Key:tracktype

Tracktype is a measure of how well-maintained a track or other road is, particularly regarding surface firmness. It usually applies to highway=track but is often used for non-tracks too, especially in less-developed places where many main roads are unpaved. The proposal from which this key originates may be found at Proposed features/grade1-5. The proposal was voted on, but was standardised primarily because of its widespread use.

tracktype=* is rendered on the Standard tile layer on the main OpenStreetMap site, as an elaboration on just highway=track.

surface=* refers to surface material and sometimes to material structure. It may suggest a track type sometimes, but because the same surface material/structure can exhibit various degrees of firmness, it is still advisable to add tracktype=*.

smoothness=* in addition provides a classification scheme regarding the physical usability of a way for wheeled vehicles.

Values

See below for tag values for 'tracktype':

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Rendering	Photo
tracktype	grade1		Solid. Usually a paved or sealed surface. See  Sealed road.
tracktype	grade2		Solid but unpaved. Usually an unpaved track with surface of gravel. See  Gravel road.
tracktype	grade3		Mostly solid. Even mixture of hard and soft materials. Almost always an unpaved track.
tracktype	grade4		Mostly soft. Almost always an unpaved track prominently with soil/sand/grass, but with some hard or compacted materials mixed in.
tracktype	grade5		Soft. Almost always an unimproved track lacking hard materials, same as surrounding soil.
tracktype	<no value>		If no tracktype tag is present, the track is rendered with a dot-dash line style (as shown right).		Photo not applicable

This table is a wiki template with a default description in English. Editable here.

Additional set of example pictures, from initial proposal

Applied to

It is primarily used in combination with highway=track (around 96% of uses) but it has also noticeable usage on highway=service, highway=path, highway=unclassified. This tag is useful to provide info about road quality, especially for unpaved roads.

Possible tagging mistakes

grade=*

More details at taginfo

• grade=* ‒ less commonly used as a mistake for grades=*

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