Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Ensure you're logged in (sign up here, if you don't have an account)
  2. Navigate to the road you want to add an update for. For example: Mamquam FSR
  3. Click the Add Bulletin link near the bottom of the page
  4. Add the date you drove the road
  5. Add a description of the conditions you found
  6. You can optionally select up to 8 images to add.
  7. Click Add Bulletin
  8. You should now see your bulletin on the road page!

  1. Click on the Road Condition drop-down
  2. There are five ratings to choose from: Good, Degraded, Heavily Degraded, Impassable and Unknown
  3. Select the one that best represents the condition of the road you drove
  4. Drag the slider up to the point where you drove or where the road rating changes
  5. If you feel the condition of the road changes, you can mark that change by making another selection from the dropdown and dragging the new road rating to the appropriate place
How do I delete a condition on a road?

Double-click on any of the slider handles to remove a condition as in the video below:

What if I didn't drive the first part of a road?

You have likely noticed that when you select a condition from the dropdown, it starts from the beginning of the road. If there's a section of road you didn't drive, such as the beginning, you can simply select "Unknown" from the dropdown and move the slider up to the point where you did start driving. From there, add your conditions as normal. You can mix and match unknown with other road conditions if there is more than one section that you did not drive.

  1. Ensure you're logged in (sign up here, if you don't have an account)
  2. Navigate to the road with the bulletin you wish to reply to. For example: Shovelnose Creek FSR
  3. Click the Reply button: Reply
  4. Add your comment and save!
Click the reply button pictured here to respond

Registered users can now navigate to a road page and click the: Watch button to watch for road updates.

As seen on Lillooet South FSR

Any time a road bulletin is posted to that road page, you will be notified of the update. If you have email notifications turned on, those updates will be sent to your email address after 24 hours.

If you would like to unsubscribe simply click the Unwatch button from the road page that you are watching.

Simply login, click on the "View Profile" button at the top of the page and then the "Edit Profile" button below your name.

Click the view profile link from any page. If you are already on your profile page, simply click "Edit Profile"
Toggle the settings you wish to save and press update

A cut block is an area of forest that is going to be logged, has been logged or is actively being logged. Cut blocks offer useful clues about the state of roads around them as active or pending cut blocks indicate that the road conditions are in good shape to support logging operations. Click on any cut block on the map to view more information about which phase of logging it's in and when it last saw activity.

A look at the cut blocks. Purple represents pending, brown represents active and green represents completed logging activities.

Closure zones are areas of land that prohibit vehicle travel for fixed periods of time. Often mandated by law through the Wildlife Act and more recently the Land Management Resource Plan. Backroadstatus.com automatically monitors these closure zones and posts notices when roads are affected by closures. You can view detailed information about each of these zones prior to heading out on the road and download them for offline use. Check out the Lillooet South FSR Closure Zone as an example.

Two closure zones are visible on the map. Red represents an actively closed area while gray represents an inactive area to show case what roads would be affected.

Backroadstatus.com now supports offline maps that can be loaded into your favourite mapping application to take on the road with you. The maps are regenerated once a day to ensure the latest road condition updates are made available.

For instructions on how to add these maps for your app of choice, see below:

Gaia

Adding custom map layers can only be done from the website, but your new layers will be available on your mobile app afterwards.

Steps
  1. Navigate to Gaia Gps
  2. Click the: Layers button
  3. Click the: Add Map Layers button at the bottom of the side panel
  4. Click the: Add Custom Map Source button at the bottom of the side panel
  5. Use the following settings:
    • Title/Name: BRS - Mobile
    • Title URL: https://tiles.backroadstatus.com/styles/backroadstatus/512/{z}/{x}/{y}@2x.png
    • Zoom Range: 8 to 14
Click on the Map Layers button, then "Add Map Layers" at the bottom and finally "Add Custom Map Source"
Custom Map Source Page
The layer should be visible on your map now.

Note that this layer is optimized for mobile devices. If you wish to have a better viewing experience on desktop you can create a second layer with the following settings:

  • Title/Name: BRS - Desktop
  • Title URL: https://tiles.backroadstatus.com/styles/backroadstatus-desktop/512/{z}/{x}/{y}@2x.png
  • Zoom Range: 8 to 14

OSMAnd

Steps
  1. Open your OSMAnd App
  2. Click the: Menu button
  3. Click the: Configure Map
  4. Click the: Overlay button near the bottom
  5. Click the: Add online source button
  6. Use the following settings:
    • Name: BRS - Mobile
    • URL: https://tiles.backroadstatus.com/styles/backroadstatus/512/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
    • Zoom Levels - Minimum: 8
    • Zoom Levels - Maximum: 14
    • Expire time: 1440
  7. Click the: Save button
  8. Now under the Available Layers section you should see your new layer
  9. Ensure that the Enabled switch is on and transparency is 100%
Click on the Menu button and then Configure Map
Click on the Overlay button
Click on the Add online source button
Fill in the settings mentioned in the steps section
Ensure the Overlay is toggled and BRS - Mobile is selected under Available Layers
You should see the roads on the map now

Other Apps

For apps not listed, choose the custom layer options provided and ensure that you used the following settings

  • Name: BRS - Mobile
  • URL: https://tiles.backroadstatus.com/styles/backroadstatus/512/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
  • Zoom Levels - Minimum: 8
  • Zoom Levels - Maximum: 14

This layer will display active fires around British Columbia. The information is sourced from: Wildfire Situation BC and is updated every 15 minutes. This fire information can help you determine if a road or area is close to an active fire. Please consult the Wildfire Situation BC site for the latest information and safety related measures. Active fire information may be incomplete and should not be solely relied on for travel purposes.

An active fire with a fire perimeter visible on the map
Click on the icon to view more details about the fire
Control the display of fires on the map using the right hand layer control on the upper corner of the map

I'm working on a suggestion/contact form. But in the meantime, you can send an email to the: searchthesummits@protonmail.com email address

The road data is imported from the B.C. Government FTEN Road Segment dataset and augmented with additions from admins, maintainers and the community abroad! The official link is here.

For the time being you can manually request an account deletion by sending an email to: searchthesummits@protonmail.com. You will be asked to verify proof of your account before deletion is complete.

Active contributors can view up to date satellite imagery on the map whenever they are logged in and actively exploring the map. Users are considered active contributors when they have created 5 or more road bulletins in the last 365 days. To see how to enable the up to date satellite layers view the video below:

Note that after you've created a fifth road bulletin you will need to log out and back in again to gain access to the satellite layers. Users who already have 5 bulletins only need to be logged in.