Found another abandoned road in Wabaunsee county

[MacWildcat]

Did my overhaul breakin ride today. You're suppose to take it easy right? Never seems to work out that way. I didn't realize my route would take me through Box Turtle Road, Figured I was there so what the hey. This road changes every year, there is a new line up the most technical hill. Looked like about a dozen 4X4's have been there with only one set of tracks that actually tried the most difficult section.
When I got to the end of Box Turtle I headed east to ride the low maintenance section of Snokomo Road. If you go east on Nehring Ranch Rd from Box Turtle about 3 miles, you come to a intersection that only lets you go North. If you look straight east you can see a old abandoned road. There's a gate but it was not marked no trespassing and was open.
Within the first 100 feet I had butterflies and major pucker factor. This road has been abandoned a long time, major ravines and rock ledges abound. You actually have to drive open range for some of it. At the east end when it should dump onto Snokomo Road it's completely fenced off. You follow the fence line north crossing a small creek, after 1/4 mile you get to a gate.
I'm itching to lead some folks through this adventure. If you pick a wrong line you are in serious doo doo.

[Stu]

Sounds like Milford. Where are your pix? It also appears to be just the right thing for a break-in run. I am leery of running across private land. Can you tell if the abandoned road formerly a county road? Anything posted on the fence after the creek crossing?
Stu

[MacWildcat]

The private land issue had me spooked. On two previous rides our riding groups have run into supposed land owners that were upset, in both instances it was questionable if the land was public or private. There was no posting on the west end where I went through the open gate. I didn't see any posting along the fence on the west end either. There were some 4wd tracks I followed for awhile to avoid ravines and rocks. I was really reluctant to turn around when I came to the fence at the west end. First, I wasn't sure I wanted to try going over the ground I just covered. Secondly, I wasn't sure there wouldn't be a landowner waiting at the gate. The roads in that section of the country are mostly rangeland access and are not maintained.

[MacWildcat]

I found this abandoned road when I broke my own route creation rule. The "road" shows up on the delorme map and also in Mapsource. What I forgot to do was cross match to a KDOT county map. This was one instance were poor planning paid off!

[troy]

Is there a such thing in this country anymore as non-private land?

Riding on the inside of a fence to get to a gate to get out to the road is probably a good sign you are on private land. Then again, out there in the middle of nowhere, we seem to find those ghost roads all the time and you wonder if the land owner surrounding the road didn't just claim it. You wonder if he/she ever had any legal right to put a gate across the road. The county probably does not care since the road was only used to access the rancher's land anyway.

This reminds me of the road on the Stampede last year. Sign said "Bridge Out" We were able to ride through and continue on the road--which was well worn and appeared on all our maps. The adjacent land-owner, however, chased us down with a truck and threatened to call the sheriff in a not-so-friendly way. This was also that land-owner who had that enormous satellite dish hidden behind a burm that you could only see from the "closed" road.

[MacWildcat]

Yeah, that's one of the roads I eluded to earlier. I figure the guy is up to something hinkey back on his ranch. Probably figures he can bully people to stay away from his property. I would sure like to find some time to talk to the county engineer for Wabaunsee county. I would like to sit down with a map and ask some pointed questions. I think there may be some fishy business with the Soloschied road also.

[JLR]

I spent some time last Sunday driving around Wabaunsee County in my Ford Explorer since it was a little too cold for the bike. I headed north on Divide Road which is on the west edge of Eskridge; I thought it was a pretty rough road until I found my way over to Dawsons Hill and Box Turtle. I was westbound on Nehring Branch Road and turned north onto Dawsons Hill, it didn't take long and I crossed a good sized mud hole and then I came to the rock area that NO AVERAGE 4x4 was going through so I turned around and headed back to Nehring Branch Road where I turned to the west. I then took Box Turtle to the east and tried Dawsons Hill southbound, but again, it got real UGLY real fast. I turned around and took Dawsons Hill north until it came to a T and then headed home towards Salina. The long and short of it is: I can't wait to go back, but on the bike.

[MacWildcat]

The road you found is what we incorrectly call Box Turtle Road. One of the few low maintenance roads Wabaunsee county hasn't closed altogether. I was thinking of starting a forum thread about actions we can take to prevent these great roads from being closed. Thought I would talk to my county engineer to see if there is specific statutes a county must me before eliminating a road.
One fellow I talked to said his state wasn't able to abandon a road if there was still public traffic at a certain frequency. If Kansas is the same way, this would be a great project for Motorcycle and 4X4 clubs.