Question on SGL trails \ roads

[mute]

So im getting a bit confused on being able to tell if a road is actually an accessible vehicle road or just a hiking trail. Looking at the image ive attached i cant tell if the red arrows ive added is an actual drivable road or just a trail. I notice sometimes theres big open fields or what looks to be pulloffs but then I can tell theres a gate before that where youre not allows to drive through. But other times it looks like the road is way to big and open to just be a trail?

 

[lycoflyfisher]

https://pagame.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e25f4faead5c4ba09a8f5bde2964f210

PGC has mapping that shows game commission roads as well as roads that are seasonally opened for hunting season.

 

[Millsertime]

Lycoflyfisher.....Thanks a million for that website. Never knew that info was out there.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

no problem Miller, PFBC, DCNR and PGC all have some pretty good mapping resources on their website. If there was a way to combine DCNRs hunting interactive map with the trout streams map it would be golden!

 

[salmonoid]

lycoflyfisher wrote:
no problem Miller, PFBC, DCNR and PGC all have some pretty good mapping resources on their website. If there was a way to combine DCNRs hunting interactive map with the trout streams map it would be golden!

A lot of the data in the systems is made publicly available and someone with some GIS knowledge could combine the different data sets. I've dabbled in this realm but haven't reached anywhere near the level of "some GIS knowledge". About the best I was able to do was grab the Chapter 93 data, for stream water quality, and extract anything that was EV or HQ-CWF, which was useful, because a visualization wasn't available at the time. I used GRASS GIS for that.

I recently took the plunge on a few Purple Lizard maps, because they are one of companies that combine the data from a bunch of different agencies and provide a good overview for hiking trails, roads, public land, etc. Those maps don't help as much with identifying fishing opportunities (from a stream/biomass perspective), but they do help pull together a bunch of information sources that, given a general region of the state I want to fish in, I can come up with a good backpacking loop or day hike and then figure out what streams I might cross that are of interest.

 

[jeffroey]

Not sure if you're interested in identifying roads to drive down - to get closer to a spot maybe - or just interested in identifying the differences.

When I'm planning a route to a stream or blue line on SGL, I rely somewhat on the AllTralis app. It does a really good job of showing known trails that aren't always consolidated on other map sources.

I recommend adding AllTrails to your list of resources when planning time on SGLs.

Lycoflyfisher: Thanks from me also - I didn't know the PGC resource existed. I actually fished in SGL 141 this weekend and when I arrived, I was surprised to find the SGL access road gate seasonally open thru February. This is a great link to bookmark!

 

[mute]

Ill check it out. I actually use OnX Hunt maps which is incredible in conjunction with Google Maps. OnX actually shows me all the trails and then some, and even if its a hiking only, automotive capable etc. The problem is most say Hiking only, which aligns with my speculations.

But when I zoom in with Google Maps and get better views there appears to be obvious round abouts or dirt pull offs on said trail. Which doesnt mean it was open at one time and now no longer accepts vehicles or whatever, i dont know. I just dont want to park extra miles away if i dont have to

 

[silverfox]

lycoflyfisher wrote:
no problem Miller, PFBC, DCNR and PGC all have some pretty good mapping resources on their website. If there was a way to combine DCNRs hunting interactive map with the trout streams map it would be golden!

You can download kmz files from the PAGC dataset here:
https://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/SearchResults.aspx?originator=Pennsylvania+Game+Commission

The PAFBC mapping data is here:
https://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/SearchResults.aspx?originator=Pennsylvania%20Fish%20and%20Boat%20Commission

Basically, all of the arcgis data from any state agency is on that site if you search for it. You can download the KMZ files and combine them in Google Earth. This will open the dataset in the "Temporary Places" folder on the left side of GE. You can combine multiple datasets and then combine information from an area of interest by right clicking on the item of interest and adding it to another folder by clicking "Save to my places". Once you get information of interest into "My Places" you can right click on "My Places" and chose "Save Place As" then export a new KMZ file of your area of interest.

Then you can create a new "My Map" through Google Drive and import that new kmz into a layer and save your map in your drive. That way you have that custom map in your drive and you could share it to your phone or open on your phone when you're in that area.

The only problem with this approach is there is an upload file size limit in "My Maps". So you can't combine all the PA State datasets into one GE session and export that huge dataset as a new KMZ and import to my maps. You CAN import all the state data to GE and then export the entire dataset as a KMZ and reopen it in GE however.

So that's all with free tools and the end result w/ mymaps is to end up with a dense dataset on a focus area that you could transport on a smart phone. There are far better gis mapping solutions out there, but that tutorial uses all free tools that are easy to use.