Trails (suitable for hiking) in the mountains exist for various reasons:

Connecting neighboring villages in a valley
Connecting villages and meadows (grazing cattle)
Connecting neighboring valleys through passes
Pilgrim routes (temples, lakes, peaks)
Shepherd routes to alpine meadows (grazing)

32 thousand Himalayan villages / dwellings in the Western Himalayas are mapped in Open Street Maps, all interconnected by trails, thereby unlocking a real treasure for hikers. Although more roads are being constructed deeper in the valleys to connect remote villages, many of these remote settlements are still connected by trails. Approx. 2000+ passes are mapped in OSM connecting villages in adjacent valleys making beautiful traverses for hikers across high ranges.

Meadows are important to villagers and shepherds to graze their cattle - many of these are marked and named in the Survey of India maps and most of them are accessible from the base valleys / villages through beautiful trails. Finally, there are many sacred locations, lakes, peaks, temples which form seasonal pilgrimages in many cases accessible through beautifully built pathways. Some 2000+ alpine lakes are mapped in OSM, some inaccessible, some forming beautiful hiking destinations.