WY- how to tell if road is public or private

[robAK]

Poked around the Laramie Peak area in WY and found a piece of public that looks promising. I can access it from a forest service road, but there’s a two track that runs through private that crosses public before ending. If public it cuts a lot of work to get into the area. It’s posted at a cattle guard “no trespassing “. Seems if it was private they’d put in a gate.
what’s your thoughts.

 

[Theringworm]

It’s your responsibility to determine if it’s private or public. Ignorance doesn’t work for trespassing. If it’s posted I would definitely lean towards it being private. Check your OnX, GAIA etc to verify and contact local GW as well as landowner if able to locate LO info if indeed it is private. They may allow you a trespass for little to nothing. But never ever play ignorant. That’s just my opinion.

 

[Fatcamp]

No dependable source for that information that is easy to access. A combination of the above is your best bet. The county itself has the information, but it's not always easily accessible.

 

[jolemons]

If it's a non-maintained two track on private, I'd bet a large sum of money that is not a public road.

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[browning2480]

I was told by biologist that when the road touches private, it stops being public. Unless it is a marked county road. We ran into this a lot.

 

[Loebs]

I hunt up there quite a bit, some of the roads are questionable, there are a few public roads we have come across that are posted. Mostly just trying to keep people off them, not legally though. If the two track orginates from public road, or forest road and continues into public either state, forest, or blm you should be good to go. If you're not sure call the forest service office in Douglas and ask them, they know almost every inch of land up there.

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[Goatie]

Wyoming is tricky. My bet is private road

 

[Opah]

Private is private, I know of many that the private land crosses the road and it has been gated and locked even thou public runs to and from that acces. they have been aloud to gate off huge amount of public land making it very near impossible to access it.
Then I have also ran across where some landowners beyond the gate throws a lock on it just to keep hunters out and have had the GW or Forest service cut the lock off. very shaky ground, solicit the Law Dogs to assist you, it is not worth going to jail

 

[TheCougar]

I use the county maps and back it up with OnX. Haven’t had a problem yet. Figure out what county it is, and find the website (depends on the county) that has maps showing public right of way. Pretty easy. A road that is publicly maintained by the state or county is legal to transit through private. If one of those roads touches public, that’s legal access. Otherwise, it isn’t. Pretty simple

 

[WCB]

probably take 10 minutes to type in "xyz county wyoming public road map" or go to the county website and they normally have them. If it is marked public by the county drive it. if not stay off. Many roads in Wyoming have No Trespassing signs when crossing a cattle guard but the road is public...its just letting people know that they are driving through private.

If it is an actual two track my bet is private.

 

[cnelk]

This site may be helpful -

Office of State Lands and Investments - Land and Lease Map Viewer

Land and Lease Map Viewer

gis.statelands.wyo.gov

 

[wytx]

It is very possible the road starts on public then goes through private to more public land, it is private at the private land unless there is an easement through. Talk with the biologist Martin Hicks , he knows the area very well. Email him .

 

[MuleyFever]

I called a warden for a unit asking about access. I was told that if the road is named on an official map it’s open to access.

 

[JFK]

Call the local warden. He very likely knows the road in question and should be able to give you a straight answer. If it’s a county road it does not stop being public at private land. Tell him your plan for access and he should be able to confirm if your understanding is correct. County roads, by their very nature, are easements to continue on until the road is no longer county.

 

[jmez]

Gate vs cattle guard has zero bearing on being private or public.

 

[WCB]

I called a warden for a unit asking about access. I was told that if the road is named on an official map it’s open to access.

Land owner may think different...I ran across a few "named" roads that were not recognized by the county. I have also ran into in S.D. where the county basically forfeited the road and no longer maintains it. Has a name and you will get ticketed for driving it.

 

[Dos Perros]

I've dealt with this quite a bit. The county is the first I'd contact. Most of them have GIS applications that depict their county roads. In this case it's a Forest Service road. I wonder if the road crosses private but then gets to more public, more Forest? In that case, there could be an easement, and the Forest Service should be able to tell you. There is a WY website that does catalog easements, I used it to verify an easement across state ground one time.

Unfortunately, dealing with small rural counties can be painful. I've asked for the source material to deduce where a public road terminated, and not been able to come up with it. They're just not helpful sometimes.

Don't give up tho. People will default to the easy answer, "that's private." Through work you might be able to prove an easement or something.

 

[browning2480]

The Biologist in the unit we hunted in a couple weeks ago had a large map of the unit with county roads highlighted in their office. It was a good conversation and he even told us about a private road that the owner didn’t care if people drove on to get to the public. He warned that it still was a private road so he view could change at any time, but he historically didn’t mind. It wasn’t a secret either cause lots of people were driving in that road lol

 

[11boo]

I called a warden for a unit asking about access. I was told that if the road is named on an official map it’s open to access.

Could be so in Your state. In Colorado that is not so.

 

[Bighorner]

I would be cautious of trusting a named roadnis open to public access. I know of several cases where named roads are not public through the length of the road. It is always best to check with an official if there is dout.