unpaved, unless I am missing something.

I don't think you are missing anything. The problem can go both ways, routing on unpaved roads, and avoiding paved roads as unpaved. The ones I have encountered I attribute to map accuracy failures and not to the XT. I use the same maps in Basecamp as on the XT and have found it to be consistent with the XT in showing both an unpaved road as paved, and a paved road as unpaved.

[jfheath]

And that is a problem with Open Source Maps. Generally speaking people that contribute to the map data are trying their best to make sure that they are accurate. But it is open to abuse by anyone who has other motives. In the last update of maps I noted a change to a local road which is narrow and has become a rat run to avoid traffic. It seems that the through road is now mapped as two roads that are no longer connected. There is a blockage in the way. There is no official notification of this change to be found and I believe this can have only happened if it had been submitted as a map error and accepted without question. I have spotted similar incorrect speed limit changes shown in the XT screen, where there has been no actual limit change, and no official notice of impending change.

These aren't normal mapping errors. They were correct, and have been changed recently to being wrong.

This sort of thing will become very interesting when governments decide to make manufacturers restrict car speeds to a database of speed limits, and then in order to cut costs, use OSM maps.