[Tagging] Flat area in the mountains

[Joseph Eisenberg]

natural=plateau is used in a variety of ways, but generally it is a mostly
flat area which is at higher elevation than some of the surrounding areas.

The proposal more specifically defined the tag as "a flat landform that is
elevated above the surrounding terrain, usually with a steep escarpment on
several sides" - but the steep escarpment part is not always required.

For flat-top hills and mountains that are completely surrounded by cliffs
or steep escarpments, see natural=mesa and natural=butte

- Joseph Eisenberg


On Sat, Apr 23, 2022 at 4:20 PM stevea <steveaOSM at softworkers.com> wrote:
>
> On Apr 23, 2022, at 2:55 PM, Graeme Fitzpatrick <graemefitz1 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> > On Sat, 23 Apr 2022 at 20:42, solitone <solitone at mail.com> wrote:
> > I would opt for something like natural=flat, since flat seem to be the
english term used for this kind of feature [4]. Unfortunately I’m not a
native speaker!
> >
> > I am, & have never heard of it being used for a spot in the mountains,
only for tidal-flats & other flat areas, usually in the desert or similar
e.g. salt flats.
> >
> > I think I'd go with your suggestion of natural=plateau.
>
> And, that's OK.  I'll offer a US English perspective that I HAVE heard
"flat" used in this way.  At one of my visits to Burning Man (1997?) the
entirety of Black Rock City was moved from "the playa" (a very, VERY flat
alkali dry lake bed in a desert) to Hualapai Flat, a relatively "level"
area in a slightly-hilly area.  Also, there is a place in a coastal hilly
area near me where people go mountain biking, and partly at the crest of
some of those hills and partly what makes a sort of natural "saddle" area
or maybe "bowl-like" topography, this is called "Sandy Flat" by all the
mountain bikers in the area, to identify where a bunch of trails come
together in a kind of confusing way (but we have all the trails and a node
with place=locality, name=Sandy Flat in OSM, thankfully, so nobody gets
lost).
>
> So, "flat" IS used in (some forms of) English, denoting a "more flat than
it is usually around here" kind of area.  Whether that extends in OSM to
natural=flat, I'm not sure, but I would nod my head if I saw something
tagged like that, meaning "ah, I understand what is meant here."  YMMV.
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