Google Takes Street View For Spin Off-Road

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Google is taking its popular "street view" map feature on a spin off-road by expanding coverage to include biking and hiking trails.The program is in its early stages. In fact, so far the only trail to be mapped is the Monterey Rec Trail."This is the most beautiful bike trail I think I've been on in my life," said cyclist Dave Adrian. "If you could open the eyes of this and at least let people look at it, I think they want to come here and ride it themselves."The mapping of the trails is the brainchild of Google engineers who wanted to map places cars can't reach.To do the mapping, Google constructed the Google trike, a tricycle armed with the same 360-degree camera technology used on the street view cars.The maps will give users a preview of the sites they will see while on their excursion.Trail users said the new tool will bring more people outdoors."More people will use trails if they knew they were there," Susan Simin said. "So many of us use cars, we don't know what the backyard or community has to offer."The Google trike is currently on tour in California, Italy and the United Kingdom snapping shots of trails and roads off the beaten path.Google said the images from these locations should be available at various points during the summer.