Overlanding through Public and Private Land

[DrRobert]

Hello all,

I'm new to overlanding and am based out of Northern Virginia so I spend a lot of time in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson National Forests, West Virginia, etc. Before I got interested in overlanding, I usually just spent my time on the traditional paved access roads and campsites. To support my interest in getting off the beaten path, I've spent a lot of time working out my navigation tools and a workflow to help me identify places to go, plan routes and then guide (and track) my progress. My question is related to the "plan routes" part of the process. While I can often find places I want to go, planning the route there can be a challenge in part because access to those areas is often through private land. So, here are some questions:

• When off-roading, how do I deal with a road that span public and private lands?
• What do I do when I get to a closed gate on a state road that goes through private land? Public land?
• What if a road transits the private land to get to public land?

I should say that I have a Samsung Note 10.1 as my nav tablet (it's GPS and cell enabled) and I use Gaia as my primary tool for planning (using Map Box Streets HD, USFS 2016 and Nat Geo Trails as my base maps depending on what I'm looking for). I also have a Garmin Inreach Explorer + with GPS and Iridium texting capability for just in case scenarios. I make sure I've downloaded my routes to my Note 10.1, cell phone and Inreach Explorer+ before I go for some redundancy. To plan my routes, I use Gaia's overlapping map capability to identify various features including the Public Land map, the US Private Land map, Satellite map and the USFS MVUM map. No one map gives you everything and combinations of maps really helps a lot.

What I've found so far by getting out and experimenting is that the State, County or National Forest roads that by number and color code are high clearance, four wheel drive or motorized trails are eligible for me to drive on whether they go through private land or not. Is that true everywhere?

Any guidance is appreciated (pun intended). Thanks

 

[Laud]

You have and understand all the tools already. We completed a large trip this last spring that had a large volume of private property. We did what it took to contact every land owner and received our permissions. It was not worth it to me to not get the permission.
County offices also have a little info on what is public accessible while traversing between private and public plots.
You are doing this right, by preplanning your trips and building in options.
As you already know, this is never 'turn key' and always changing.....

 

[DrRobert]

You have and understand all the tools already. We completed a large trip this last spring that had a large volume of private property. We did what it took to contact every land owner and received our permissions. It was not worth it to me to not get the permission.
County offices also have a little info on what is public accessible while traversing between private and public plots.
You are doing this right, by preplanning your trips and building in options.
As you already know, this is never 'turn key' and always changing.....

Thanks Laud. You commented that getting the permissions wasn't worth it. Why not? Was it simply that the lands, despite being private, just weren't managed?

 

[Laud]

Thanks Laud. You commented that getting the permissions wasn't worth it. Why not? Was it simply that the lands, despite being private, just weren't managed?

I think I was confusing.
It is not worth NOT getting permissions. The trespassing charges and fines can be completely avoided with a simple letter to the owners.

 

[DrRobert]

I think I was confusing.
It is not worth NOT getting permissions. The trespassing charges and fines can be completely avoided with a simple letter to the owners.

Ah! Ok, thanks for the clarification. I think, after looking at what you wrote the first time, I just missed the double negative. Thanks for the info.

 

[noah.wass]

Glad I came across this thread. I was out hiking on the PCT last weekend and came across a service road underneath a series of power lines. These roads seem like a pretty good conduit for long range adventures. Does anyone have any tips/practice/experience/insight about using these roads? I understand that a lot of them are on private property and (doing things the right way) I would need to request permission from the property owner to access their land and drive on the roads.

 

[Laud]

Does anyone have any tips/practice/experience/insight about using these roads? I understand that a lot of them are on private property and (doing things the right way) I would need to request permission from the property owner to access their land and drive on the roads.

Those roads are most likely a Right of Way maintenance road. Where I am, two permissions need to be obtained. One from the Utility company and one from the land owner. Way too much work, because now ya need all of the connecting land owners permissions. Not feasible.

 

[noah.wass]

That was my concern. Appreciate the response.