Public Roads????

[Ohio06]

Ok, first off I'm from Ohio as you may have guessed. So I apologize for what may seem like a dumb question to Westerners.

I've had experience out west navigating forest service lands utilizing their maps which are relatively easy to figure out public roads.

However I just ordered BLM maps and need some help. I'm trying to correctly figure out what roads are legally traversible through private land. Is anything listed on the BLMs considered public right of way? Or are there certain levels of roadways that would be considered off limits if they traverse private lands?

I just want to be 100% legit, as I'm a landowner myself and don't like people trespassing, so I'm certainly not planning to do so myself.

Attached is a pic from the maps I just received, any direction on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

No BLM map will show the legal roads that allow access to the public lands other than the marked state, county, and BLM roads that will be marked just like the NR roads you mentioned. For all the rest of the smaller roads that are legal what you need to do is google the county or counties that you'll be hunting in and most will have a map and/or a list of all the roads they maintain with tax money. I'll look in my files and see if I can find and post one on here for you to give you an idea of what they look like. Here is the link to Natrona County and if you click on it you'll see all the legal roads you can drive on. Then you have to use your other map to see if they go through or touch public land. Notice that down on the lower right you can click on the + sign and keep doing that to blow the map up so you can read all the road names.

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

 

[Ohio06]

No BLM map will show the legal roads that allow access to the public lands other than the marked state, county, and BLM roads that will be marked just like the NR roads you mentioned. For all the rest of the smaller roads that are legal what you need to do is google the county or counties that you'll be hunting in and most will have a map and/or a list of all the roads they maintain with tax money. I'll look in my files and see if I can find and post one on here for you to give you an idea of what they look like. Here is the link to Natrona County and if you click on it you'll see all the legal roads you can drive on. Then you have to use your other map to see if they go through or touch public land. Notice that down on the lower right you can click on the + sign and keep doing that to blow the map up so you can read all the road names.

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

Perfect, this is the exact help I was looking for. Thanks so much!

 

[Ohio06]

No BLM map will show the legal roads that allow access to the public lands other than the marked state, county, and BLM roads that will be marked just like the NR roads you mentioned. For all the rest of the smaller roads that are legal what you need to do is google the county or counties that you'll be hunting in and most will have a map and/or a list of all the roads they maintain with tax money. I'll look in my files and see if I can find and post one on here for you to give you an idea of what they look like. Here is the link to Natrona County and if you click on it you'll see all the legal roads you can drive on. Then you have to use your other map to see if they go through or touch public land. Notice that down on the lower right you can click on the + sign and keep doing that to blow the map up so you can read all the road names.

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

So it looks like in Natrona there aren't any two tracks to speak of that I'm able to drive on. Looks to be all county roads, not even necessarily gravel, just dirt right of ways. I'm guessing lots of guys get tangled up in the wrong spot and go home with tickets

 

[Topgun 30-06]

So it looks like in Natrona there aren't any two tracks to speak of that I'm able to drive on. Looks to be all county roads, not even necessarily gravel, just dirt right of ways. I'm guessing lots of guys get tangled up in the wrong spot and go home with tickets

No, that is not correct because the two tracks are not shown on the map I posted. You have to look at your BLM map to see those and if they go off of a road on the county map in an area that is legal public ground then you can go on it as long as it doesn't cross private property. You really need a GPS with a landowner chip for it that shows exactly where you are and what the landownership is along with those two maps to stay legal. It really isn't that hard and you'll get the hang of it when you get out there on the ground with the proper maps and GPS equipment.

 

[Ohio06]

No, that is not correct because the two tracks are not shown on the map I posted. You have to look at your BLM map to see those and if they go off of a road on the county map in an area that is legal public ground then you can go on it as long as it doesn't cross private property. You really need a GPS with a landowner chip for it that shows exactly where you are and what the landownership is along with those two maps to stay legal. It really isn't that hard and you'll get the hang of it when you get out there on the ground with the proper maps and GPS equipment.

Ok, I think I'm tracking. I was looking for designated BLM roads. So basically a BLM road is one that is maintained by the BLM for access to whatever it may be. Any other roads that traverse the BLM land in this case the two tracks or the "other surfaces" so long as they're on BLM land constitute them as being accessible to the public. As long as I don't utilize these roads to pass through private land then I'll be ok. I have the landowner chip for my GPS, along with the overlays for Google Earth. I think you're getting me pointed in the right direction, whew... I thought understanding the draw was bad

 

[Topgun 30-06]

All the legal BLM roads/two tracks should show on your BLM map and they usually have a rectangle around the number. State and county roads have different signage to designate those.

 

[Ohio06]

All the legal BLM roads/two tracks should show on your BLM map and they usually have a rectangle around the number. State and county roads have different signage to designate those.

Ok. I think I'm lost again. Of all the roads showing on the BLM then I don't see any in the rattlesnake hills map within Unit 069 other than 321, everything else just shows the red line designator for a road, but no road number. I'll have to dig deeper.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Ok. I think I'm lost again. Of all the roads showing on the BLM then I don't see any in the rattlesnake hills map within Unit 069 other than 321, everything else just shows the red line designator for a road, but no road number. I'll have to dig deeper.

Yep, 321 is the only BLM road on the west side of unit 069. There is one other one way over on the east side of 069 that goes up to the northeast off of the state highway, but I can't remember the number. All the hashed red lines showing on the map are two tracks that go up north into 069 off of 321, which is the western boundary for the unit, are legal as long as you go off of 321 where the BLM is and not the white private property. Got it now?

 

[Ohio06]

Yep, 321 is the only BLM road on the west side of unit 069. There is one other one way over on the east side of 069 that goes up to the northeast off of the state highway, but I can't remember the number. All the hashed red lines showing on the map are two tracks that go up north into 069 off of 321, which is the western boundary for the unit, are legal as long as you go off of 321 where the BLM is and not the white private property. Got it now?

Yes I think I'm following.

So in the first pic I could come down 320, cut through the private ground while staying on 320 and then divert off of any corresponding gravel/dirt (solid light red line) or two track (dashed red). For example the two track that cuts through section36?

In the 2nd pic the two track coming off of 220 heading north into section 6 would be a private two track off limits.

Trying to make these questions as elementary as possible in order to drive the point home with myself. Just want to make sure I'm understanding it correctly.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

By golly, you've got it now, so go have some fun, be safe, and wack a big one! Glad I was able to help you!

 

[Ohio06]

By golly, you've got it now, so go have some fun, be safe, and wack a big one! Glad I was able to help you!

Awesome, thanks so much for your help.

 

[redstater]

Yep, 321 is the only BLM road on the west side of unit 069. There is one other one way over on the east side of 069 that goes up to the northeast off of the state highway, but I can't remember the number. All the hashed red lines showing on the map are two tracks that go up north into 069 off of 321, which is the western boundary for the unit, are legal as long as you go off of 321 where the BLM is and not the white private property. Got it now?

I'm going to buy this map just to soak up your knowledge. Totally confused my last time out. The Colorado hunt planner told me I was good to go if it was on the BLM map. The Game Warden disagreed ... So I am really confused.