Sources & terms
Cosmic's Backcountry Map is built from open government data, OpenStreetMap, and speed tests run by the people who use it. This page lists every source, the licence it is used under, and the terms you accept by using the map.
Terms of use
This map is a planning aid, not a legal or safety authority. Land status comes from the Province's generalized ownership data and is not a survey: posted signs, gates, closures, fire bans and the instructions of land managers and First Nations always take precedence. Cell coverage and speeds are estimates and other people's measurements; they are no guarantee you will have signal. Logging activity reflects permits on file, not where trucks are today.
You are responsible for your own safety and for checking current conditions before and during a trip. The map is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law the author accepts no liability for loss, injury or damage arising from its use.
Nothing here implies endorsement by the Province of British Columbia, the Government of Canada, OpenStreetMap or any data provider.
The Backcountry Pass
Everything you can see online is free. The Backcountry Pass unlocks saving the whole map to your device for use without signal, and the full scouting list of remote, connected spots. It comes two ways: CA$49 once for life, or CA$5 a month, cancelled any time from the receipt Stripe emails you. Payment is handled by Stripe; this site never sees your card.
There are no accounts or passwords. After paying you are returned to the map with the pass active on that device. The Layers panel can copy an unlock link for another device, and "Already have a pass?" in the same panel emails a fresh unlock link to the address you paid with, so nothing is ever lost. A monthly pass checks in with Stripe while you are online and stops when the subscription does.
Refunds: if the offline map does not work on your device, email within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. Prices include no tax; applicable taxes are added at checkout where required.
Privacy
Visits are counted with Umami, a cookieless analytics service that stores no personal data and needs no consent banner; it records page views and a few product events (such as "offline save started"), never locations or emails.
The map runs in your browser and stores its offline copy, settings, GPX tracks and your pass on your device only. When a pass is activated, the server keeps the Stripe checkout id and the email Stripe reports for it, so a lost pass can be restored; nothing else. If you run Test my signal here, one anonymous reading is sent to the map's server: the rounded position (about 100 m), the day, download and upload speeds, latency and the carrier you picked. No account, name, IP address or device identifier is stored with it. Readings are shared with everyone through the map.
Data sources and licences
| Layer | Source | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Land status, parks, Indian reserves, municipalities, tree farm licences, Crown tenures, recreation sites and polygons, resource roads, cut blocks, Digital Road Atlas | Province of British Columbia, BC Geographic Warehouse | Open Government Licence – British Columbia. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. |
| Cell sites (towers) | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Spectrum Licence Site Data | Open Government Licence – Canada |
| LTE and 5G coverage (2024) | Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, 2024; Natural Resources Canada, 2025 (Atlas of Canada, Wireless Data Network) | Open Government Licence – Canada |
| Estimated signal (line of sight) | Computed by this map from the cell sites above and the terrain model below | Derived work; see those sources |
| Measured mobile speed | Speed tests run by users of this map (Test my signal here), averaged per 600 m tile | Community data, no third-party licence. Ookla® Open Data was used before October 2026 and has been removed because its CC BY-NC-SA licence does not permit commercial use. |
| Terrain: contours, hillshade, elevations | Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Digital Elevation Model, via Mapzen/Tilezen terrain tiles on AWS | Open Government Licence – Canada; Tilezen attribution |
| Basemap (roads, water, labels) | Protomaps extract of OpenStreetMap, self-hosted | © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL |
| Parking lots and trailheads | OpenStreetMap, via Overpass | © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. This layer and the scouting list's parking fields are derived databases offered under the ODbL; the layer ships as its own archive (osm-vi.pmtiles). |
| Satellite imagery (when enabled) | Esri World Imagery | Powered by Esri. Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community. Online only; never stored offline or in the pass. |
| Place names (search) | Province of British Columbia, BC Geographical Names | Open Government Licence – British Columbia |
Crown land camping rule: Land Act Permissions Policy, 14 consecutive days. Rec site fees and closures: Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
Contact
Found an error in the data, or a licence concern? Write to brendon.d.campbell@gmail.com. Built by Brendon in Victoria, BC. Part of Cosmic Otter.