Accessible Public Land - What's Your Method?

[gperezjr]

Hi Folks,

Any advice on determining what public land is accessible vs land locked? One of the things I"m struggling with is determining whether a road that cuts through private and leads to public is truly a "public road". What do people typically use to make this determination? Do I really need to get a county road map from the state/county?

Thanks!,

 

[VikingsGuy]

ONX and Google Maps won't distinguish public/private. At least in WY, most of the counties have a "road and bridges" department that maintains a public roads map that you can download from their website. They aren't 100% perfect (as the disclaimers on them notes) but the are pretty close. If you still can't tell, you can call the road and bridge dept or the local G&F person.

 

[406LIFE]

Do I really need to get a county road map from the state/county?

Yup. I'd want to have all the info at my finger tips I could. Much cheaper than a citation for trespass. All the agencies will have guidance on what is fair game and not. Past that, you'll want the county input as well. They will help you navigate the trickier private stuff.

 

[Dsnow9]

What @VikingsGuy said. I usually print off the road map and keep it with me to use as a reference with my onx. It has got me into a few spots and saved me from getting in trouble many times!

 

[thusby]

I've ended up at a locked ranch gate after 20 miles of brutal driving down a listed public road. It happens and sometimes you just have to take it as it comes and turn around.

 

[TOGIE]

as was generally already mentioned the warden, as well as the county is good place to start, most have an interactive gis map of maintained roads on their website, which means they are public, generally

also calling and e-mail the public works department, however...

i called a public works department manager about a particular road in wyoming that i had heard rumors was actually public, though no maps showed it. he quickly said no that's not a public easement. called the game warden and he definitively said that road has public easement. though it was over the phone, you could tell he was shaking his head as he said "[so and so public works manager] knows better than to tell people that"

wardens are on your side, rural public works department managers who probably also hunt are likely not on your side... was my lesson from that

other lesson - call anybody and everybody with the authority to answer your question, don't be surprised when you hear conflicting answers. though, i feel pretty safe when the person who would be the one to write me the trespassing ticket says "go for it"

 

[dihardhunter]

as was generally already mentioned the warden, as well as the county is good place to start, most have an interactive gis map of maintained roads on their website, which means they are public, generally

also calling and e-mail the public works department, however...

i called a public works department manager about a particular road in wyoming that i had heard rumors was actually public, though no maps showed it. he quickly said no that's not a public easement. called the game warden and he definitively said that road has public easement. though it was over the phone, you could tell he was shaking his head as he said "[so and so public works manager] knows better than to tell people that"

wardens are on your side, rural public works department managers who probably also hunt are likely not on your side... was my lesson from that

other lesson - call anybody and everybody with the authority to answer your question, don't be surprised when you hear conflicting answers. though, i feel pretty safe when the person who would be the one to write me the trespassing ticket says "go for it"

Excellent post, I begin with county roads map either via PDF or web GIS. But there will always be a few surprises...

 

[Pilgrim]

For Wyoming, the Game and Fish website has an interactive map that identifies the county roads in each unit.

 

[Bigjay73]

Beat me to it

 

[Bob-WY]

There are also easements that won't show all the time on a county road map. They are legal documents so can be found: http://gis.statelands.wyo.gov/GIS/OSLIGIS/EasementTabular