Corner Access Question

cnelk

WKR
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Location
Colorado
Question for y’all

Here is a corner of public land that appears to touch the RoW of the road.

Other than this location there is no other place to access the large chunk of public land.

One screenshot is OnX and the other is Gaia.

Would you access here?


IMG_3187.jpegIMG_3188.jpeg
 
"road right of way" definition varies; I wouldn't want to give you an answer w/o knowing what Colorado's definition is, if they even have one—some states don't have anything definitive in statute
 
"road right of way" definition varies; I wouldn't want to give you an answer w/o knowing what Colorado's definition is, if they even have one—some states don't have anything definitive in statute

Not that it matters but the location is in Wyoming
 
Not that it matters but the location is in Wyoming
I have a Colorado spot very similar. Anybody know how Colorado defines road right of way? I never assumed it was an issue, the spot I have is even more defined.
 
What a weird corner, but I might be tempted. There's a similar spot near the CO/WY border that I wanted to use to access our CO unit at the time, but there's a road in this spot. I went to scout it and there was a lock on the gate saying it was a private road, but that land was marked BLM on all the maps.
 
I'd do a little research on WY- see if they have a definition ie 30' from the center line, etc

If the corner goes into the roadway, it's an easy call- if it's just shy of the roadway- needs to be explored a little further
 
I'm hunting it for sure. I got permission to shoot a mule deer last year 120 yards behind a fence and no trespassing sign by a game warden. OnX had private property starting almost 400 yards past fence.
 
I would contact the public land management office and ask them as well as the local game and fish folks. I say yes, but that’s just from the photo you provided. That’s a pretty small margin of a corner. Measure twice, cut once.
 
I'm hunting it for sure. I got permission to shoot a mule deer last year 120 yards behind a fence and no trespassing sign by a game warden. OnX had private property starting almost 400 yards past fence.

where the private (or public) starts can vary significantly along a road; it would be highly unusual (especially talking about rural county roads) though to have a right away a 1/2 mile wide

generally (but not always) a fence line is a good indicator of right away ie fence line to fence line width

always best to do the due diligence in these matters :)
 
That's funny. I recognized that immediately.

I watched a gobbler cross into that area last spring. I asked the local warden and he told me not to. There's a lot of birds in that area but they were difficult to access.
 
what are the lines parallel to the road?

if that's supposed to be right away you're golden, if not (or they aren't accurate) then you're back to square one
 
Soooo take this for a grain of salt, but just because a road has a public right away easement or a road easement doesn't necessarily allow the public to use the area the paved or improved road surface.

Best way to find out, call the local road department that has the jurisdiction of that road, which also means that right away and ask them. The right away could be public to a certain point then be a utility easement, which most of the time you don't have access to.

Easements and rightaways are still a gray area, something I'm learning working with a public entity. Just do your due diligence and not go off of what a forum says.
 
I hunt a similar area in CO, but I’ve also found the federal corner monument clearly in the ROW.
 
I would 100% do it, but drop off as mentioned.

Also, when you call the people who should know, it is incredibly easy to get a no, and almost impossible to get a yes. They will almost never tell you yes, even if they should.
This is true, usually a default "no" is their safest answer. If they make a mistake and say "yes" then they're on the hook but if they make a mistake and say "no" there's not really any damages.
 
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