Wyoming Public vs. Private Roads

[SherpaPhil]

I just got the Hunt WY chip and have been going through the maps, trying to figure out where I will hunt this fall. Reading old posts about public land access, I am not real clear on which roads are public or private. My understanding is that county paved roads are public, obviously, and that any dirt roads that branch off from a public road while on public land are also public, like arrow 1 on the below image. If a dirt road branches off a public road while on private land, it is a private road even if it then enters public land, correct? (Arrow 2). Finally, even if a county road passes through private land, it remains public, as does any road that branches off of it once back on public land, right? (Arrow 3).

I'm sorry if this isn't clear. I wish I could say it makes sense in my head, but that isn't quite true.

Thanks for helping out the new guy!

 

[WyOpitz]

I think you are on the right track. I have found some "county" roads that are listed on the map stop with big gates put up by the private land owner. Even though the map showed it went on for another 3/4 mile, the easement apparently stopped short. Very frustrating since Iwas so close to a tiny bit of public access that would have got me to some good country with a 2 mile hike. Long story short, maps are good but sometimes aren't 100%accurate and will piss you off when you arrive at a closed road.

 

[Outdoor Junkie]

Check out the web page for the specific county that you are looking for and look for a public roads map. Many of the counties put out a map through either the county assessor or some other place on their website. Here is an example for Natrona county. I was reccmonded to contact them by a wildlife biologist and its worked out well. It takes a little work, but it's good ammunition to have this when confronted by a over zealous rancher.

http://www.natrona.net/DocumentCenter/Home/View/429

 

[JWP58]

To be completely honest with you, unless you call the county and speak with someone or get some sort of specific maps through the local govt' offices, its almost impossible to know.

I've done it the hard way before, drive 20 miles only to meet a "private road" 4 miles before I get to where Im going. They are literally everywhere.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

The only way, as a couple have stated, to know you're on a public road that is legally accessible the entire length of it is to get a county map that shows all of the roads they are responsible for and are marked as public roads for the entire length. If you have any questions about a ceretain spot, call them for clarification. The county may have received permission to continue on through the private property to make it easier to take care of the entire length of road. However, the landowner may not have given the public legal access to drive through his land. That is the case many times where you will run into gates or signs showing it's private property and you're screwed. Some maps will have a brown color overlaid over the road through the white private property to show the road is one with legal access and then you're okay. IF the road marked on the map by the OP is a public road the ENTIRE length, then all three of his questions/comments would be correct. However, that is a big IF just by looking at the map and not finding out for sure!!!

EDIT: I matched your map up with my CD ROM map purchased from the Wyoming G&F a number of years ago that they no longer sell and that unpaved road you have marked shows as a two track on it and does not show that it's a public road, so this is a good example where you need to make the proper contacts and get the correct information before you make final plans to hunt an area and then be disappointed when you get out there and the area you planned on going into is landlocked. A couple clues to help you are that if the road is named on the map and/or is numbered it more than likely is a public road it's entire stretch, but that's not true 100% of the time.

 

[Muskeez]

Great post and great advise from those that replied. I did the same thing as Phil last year before my first hunt. I got all excited looking at the maps and chips. There are actually decent odds that your roads #1, 2, & 3 do not even exist. I found this to be true in the unit we hunted. I would get to "roads" on my chip like that and there may just be a gate off the main road and barely a set of tire tracks beyond it. There may also be a sign stating Private drive or Private land. The best advise I can give you from 1 years experience so that you're not disappointed, is to get a county map like stated above and just go out, drive the hard surface roads, then turn off any chance you get and see where it takes you. That was half the fun for us was seeing the land, and seeing lots of antelope even if 90% of them were on private land. We just found animals, then determined which piece they were on with the GPS/chip. Also, you won't find fences on very many of those borders between the white and yellow squares, so you need to know where you are at all times. Enjoy the hunt!

 

[WapitiBob]

The huntmaps don't designate open or closed roads, they designate public property from private.

When I want BLM open roads, I email the district BLM GIS guy and have him send me a shape file of their open roads.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Great post and great advise from those that replied. I did the same thing as Phil last year before my first hunt. I got all excited looking at the maps and chips. There are actually decent odds that your roads #1, 2, & 3 do not even exist. I found this to be true in the unit we hunted. I would get to "roads" on my chip like that and there may just be a gate off the main road and barely a set of tire tracks beyond it. There may also be a sign stating Private drive or Private land. The best advise I can give you from 1 years experience so that you're not disappointed, is to get a county map like stated above and just go out, drive the hard surface roads, then turn off any chance you get and see where it takes you. That was half the fun for us was seeing the land, and seeing lots of antelope even if 90% of them were on private land. We just found animals, then determined which piece they were on with the GPS/chip. Also, you won't find fences on very many of those borders between the white and yellow squares, so you need to know where you are at all times. Enjoy the hunt!

***Glad you mentioned the fence deal because you are right on the button. You cannot rely on any fence out west to be a boundary designation unless there is a survey marker at a corner or along it's length that you can match up with your GPS unit and map. That is the great thing about having a GPS with the landowner chip when hunting in a mixed land ownership pattern to know exactly where you are. They really are an essential piece of the puzzle unless you're hunting a real large piece of public land with absolutely no chance of straying onto private property. Also, as WB stated, as good as the chips are, they don't help at all as far as what roads are open or closed to the public. They are fantastic, however, when you are on a legal road because you can follow your exact location as you drive along looking for the public land in an area. That is exactly how my buddy was able to take a really nice antelope buck last year when we saw him laying with some does about 150 yards off the county road we were on. Using my GPS and chip we were able to determine when we got up parallel to him that he was just barely past the start of and within a one square mile section of state land. We drove on by him and parked a couple hundred yards past him where a small rise hid us from his view, slipped up to the top of the hill and John popped him at less than 100 yards. If we hadn't had the GPS chip to know exactly where we were, that goat would still be chewing his cud!