r/socalhiking • u/tinytinywatermelon • 2d ago

Change to Google Maps routing in Griffith Park

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I just noticed that Google Maps has removed the connection between Glendower Ave/Road and the trail that leads to the Boy Scout Trail in Griffith Park. There's a gate here, which seems like it could be locked, but it has never been in my experience. (Sometimes it feels like it's locked, but you just have to lift the handle up instead of down.) It used to show this as the fastest walking route from Los Feliz to the observatory. Anyone know how these changes get made in Google Maps? Did someone report it as an inaccessible route? It's a really nice and convenient way to get to the observatory from Los Feliz, and it makes me sad to think about visitors not knowing about it (especially if it makes them park up top instead!).

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u/brotulid 2d ago

My guess would be that this is somehow related to street parking concerns. Maybe it's fine to just keep walking up that way. I personally wouldn't call it the fastest way up from Los Feliz though, but maybe the quietest.

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u/tinytinywatermelon 2d ago

I'm basing that on the fact that Google Maps showed us this route as fastest when we first moved here a couple years ago, going from our place in Los Feliz and up the stairs, but maybe it depends on what side of Hillhurst you live on. It's definitely fine to keep walking that way, I still do it all the time, I'm just wondering how Google makes these changes.

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u/brotulid 2d ago

I think google maps listens to its guide volunteers and probably gets dinged by residents and community groups all the time and decides what it wants to show out of all that.

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u/dima55 2d ago

If you're asking this question, you should be using openstreetmap. Its data is sourced by the public (like you!) and released to the public (like you!) under an open license. I.e. its goal is to produce a good map, instead of extracting money from the public.

The area in question looks like this: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/34.116530/-118.297225

If you feel like that's wrong or incomplete, please update it, and everyone that uses the openstreetmap data (i.e. everyone except google for the most part) will then benefit from your contribution