Global Heatmaps Limited to 13 months data

Thanks for the question, @Mike168! As you've correctly noted, Strava's global heatmap currently displays up to 13 months of activity data and is updated monthly. The global heatmap has behaved in this manner for about the last two years.

We definitely appreciate your feedback on this feature. In fact, we'd love to hear more about what kind of information is lacking in the current global heatmap and how the additional data would serve your needs. Are you unable to perform actions today which you think would be possible with different data? Let me know if you have a chance to compose some additional thoughts.

I know there was/is pressure from all sorts of land managers to bury and/or obfuscate the tracks left by all Strava users for all time (like the old heat map).  The problems of illegal routes and/or overuse of existing routes is there and potentially exacerbated by heat maps.  I don't know if the 13 month heatmap was brought about due to these issues, but it's probably the technically simplist way to address these concerns.  Users (including myself) would really like access to all of the heatmap data.  I'm sure you have folks working on this, but my thoughts land on 3 things you guys could do and perhaps the entire heatmap database could come back online and satisfy land managers concerns:  1. Identify illegal routes (a flagging system). 2. Incorporate policies for hiding tracks in certain areas (ie. no off-trail travel shows on heat map in areas where not permitted). 3. offer some way of opting out of including users' tracks in the heat map data.  Once that work is done, then allowing users to access the heatmap data by weighting it temporarily would be really cool instead of just seeing that last 13 months - it would be really nice to have a slider that controlled the shading of heatmap data based on the age of the data.

I second this request. I use the heat map to explore new off-trail routes in national forests and national parks. Many of these routes are used very infrequently and thus may not present itself in a 13 months moving window.

Same request here.
I have 2 recent uses cases where I think older data would have helped.

1. I’m trying to get an idea of routes used by the Marathon des Sables race across the years. Well, I can only see activities from the last edition…
2. I’m going to visit Socotra island soon. It’s a uncommon destination, yet touristic destination. There is so little heatmap activity on the island that I initially though it was hidden because of a US embargo on Yemen or something similar.
   But trying to get an idea of what is doable is the mountains there is pretty much impossible (a full heatmap would help).

​@-Charles- what an odd question. Seems blindingly obvious losing access to old heatmap data hampers the ability to find tracks that others have travelled. No more or deeper explanation required. Personally, I was able to find one of the coolest mountain trails I’ve ever hiked in Patagonia around El Bolson despite the trail supposedly being closed. There was literally no sign of which way to get up the mountain but I had saved nearby tracks offline and was able to open up strava map in the middle of nowhere and see a very very very very faint blue line where clearly one person at least had travelled in the previous 13 months. Had that one or few people not travelled that line and coincidentally had their device synced to strava I would have entirely missed this epic hike. Asking to understand this more deeply is so weird. It is blindly obvious. Had heatmap data not been limited to 13 months liley this line would also have been much heavier. It seems to make zero sense to cut heatmap data off to a certain date. Why not just set a maximum density for the most travelled lines over a certain number so even the least travelled lines still show up from all of time. Just makes no sense whatsoever to limit a feature like this. Likely there were 100s of other lines around the mountains in patagonia that I never found because they were not makred on topo maps, OSM or any other apps. Strava was the one saving grace in this scenario. The trail wasn’t marked on Gaia or OSMand or anything. But it was an epic trail and eventually once solidly on the trail and part way up the mountain became quite simple to follow. Shame strava also doesn’t make heatmap data opensource. Crying crying shame. But lets not even bother going there.

​@-Charles- I use the heatmap for finding off road routes in Scotland. There are many tracks that aren’t well marked on maps, and are hard to spot on satellite imagery but are nevertheless there on the ground. Having infrequently used (but passable) routes drop off the heatmap massively decreases the utility.

Others have mentioned the issue of “illegal routes” - I don’t know if this is part of the reason that older data is no longer visible, but the idea of “illegal routes” doesn’t apply in Scotland, we have right to responsible access of the countryside. I can also understand the reasoning for older data to drop off the heatmap in busy urban areas (where a particular route no longer being used likely indicates that it is no longer passable), again this isn’t an issue for paths and tracks in the countryside which don’t change that quickly.

It’s common that I find a mountain biking or hiking segment with tens of recorded efforts over the years, yet nothing at all visible on the heatmap. I’d beg Strava to consider not just completely remove older data - surely there has to be a better compromise (e.g. older tracks gradually fading out depending on the intensity of activity in the surrounding area, or just a “all time” / “past year” option?)

I have many rides and hikes older than 2009, which appears to be the current oldest date allowed on Heatmaps. 
There’s tons of worthwhile data from earlier than 2009, which I’d welcome still being able to see. 

Please bring back the global heatmaps (all time). So many use them for finding new routes and best routes on mountains. If they are not restored, many many people will end their subscriptions as strava will not longer offer something that other hiking apps offer 

I have to second this! All time global heatmaps is one of the main reasons I pay for Strava. I understand making the default 12 months and using that data to feed into updating all relevant maps, OSM, route plotting etc, but not having the ability to access that all time data is a MASSIVE disadvantage and downgrade to paying customers. For people that go into areas less traveled, it is a true shame (understandably it needs to be used with sensible knowledge/wisdom) and one that is having me reconsider my subscription.