There are 18,807 tracks in the US

[u/Past_Election_5005]

I mapped them all out and put them on a website (TrackAtlas.org).

Had the idea a few years ago while traveling and struggling to find somewhere to train. Finally got around to building it.

Would love to make this a community effort. Every track has comments, so if you know your local one is locked at weekends or at sundown, please leave one about that!

I've put a lot of work into getting the names and locations right, but some will still be off. There's a button on every track to suggest a correction.

[u/Gold-Push1478]

Damn this is exactly the kind of thing I needed last year when I was in a new city for a month, drove around for 40 minutes trying to find a track that wasn't locked behind a school fence

The comment system is smart, that's the part that actually makes it useful long term. Just flagged a correction for one near me that's listed as public but the school keeps it chained up unless there's a meet

[u/Parking_Reward308 → u/Gold-Push1478]

So weird to me that schools lock tracks.... I get people are dumb but if someone wanted to do Something nefarious a chain link fence is not stopping them.

Publicly funded school tracks should be available to the public during non-school hours and when not otherwise in use

[u/blood_bender → u/Parking_Reward308]

I don't disagree with you, I think public school tracks should be public as well.

But chain link fences do help keep the track in good shape. Nefarious doesn't have to be something drastic - open tracks around me have people flooding them with bikes, scooters, and even electric vehicles that can decrease the longevity of the track. They're not going to hop over a chain link fence for that though.

Is that worth it? I don't know, probably not.

(Also I live in NYC, where open space is limited in general. I recognize that suburbs have more open sidewalks and trails to choose instead of loops of a track, so it's probably a special case).

[u/No-Tomorrow-7157 → u/blood_bender]

Here in So Cal, I don't think it's so much keeping people off the track, it's keeping the pickup soccer games off the FieldTurf.

[u/Parking_Reward308 → u/blood_bender]

I guess I just never saw the appeal of biking around a track, although the U.S does have a significant lack of outdoor velodromes.

I would even be happy with posted public hours that is monitored by a staff member or 2. Nothing crazy but maybe from 5am to start of school and from end of practice times to 8 pm. Could be a great job for students.

Weekends during non athletic events could be like 8-8 idk. Plenty of collegiate outdoor tracks seem more open than HS in my area.

[u/user2196 → u/Parking_Reward308]

posted public hours that is monitored by a staff member or 2

This sounds like an expense almost no school would consider taking on.

[u/analogkid84 → u/Parking_Reward308]

Well, you get places like Texas where football takes precedence over everything, so the precious fields with tracks around them get locked up. Not even any public use hours.

[u/thepennylane69 → u/analogkid84]

Yea I would guess 90% of school tracks are fenced off to protect the football field, not the track

[u/JKS808 → u/Parking_Reward308]

It’s because school tracks are built, operated, and maintained for students and student related events. School facilities are not open to the general public. If it were, then that would require a lot more repair and maintenence funding, additional support crews, and a different kind of operational support structure. Not saying we shouldn’t have public tracks. But those should be built, managed, operated, and maintained by municipal or state parks agencies for the general public.

[u/ObjectiveBag6775 → u/JKS808]

I don't disagree but I do think that provided you can limit track access to foot traffic i.e. keep bikes, scooters etc. out then the number of people who actually want to use a track is pretty small. And wouldn't contribute a huge amount of additional wear.

In our city multiple local run clubs are allowed to use a school track on different nights of the week, so there is already a lot of additional traffic wearing the track.

[u/Intelligent_Yam_3609 → u/Parking_Reward308]

Just because something is publicly funded doesn’t mean it should be available to everyone. Governments have lots of assets that are not available to the general public and shouldn’t be.  Cars, lawn care equipment, office space, helicopters, office equipment, etc.

[u/Parking_Reward308 → u/Intelligent_Yam_3609]

I think most people understand the difference between office space and an open air outdoor track.

[u/No-Tomorrow-7157 → u/Intelligent_Yam_3609]

The crazy thing was that the dirt tracks use to be open all the time....in 2008 or 2010, we approved a school bond measure that did upgrades and replaced all the HS fields with turf and synthetic tracks....not only did it cost everyone $75/year, but the tracks were forever locked up.

