Planning recreational access beyond official trails: Signposting gaps and environmental exposure of field-mapped route instances in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

This dataset contains derived, non-sensitive tabular outputs supporting the article “Planning recreational access beyond official trails: Signposting gaps and environmental exposure of field-mapped route instances in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands”. The data summarise 89 field-mapped GPX route instances across four case-study areas in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: Corralejo–Lobos/Corralejo Dunes, Vallebrón Protected Landscape, Betancuria Rural Park and Montaña del Cardón Natural Monument. The dataset includes route-level signposting classification, zone-level official signposting gap indicators and environmental exposure indicators for non-signposted route sections. Spatial processing was conducted in QGIS 3.44 using REGCAN95 / UTM zone 28N, EPSG:4083. GPX route sections were classified as signposted or non-signposted according to whether they overlapped the official GR/PR/SL signposted network using a 15 m spatial tolerance. Non-signposted sections were then overlaid with Protected Natural Areas, Special Protection Areas for Birds, Special Areas of Conservation, Habitats of Community Interest and Priority Bird Areas. The dataset supports the tabular results reported in the article: 89 route instances; 1,973.895 km of cumulative route-instance length; 410.623 km overlapping the official signposted network; 1,563.268 km outside the official signposted network; and environmental exposure indicators for non-signposted sections. Raw GPX files and full-precision route geometries are not included because disclosure could facilitate access to environmentally sensitive locations. The dataset therefore provides reproducible derived tables and methodological metadata while avoiding unnecessary exposure of sensitive route information. Environmental exposure values should be interpreted as spatial coincidence indicators, not as evidence of direct ecological impact.