Workshop:
Making Nature Visible: Using Google Street View to Reveal Green Trail Infrastructure
Grounded in the production of 9,000 km of “blue lines”, this workshop explores how Google Street View can make trails and green infrastructure visible beyond roads. Learn practical methods, equipment and workflows to document, publish and improve accessibility of trail networks at scale.
Google Maps is one of the world’s most widely used digital navigation tools, and Google Street View (GSV) has become a familiar way for people to explore places before visiting them. Yet vast parts of our natural green infrastructure — trails, forest tracks, coastal paths, gravel roads and minor rural routes — remain invisible because the Google car never reaches them. This workshop demonstrates how Google Street View can be repurposed as a powerful, low-cost tool to make nature accessible through a single, well-known digital entry point.
Street View imagery allows potential visitors to answer practical questions in advance: Is this path suitable for cycling? Can we bring a trailer or a wheelchair? Is there access to water or a good picnic spot? For people with mobility challenges in particular, the ability to assess accessibility beforehand can be transformative.
Over the past years, I have produced nearly 9,000 km of Google Street View imagery — captured by bicycle, on foot, on skis and by kayak — across Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Svalbard. My work focuses on routes that are otherwise digitally invisible: forest trails, coastal paths, island roads and local nature assets. A key example is the documentation of 31 protected nature areas owned by the Aage V. Jensen Nature Foundation, a leading Danish conservation organisation managing more than 19,000 hectares across 23 locations.
Workshop focus and takeaways:
- Equipment: Cameras and mounting solutions for cycling, hiking and kayaking, plus power setups enabling full-day fieldwork.
- Planning: Estimating project scope using Overpass Turbo and QGIS, and route planning with RideWithGPS.
- Workflow: From preparation and field capture to post-processing, uploading and quality control.
The workshop is aimed at trail organisations, land managers, destination managers and planners seeking practical tools to increase visibility, accessibility and use of trail networks and natural areas.
Jens Peter Hansen, Founder and Owner, TrailView