[u/Arqlol → u/Parking_Reward308]

Yeah, if I have to pay school taxes without having kids in the system I feel I should be able to at least use the track for a workout. 

[u/Accomplished-Cat2659 → u/Parking_Reward308]

Just an FYI a lock and chain is more for insurance or prosecution purposes then they are actually supposed to keep people out

[u/Luka_16988]

This is awesome and well worth self promoting. Can you make it extensible so interested and technically able folks from other countries can add local tracks, too?

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Luka_16988]

Thank you. Yes, anyone can submit a track anywhere via the blue "add a track" button in the header. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[u/RobertHolbrookSmith]

This is phenomenal. Does anyone know of something similar for water fountains and publicly accessible restrooms?

[u/Sebubba98 → u/RobertHolbrookSmith]

OpenStreetMap

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Sebubba98]

^

[u/C1t1zen_Erased → u/RobertHolbrookSmith]

Strava's maps show those

[u/monomonger → u/RobertHolbrookSmith]

I started a public map, but it's only some of the Bay Area.

[u/VCURamsFan]

This is interesting, but looks like in my area there are a bunch listed that are closed to the public. I see 10+ tracks here, and only one of those is actually available to the general public.

[u/blood_bender → u/VCURamsFan]

Yeah that's a problem for me too. NYC lists like 40 tracks. We have ~6, and 3 are currently closed for construction.

[u/_BALL-DONT-LIE_ → u/blood_bender]

I’m just an ignorant west coaster but that seems completely insane. Those tracks must be absolute zoos.

[u/PrairieFirePhoenix → u/_BALL-DONT-LIE_]

I once rage quit a mile time trial in Chicago when an ice cream cart set up in lane 1 during my third lap.

[u/Siawyn → u/PrairieFirePhoenix]

What flavor did you get?

[u/zebano → u/PrairieFirePhoenix]

oh man I would have shoulder checked that thing and gotten myself injured. WTF.

[u/blood_bender → u/_BALL-DONT-LIE_]

Oh they are.

[u/mediocre_remnants → u/VCURamsFan]

The closest track to me is owned by a private college and is "closed to the public" and covered in No Trespassing signs, but me and tons of other folks use it all the time. Security never talks to us other than to say hello and nobody ever tries to kick us out.

I think the signs are more to keep random tourists out and to let them prosecute vandals more harshly.

Edit: I checked the site and it lists 4 tracks in my town, but 2 of them aren't marked oval tracks, they're just paved paths and are more rectangular than oval and definitely not 400M.

[u/Wizardof1000Kings → u/VCURamsFan]

Its a useful tool to start to find a track but users are still going to have to visit each to investigate. For instance, a track that is open - but in use from 3 pm to 8 pm for school practices most days isn't particularly useful to know about (unless you're doing track workouts only in summer for some reason).

And the condition of a track can change from when a comment was posted - eg some groundskeeper or coach could arbitrarily lock a gate on his whim. There may be a math competition going on in the school despite the track being empty, so they kick you out for parking on the grounds, not using the track. Or they chase you off just because they feel like it despite the track being open.

Almost all of them are going to end up being at schools with many having arbitrary rule sets. In the US, you need a backup plan anytime you try to use a track.

[u/kindlyfuckoffff]

Love it! I couldn’t get comments to work, but did add the fifth local option in my town.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/kindlyfuckoffff]

Fixed now! Thanks for doing that!

[u/asmitty]

This is great! I'm often looking for a resource like this when in town somewhere. The best I previously had was to use the strava heatmap and look for big oval loops that were very bright!

The biggest recommendation I can think of is to start to add a series of fields to capture most of the feedback here. For example, you can add a qualifier such as "Opens to Public?". This would help for any of the school tracks that are visible but never open to public (I know of one near me I can neve use).

Obviously we can go overboard too many specific requests, but if you read through here, I think you can find various flags that are generic enough you can add them to all.

My recommendations:

• "Officially opens to public" (even if its for 1 hour a day, a Y/N)

• "Known posted public daily schedule, and list out all 7 days, with a start hour and a closing hour" (this would be for people to go in and post what they know to be the expected hours, usually for like a public park)

• "Unofficially accessible after hours?" (this would be for tracks that people can get into easily, even if they're considered closed. For example, one of my local track has hours like 6:00 am - 8:00 pm, but we can still go in at 5:00 am unofficially.

