How I've done similar before is to record a GPS trace with an OsmAnd plugin, upload it to OSM servers, import it as an overlay in the web-based editor on desktop, and used that and satellite imagery as reference to draw in the missing trail.
In a pinch you can also record a trace and edit directly on it in the field with the Android app Vespucci, but its UX is clunky and much less friendly to new contributors than the web-based iD editor.
If you added a gopro and SLAM to the GPS trace and imported USGS topographical data I wonder if you couldn't fully automate the process.
In areas where 3dep is recent, you can usually see a trail under forest cover. It's pretty great.
OSM also has a public database of GPS tracks that contributors use to aid in mapping. Even just walking the trails with GPS tracking on and then uploading the tracks to OSM without doing anything else is a valuable contribution that will allow other contributors to map the trails at some point in the future.
I use the app Vesspucci for actual editing, it works well (but larger changes to OSM is a "full PC" kind of task). Notes from StreetComplete (from all users) show up on a TODO list in the app, so the more advanced users can decided on whether they want to create a node on the map from the note.
Disclaimer: I make this
Thanks to you folks, Street Complete will also come handy to make places more accessible.
Open source software often moves comparatively slowly, of course, but I believe they're making decent progress.
By improving OSM, it allows people to use privacy respecting maps like CoMaps which work offline. I'm sure intelligence agencies are pretty happy with the ability to ask Google where any google account is at any time.
Billions of people us Google maps, is that not disturbing that google knows where that many people are?