Bushwalk Australia

We were having trouble keeping track of the hundreds of published day walks in Tasmania, so built a website to map and filter them, with links to the source books, websites and brochures. It currently shows 460 walks, with an estimated 2,000 or so just from the current source list. We are now looking for feedback before making it more publicly visible.

The site may be found at this link:
http://www.cowirrie.com/stepscape/

The aim is to eventually fill in the hundreds of missing walks, but our first concern is whether the existing 460 are accurate - especially walks no longer accessible due to road closures, private land, etc.

Other questions of interest:
1. Did it run smoothly and display without obvious layout problems? If not, can you tell us your browser and version number?

2. While we aren’t attempting to provide complete information about each walk (that is what the references are for), are there any additional attributes we should store and display? Is there anything else that should be selectable on the “Find” tab?

Use the Feedback tab on the website unless there are issues that need discussion here.

Thanks

Great work I love it. I use Safari 8.0.5 and it all worked fine.

I was going to leave feedback in the comments section of the site but then you wouldn't know who I am and I wouldn't be in the draw for the prize, so I am leaving it here.

I think it would be great if you were to expand it or make another website to show multiday walks too, should only take a couple of hours And a place for user submitted pics of each walk. And if I want to be really critical it could give a little more detail....elevation data for instance?

Well done.

Really nice concept, it's a tad interesting in mobile, as the vertical split screen makes both sides hard to read.

I'll have a further look this arvo, on my desktop.

icefest wrote:Really nice concept, it's a tad interesting in mobile, as the vertical split screen makes both sides hard to read.

Rotate your mobile device 90 degree. A bit better.

That's a good idea!

I'm using Firefox 38.0.1.
I don't see Federation listed.
Do I need to upgrade my browser?

Orion wrote:I'm using Firefox 38.0.1.
I don't see Federation listed.
Do I need to upgrade my browser?

I don't know of many who have done this as a daywalk!

Looks like it will be an amazing resource! Thanks for all the effort.

I might have missed it on my phone, but is there any warning re checking for planned burn offs? Not that it helped in NNW's recent experience, but it could save a life or two, especially if procedures are improved.

Tortoise wrote:Looks like it will be an amazing resource! Thanks for all the effort.

I might have missed it on my phone, but is there any warning re checking for planned burn offs? Not that it helped in NNW's recent experience, but it could save a life or two, especially if procedures are improved.

The site links to a pdf brochure by Parks that gives lots of detail on everything you need to know before you go for a walk. Although it mentions what to do if caught in a bushfire it doesn't mention how to avoid getting caught in a burn-off. I suppose we will have to hope that the helicopter pilot will now have instructions to check the relevant carparks for cars before starting the firebombing.

pazzar wrote:

Orion wrote:I'm using Firefox 38.0.1.
I don't see Federation listed.
Do I need to upgrade my browser?

I don't know of many who have done this as a daywalk!

Klaashartmann claimed to have done "Federation Peak in a day", but his trip notes clearly show 9:20pm on one day to 10:00pm the next, so almost a day walk, but it doesn't quite make the cut.
Running the Overland Track in under 10 hrs also fails to qualify it as a day walk.

Sprent, Wedge, Scott, Albert, Saddleback, Field West & East, Tarn Shelf?
I take it this is only tracked walks? Edith is an easy daywalk, for instance, although I don't know if there are any maps/notes online.

north-north-west wrote:Sprent, Wedge, Scott, Albert, Saddleback, Field West & East, Tarn Shelf?
I take it this is only tracked walks? Edith is an easy daywalk, for instance, although I don't know if there are any maps/notes online.

Those walks will probably be added. Only 20% of the day walks we know of are on the list so far. The 60 Great Short Walks are there, plus a selection to provide coverage of as much of the state as possible and at least one walk from each reference listed. If any of the references have a walk that is not there yet, then it will (probably) be added eventually. We wanted some comment now to see if it would be useful before adding the rest.