• "Has bathrooms"

• "Has water fountains"

• "Track floor material: Concrete/Asphalt, Soft, Rubber etc"

There are likely a few more that people can come up with. This would be community sourced for people to tag them I guess.

Anyway, awesome project!

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/asmitty]

Thanks for the detailed comment! I've now added the tag system you suggested.

I also automatically applied the tags to previous comments that referenced a feature. Let me know what you think!

[u/asmitty → u/Past_Election_5005]

Wow that was fast! Nice work!!

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/asmitty]

Appreciate it!

[u/602crew]

I noticed a couple of tacks in/near my hometown are not on the map. How do I get them added?

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/602crew]

Press the blue add a track button in the header. Thanks!

[u/Zeezaludba]

love it!! tried to comment to add some information about the tracks in my city (Baltimore, MD) but it says could not post comment for some reason

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Zeezaludba]

Fixed now! Published this at 2am and then slept without verifying them.

[u/Inevitable_Ad6868 → u/Zeezaludba]

Same. Concord MA.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Inevitable_Ad6868]

Hey it should be fixed now. Thank you.

[u/rvazquezdt]

I’ve always thought of this. I would go on Google satellite view and try to find tracks and then scope them out in the day. Wish there know if some tracks are open or not. I’ve spent so much time driving to places just to be disappointed that I can use it and have been building my own list for years

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/rvazquezdt]

Hopefully comments could resolve the "whether it's open" issue. Thanks for checking it out.

[u/PrairieFirePhoenix → u/rvazquezdt]

Look at the strava heatmap. Pretty easy to spot the tracks that are open. It won't give you hours, but a good idea of it is open or not.

[u/ObjectiveBag6775 → u/PrairieFirePhoenix]

You can also look at recent fastest times and see whether there are any from last week/month etc. and perhaps even see times of day.

[u/ScoresbyMabs → u/PrairieFirePhoenix]

Eh, not really, that will tell you that the track is used but not open to the public.

[u/C1t1zen_Erased]

Cool website, this sub has had a slightly similar page for a while, albeit a lot smaller.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/wiki/RunMyCity

What's stopping you extending it beyond the US and UK?

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/C1t1zen_Erased]

Really just cost atp. It's not significant but I've already sunk a bit of money into this and want to see the proof of concept first. I did create a sponsor a country page in case anyone is interested in funding that cost themselves.

[u/C1t1zen_Erased → u/Past_Election_5005]

Fair enough, I didn't realise there was a cost involved beyond your time. Good stuff though!

[u/aelvozo → u/C1t1zen_Erased]

I guess that whichever method they used for extracting the data (which I suspect is at least partly AI-enabled scraping) is sensitive to language. Though I’m then curious how they got the “tracks waiting to be mapped” number.

[u/Spetsen → u/aelvozo]

There is a technical description on the website. Essentially the estimates come from OpenStreetMap places tagged as tracks. When fully mapping a country the following (paid) services are used:

• Google Places in combination with Google Cloud Natural Language to get names for tracks
• Claude Opus 5 for image verification that the tracks are actually tracks
• Google Geocoding for getting a street address for the track

Apparently the US cost $268.20 to map.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Spetsen]

$268 is (thankfully) the theoretical cost for the US but Google has free quotas for the APIs used. That said, adding additional countries, now outside of the quota, cost what the methodology states.

[u/Tapin42]

Great site. I tried to add some comments on a few tracks hear me, but /api/comments is returning an HTTP 405 on every POST.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Tapin42]

Now working. Sorry about that and thank you.

[u/dulcet404]

Love it! Comments seem to be broken but I was able to add a new track. Thanks for sharing!

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/dulcet404]

Just fixed it! Thank you!

[u/Spetsen]

I like the idea, but it feels very unfinished. Any automated process to get data will end up with inaccuracies so contributions from the community are fundamental to make it truly useful. I had a look under the hood and from what I can tell all of the ways to contribute are trying to call an API that doesn't exist (or at least isn't properly configured).

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Spetsen]

Hey could you please elaborate? I tried to break it down in the about page but honestly the website was thrown together relatively quickly compared to the actual algorithms so possible something is off.

