"path is only needed when footway, cycleway or bridleway are misleading"
"There's no clear default for path, footway or every cycleway about surface. The obvious answer is that surface tags should be used."
"without any further access tags, path is neutral and open to all unmotorized means of transport (unlike footway, cycleway etc.)"
"highway=footway is meant to be the same as highway=path and foot=designated"
"But =footway and =path mean different things in different regions"