PirateFins

Hey guy's,
I'm heading down to my cousin's property on the James River in Va. outside of Lynchburg. I was looking at a arial photo map and a topo map of the area because there are not alot of road names. While looking at the topo map I came across a a dotted line that connects 2 roads together and runs down to the river and back up. The dotted line was labled "Jeep Trail". What does that mean? Is it public property, how would you know if it was? I'm going to ask my cousin about it and see what he say's but I thought maybe some of you have seen this before. I'll post some info when I get back about it.
Brad

Here is a link to the topo map of the area so you can see what I'm talking about. If you bring the resolution out to 4 meters you can see the whole trail.

expeditionswest

A Jeep trail is typically an uninproved trail, also known as a two-track. These trails do not receive routine maintenance as does a forest road (like grading, resurfacing, repair from erosion, etc.). A topo will also identify routes as pack trails, which are not wide enough for a vehicle.

Hope this helps

WATRD

In addition to what Scott said, the only way to determine if it's public property is to either know the area or to do some research at the county property office. There's lots of trails on maps that are on private property. If you are in doubt, assume it's private property until you prove otherwise.

Assuming it's open the public just because it's on the map is like assuming that it's okay to go into a house because it's in the phone book

Also, keep in mind that while the map might show a trail, it might be gated or otherwise blocked or might be impassable. It showed up on an arial survey, so that is how it got on the map... who knows what it looks like on the ground.

Lefty

...And don't forget to check the date on that survey either ! I've gone down some "Jeep trails" that were completely paved roads through new subdivisions, while others are literally undriveable due to some obstacle that now exists. In the vast majority of cases, these topo maps date from the 60s.

Steve