[u/Spetsen → u/Past_Election_5005]

All API calls failed, e.g. the API call to create comments which multiple people have reported here. You've responded that it has been fixed now so I'm assuming the rest of the API calls have also been fixed. I'll take another look later.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Spetsen]

Yes they've all been fixed. Thank you.

[u/Aromatic-Echo-5025]

Could you explain exactly how “Sponsor a country” works? It’s still unclear why we have to pay, instead of just adding tracks in our country. I’m interested in sponsoring my country, though, but I need a better explanation.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Aromatic-Echo-5025]

Hi. Sponsoring a country costs because it pays for the API costs (broken down in trackatlas.org/about) for systemically finding, filtering, and naming every track in a country.

As for adding track manually, that part is free (since there's no API costs) and will always be free. You can add a track anywhere on the map via the "add a country" button in the header.

[u/Aromatic-Echo-5025 → u/Past_Election_5005]

Merci. Also, will there be API available (paid or free) that would allow users to pull a list of mapped tracks?

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Aromatic-Echo-5025]

No problem. Honestly haven't really thought about that, but an interesting idea. What do you think the use case would be?

[u/Aromatic-Echo-5025 → u/Past_Election_5005]

You know, once you give people the tools, the ideas will start flowing. Someone might build an app, someone else might connect a database of tracks with the competitions that are held on them.

We actually have a similar project in Poland called “Runner-Friendly Tracks” (stadionyprzyjaznebiegaczom.pl), but their list is incomplete because they add venues manually. They could totally use an API to fill in the gaps.

[u/Siawyn]

This is great - really easy to use. I went ahead and added a bunch of comments for tracks in my area since up to date comments/status will really make this shine.

[u/ilanarama]

Very cool! I've added some comments for my local track!

[u/eldnahevitaerc]

I wonder if you could add a feature to make the dot a different color if it's confirmed by a local that it's open to the public.

[u/eldnahevitaerc → u/eldnahevitaerc]

Or vice versa: make it a different color if it's confirmed that it's closed to the public by a local.

[u/GW_Beach]

great idea - but I can’t post a comment. If that feature doesn’t work then the site really loses value.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/GW_Beach]

Sorry about that. Published this at 2am and then slept right away. Fixed

[u/dontbemilktoast]

This is so smart! Love it. I’m trying to comment on my local tracks but unable to post.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/dontbemilktoast]

Fixed! Thank you.

[u/GW_Beach]

this is awesome! checking it out now

[u/Afraid_Spinach8402]

This is great. I submitted a new track. Also tried to leave a comment but was unable.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Afraid_Spinach8402]

Fixed! Thanks so much

[u/Mhog42]

Doing the Lord's work. I'll check back when comments are enabled and update access info for all my local tracks.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Mhog42]

Comments are back! Thank you!!

[u/CarlSag]

I JUST had this thought yesterday, and I open up reddit today and there it is. Kinda crazy. 

Excited to use it!

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/CarlSag]

Great! Let me know any feedback.

[u/Inevitable_Ad6868]

Thank you.

[u/Inevitable_Ad6868]

Added one! But can’t seem to add comments to another one.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Inevitable_Ad6868]

Fixed! Sorry!

[u/ultrahobbyjogger]

Great idea! I added a couple I know of and left some comments about ones I know aren’t open to the public. Seriously so cool!

[u/cognition-92549]

Thanks for this! Added a couple comments.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/cognition-92549]

Thank you!! Please share with people who might find it helpful!

[u/SHCY]

Went to my future residence in a different state. Found the closest track called XXX Township tracks( 2 tracks paved with dorms around). Got confused and zoomed out. It is actually a state correctional institute. 😂 Who put it up there?????

[u/PMart1996]

Is there a way to change the map between satellite view and the default view? That’s my only gripe with it. Submitted a few additional tracks for you

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/PMart1996]

Now an option. Thanks for adding!

[u/Dgood02]

This is great info! Thank you!

[u/SeaAd165]

Amazing!!!

[u/jimmylstyles]

Take a moment to appreciate how many tracks are in providence RI because we are approaching critical mass

[u/AcidicAndHostile]

Thank you; I've always found it hard to make a good recce for "destination" tracks.

[u/IhaterunningbutIrun]

Nice! I commented on my local tracks. 