It is not necessarily only tracked walks, but any walks listed must have a good reference with enough details to get people there and make sure they don't get lost.
Generally books are used, but websites can be references if they provide good details, equivalent to a book of walks. A lot of blogs are interesting descriptions of someone's travels but not always in a suitable format for a walk reference.

Very useful. It's already a good list. Get all the known tracks and easier off-track routes up there and it will be brilliant.

DanShell wrote:I think it would be great if you were to expand it or make another website to show multiday walks too, should only take a couple of hours And a place for user submitted pics of each walk. And if I want to be really critical it could give a little more detail....elevation data for instance?

At present there are no plans to include multi-day walks. But if someone else wants to do them then we'll link to their website. Maybe we could link to your great videos.

The aim is to refer the user to a good reference that describes the walk in detail. Copyright issues prevent us from just copying slabs of text, elevation charts or other handy stuff. However, we do need to provide enough information to help you decide whether to consider a walk on the list, and then go and buy the book for that walk. Vital information to help in that decision should be there, but not all the details you need to actually do the walk. So we are open to suggestions about what sort of information you need when sitting around at home wondering where to go next.

Thank you for comments above and feedback direct to the website.

With regard to the suggestions about links for those planning a walk we have expanded the single "Equipment" link into Equipment, Road and Track Closures, Fires and Weather. They cover all the services we have found useful while making our own plans. Does anyone have other sites to suggest, or think we should make the list shorter? (While we've used all those sites at different times, we don't rigorously check ever single one.)

If you already visited StepScape, you may need to reload the site to see this and other changes.

MrWalker wrote:. Maybe we could link to your great videos.

hahahaha if you want to put people to sleep go right ahead......you have used the term 'great videos' very loosly

Just stumbled across this website after HWC shared it. What a great resource! Thanks for building and sharing it
A worthy bump in my books.

Thanks. It now has over 1000 different day-walks, from over 500 different starting points.

Initially it was only going to be walks described in published books, but now includes walks on websites where someone has given enough detail to find the walk and know what to expect when they go there.

Walks range from 10metres to about 30km, so there is something for everyone.

The Stepscape wesbite now has over 1500 day walks in Tasmania listed
http://www.cowirrie.com/stepscape/

Some people have complained that the site includes too many walks, by suggesting that you could go partway along a walk and then turn back. This is done because not everyone want to climb the mountain or walk 20km, etc, so some members of the group may want a shorter walk while the other enthusiasts enjoy themselves out there all day. However, shorter versions are only listed when there is some obvious feature that is worth visiting, e.g. a lookout or natural feature part of the way to the main destination.

There are now over 2000 day walks in Tasmania listed on Stepscape.
https://www.cowirrie.com/stepscape/

It has taken a while to get from 1500 to 2000 due to the need to keep editing information on walks already listed.
We get to as many of these as we can, since many of the books were written decades ago. Most of the tracks are still there, but sometimes there are problems just getting to the car park, or tracks become overgrown.
We also get useful corrections submitted by other walkers and update the details if necessary.

Thanks for maintaining this, it's an excellent resource. I've consulted it when planning our last couple of visits.
With a wife who isn't a bushwalker I'm usually limited to day trips so this is very useful for researching walks that she can do, and more challenging ones on my own.

johnw wrote:Thanks for maintaining this, it's an excellent resource. I've consulted it when planning our last couple of visits.
With a wife who isn't a bushwalker I'm usually limited to day trips so this is very useful for researching walks that she can do, and more challenging ones on my own.

My wife is a keen bushwalker, but has a hip injury and can't go far, or walk over very rough areas. So with the longer walks, we try hard to find some sensible point that others can get to for a shorter walk before turning back. Usually we can find a lookout point, or notable rock, stream, or other feature, rather than just saying walk 2km then turn around.
So if you want to go out all day, check if we list a shorter, but still interesting, walk from the same car park.