SAFETY & DATA LIMITATIONS
GroundRove Safety & Data Limitations
GroundRove Safety & data limitations
GroundRove uses publicly available and publicly distributed source data, then transforms portions of that data into compact offline map and search products. GroundRove does not independently verify the truth, completeness, age, legal status, field condition, coordinate precision, or positional accuracy of those source records. Public datasets can contain errors, stale information, generalized geometry, approximate points, incomplete records, missing features, mismatched names, outdated status, or locations that differ materially from conditions on the ground.
Do not use GroundRove to:
- survey or establish property, land-management, or mining-claim boundaries;
- stake, monument, file, or precisely plot a mining claim or other legal interest;
- determine ownership or legal title;
- determine whether land is public, private, open, closed, claimed, unclaimed, or legally accessible;
- determine whether a mining claim is valid, enforceable, current, accurately located, or controlling at a displayed location;
- determine whether collecting, prospecting, digging, driving, parking, camping, or entering an area is lawful;
- prove that a mineral deposit, specimen locality, mine, geologic unit, road, trail, water source, or other feature exists at the displayed location;
- determine whether a mine, prospect, adit, shaft, road, trail, or other field feature is currently present, maintained, accessible, stable, or safe;
- navigate where an inaccurate map, missing road, wrong coordinate, or stale condition could create a safety risk; or
- replace current official records, surveyed coordinates, posted signs, landowner permission, agency guidance, legal research, emergency information, or field verification.
Coordinates shown by GroundRove are reference coordinates only. Even when a source provides precise-looking decimal coordinates, that does not mean the underlying record was surveyed or is accurate to that precision. GPS positions from the phone also have measurement error and can be affected by terrain, sky view, hardware, atmosphere, multipath, and Android location behavior.
Source families
Depending on the installed state/data pack and feature, GroundRove uses or derives information from OpenStreetMap/Protomaps; USGS GNIS; Colorado Department of Transportation; BLM Colorado and Arizona Surface Management Agency data; BLM MLRS Mining Claims — Not Closed; USGS MRDS; USGS MAS/MILS; USGS SGMC for Colorado geology; USGS CNGM for Arizona geology; and Colorado Geological Survey mineral, mine, district, and locality sources.
Source coverage changes over time. A source being listed here does not mean every GroundRove build or installation contains every source, nor does it make the source authoritative for a particular legal, surveying, navigation, ownership, access, collecting-permission, claim-validity, or field-safety purpose. Full source attributions, license links, and source-specific notices are available under Offline Data > Safety & privacy > Data sources & licenses.
Geology
GroundRove's queryable Colorado geology is a fixed local research snapshot derived from USGS SGMC. GroundRove's queryable Arizona geology is a fixed local research snapshot derived from USGS CNGM, Earth's surface geology. Both are interpretive geologic mapping assembled from source mapping at particular scales. Geologic contacts and unit polygons are not surveyed parcel, access, hazard, ownership, or mining-claim boundaries.
Land and claims
BLM Surface Management Agency mapping in Colorado and Arizona is management/status context, not a parcel survey, title record, ownership determination, access determination, or legal boundary. GroundRove's Colorado and Arizona mining-claim overlays use BLM MLRS records selected from a Mining Claims — Not Closed dataset. “Not Closed” is the BLM source-dataset classification; it is not a GroundRove determination that a claim is valid, enforceable, current, accurately surveyed, open to entry, or controlling at the displayed location.
Minerals, mines, and workings
Mineral, mine, district, commodity, and locality records are research evidence only. Historic mine locations and status may be approximate, generalized, incomplete, outdated, or wrong. GroundRove does not verify whether a mine, prospect, shaft, adit, tunnel, opening, or other working currently exists or where an opening is physically located.
Basemap, roads, and place search
OpenStreetMap/Protomaps basemaps and USGS GNIS place locations are reference data. A mapped road or trail does not establish that it is public, open, drivable, maintained, safe, or lawful to use. A place location does not establish ownership, access, a surveyed entrance or trailhead, road condition, or collecting permission.
User responsibility and field risk
Outdoor recreation, rockhounding, prospecting, hiking, driving, navigation, field research, and approaching historic mining areas involve risks that GroundRove and its source data cannot identify, evaluate, or control. Users are responsible for evaluating current weather, terrain, roads and trails, closures, ownership, access permissions, land status, mining-claim records, mine hazards, route suitability, equipment, communications, emergency planning, and their own capabilities before acting.
GroundRove is not professional surveying, legal, engineering, geotechnical, mine-safety, emergency, or safety-critical navigation advice. Use GroundRove as a reference only. Decisions and field activities remain the user's responsibility and are undertaken at the user's own risk, subject to applicable law.
By continuing, you acknowledge that GroundRove is a reference tool with these limitations; that displayed information may be incomplete, outdated, approximate, or wrong; and that you are responsible for independently verifying legal status, permissions, current conditions, and safety before acting on GroundRove information.