Wyoming Public v. Private roads

[JR1]

On our recent trip to Wyoming, chatting with our local rancher where we shoot, he pointed out that the backroads are mostly PRIVATE roads, and you are trespassing when using them. I was quite glad to have all those roads on my PN-40. But a bit concerned when he pointed that out, figuring that if they're on my GPS, they must be public. No. And then he started telling stories of how folks headed to Gillette would end up at his driveway with the only bridge across the river in the area, asking for clarification on how to get there. They had to tell folks that their gps' are INCORRECT and that they CANNOT go that way, but must backtrack to the interstate and go around.

Just wondering what DeLorme's policies are on this.

[foxtrot_xray]

While I don't know about Wyoming, I do know that in Colorado, most of the roads that are displayed WERE public, in years past. Over time, they were given to the ranchers for maintenance, and therefore became private roads.

My family had a small ranch - about 300 acres, out in east Colorado, and they were *ahem* "donated" a road for maintenance from the county. Since it provided a shortcut to a nearby town, for the first 2-3 years they had numerous traffic on it. Eventually, the gates stopped being accidentally knocked down (most the time they were knocked down because a tourist or outsider wasn't EXPECTING the fence, and drove through it). Amusingly, that road was paved when it was taken over. Now, it's all gravel. I am always amazed at how fast blacktop degrades once it gets a few cracks in it.

Also a note for people that use USGS - you may or may not know, but USGS shows all roads and local area landmarks, INCLUDING private roads. So just because it's on a "government" map doesn't mean it's public.

[Pulemet]

It's not just out west. There are several dirt roads near me in Georgia that were "closed" because nobody lived on them anymore and the county didn't want to continue maintaining them. I don't think anyone would make the mistake of driving through a gate though, they were blocked with giHUGEigantic boulders (think rocks the size of midsize cars). These roads are still on Navteq and TeleAtlas based maps.

[snow_rules]

Being from Wyoming I think the rancher would like to believe that most roads are private but they are not. As long as the road is used to access any public land (and there is lots of that in Wyoming ) the road that accesses it is considered public. There have been several cases where ranchers have tried to block the "private road" only to have the local law enforcement to get involved.

I have had a number of encounters on National Forest land where ranchers are grazing their cattle and think that that gives them the right to the entire area and restrict access to the area. Most ranchers are decent and if you ask them they will let you on to their property for fishing/hunting but there are a couple of them out there that believe they own the whole state.

[JR1]

Good point, Snow. But that's not the case here...no BLM land or any other public on the map......