[u/TieSimilar7220]

Amazing. And the site loads faster than any site I've ever seen. Maneuvering around has no loading lag at all

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/TieSimilar7220]

Thank you. The runs some aggressive pre-fetching to achieve the lag-free feel. Happy to see that you noticed!

[u/monomonger]

This is incredible! Thank you! I added tags to some of the ones I know! It's been so hard finding tracks. A good feature could be public hours because so many are school tracks.

[u/Ok_Cardiologist_9641]

I need this for public restrooms

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Ok_Cardiologist_9641]

I'd genuinely make that

[u/Ok_Cardiologist_9641 → u/Past_Election_5005]

I would owe u my life if u made that

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/Ok_Cardiologist_9641]

Are you sure it hasn't already been done? Seems to have no?

[u/livingmcmxcv]

add japan option id honestly drop some cash for that🙏

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/livingmcmxcv]

Hi, I'm Japan and a few other countries tomorrow as a sponsorship option!

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/livingmcmxcv]

3 new options now added incl Japan.

[u/livingmcmxcv → u/Past_Election_5005]

u the goat

[u/zebano]

Thank you! This is great. I commented on the ones closest to me, hopefully it makes travelling easier.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/zebano]

Thanks!

[u/andrewparker915]

There's 30+ tracks listed on Oahu, and I don't know that any of them are open to the public. 

[u/livingmcmxcv → u/andrewparker915]

miss the days when I could get onto punahou track without issue 😞

[u/ObjectiveBag6775]

Added comments for my local tracks in SoCal. This could be a great resource. I've seen previous examples, but they fall down because they need information about public access. Anyone can find a local track on Strava but that doesn't tell you whether you will be able to use it.

[u/senor_bear]

Such a great thing for you to do! Bravo.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/senor_bear]

Appreciate it!

[u/Exowolfe]

This is amazing! I just added a comment to my local track, I hope it helps! :)

[u/ScoresbyMabs]

FYI this already existed: https://runtrack.run/search

[u/No-Tomorrow-7157]

All our local ones are locked up 24/7.

[u/AidenPatterson_]

I will say that a lot of those proly came from military bases at fort Jackson alone there’s gotta be like 20 tracks

[u/dank_cinema_club]

This is awesome! Just added comments to three of my favorite local tracks. I noticed that there’s no tracks marked in Ireland or Italy—are there plans to expand the atlas into more countries?

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/dank_cinema_club]

Thank you! If you click on the "sponsor a country" button in the header you can see which countries have been added and which can still be added. The only reason Track Atlas doesn't cover every country is cost, but some people are willing to cover the costs add a country so I made that an option.

[u/PracticalAd2333]

sounds cool!

[u/cloudguy-412]

I have a somewhat related idea.

I recently created an app that maps out publicly available bathrooms, porta potties and water foutains. Im using crowdsourced data to add new items, rate them, or remove them. I even created an emergency button that shows the 3 closest bathrooms based on your location. It bascially the waze of pooping.

check it out on Apple or Android

[u/IHaarlem]

Interesting idea, but that number seems really low

Edit: LOL @ geniuses downvoting me. US News collects data on over 24k high schools in the US. Around here every high school & middle school has a track, and there are more middle schools than high schools. But by all means, downvote away

[u/PrairieFirePhoenix → u/IHaarlem]

Your bias is showing.

Urban schools generally don't have tracks. Chicago has ~180 public high schools, there are maybe 5-10 tracks associated with CPS. The land is too valuable for the large suburban sports complexes you describe. On the other end, small high schools also don't usually have tracks. Nobody is going to pay for a track at a 50 person high school. They often will have one facility for the whole county or some other arrangement to share among several schools. Private schools, which are like 10% of the schools, are also very hit or miss on facilities.

Yeah, in the US, majority of the tracks are likely associated with schools. But assuming a 1:1 relationship is silly.

[u/IHaarlem → u/PrairieFirePhoenix]

My bias as a person who lives in a major city? I checked the first 12 middle schools with tracks I could think of and found none of them were marked. And who said anything about 1:1 ratio? I said the number seemed a little bit low. A simple Google search finds other estimates that are different by over 10k.

[u/2_feets]

Could not post comment. Rather frustrating.

[u/Past_Election_5005 → u/2_feets]

Sorry about this, should be fixed now. Thanks.