Public Lake or Private road?

So here is the question. I will use Mille Lacs as an example. I want to go out and fish. I use the public landing and head out onto the lake with either my 4 wheeler or my truck. While driving to the spot I want to fish I come upon a plowed road. Can I not use the road? Is it not across ice that is formed by a lake thats open to the public? Why is it a guy gets his butt chewed for using it without a “permit”?

What are your feelings on this?

The Resorts maintain the roads and according to them, deserve to be paid for the upkeep of the roads, then shouldn’t they also be responsible for damages and fines if my truck goes thru the ice on “their” road?

Any road on the ice is public domain. When purchasing a permit at a resort you are not buying the right to use the road across the ice you are paying for the right to use their launch facilities.

That being said the resorts invest tremendous time, effort, and expense to keep the roads drivable so we can enjoy full use of the lake. It is only right to reimburse them for this.
My two cents.

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Can I not use the road? Is it not across ice that is formed by a lake thats open to the public? Why is it a guy gets his butt chewed for using it without a “permit”?

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Why should you pay to use the road, a road that is staked, plowed, and maintained by a resorter? The only answer I can provide is, “common courtesy.”

Do you owe them a dime if using a public landing, absolutly not!! Only if you use their property to access the lake. Are they liable if you go through the ice, no way. If you decide to drive out it’s your gamble.

BIRDDOG

lats not forget the bridges that they provide. Not to mention the time and risks the take to make sure there safe.

I think a 10 spot is a small price to pay to get out on a frozen twisted mess.

But I still think if you paid your money and you come off on a different road you should not be yelled at. I have gotten turned around out there a few times looking for fish and I have drove off on somebodies road that I did not come in on.

Wade, there is no legal prescident that requires you to pay to use the “road”, since all lakes, liquid or ice, in the state is public domain. If you want to access or leave the road across the resort’s property, they can and will require you to make payment for use of that access.

With all the vehicles dropping thru the ice this year, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to access the ice thru a resort and get the latest ice reports in case they decide they maybe want to leave the road and cut cross country to a special spot.

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Any road on the ice is public domain. When purchasing a permit at a resort you are not buying the right to use the road across the ice you are paying for the right to use their launch facilities.

That being said the resorts invest tremendous time, effort, and expense to keep the roads drivable so we can enjoy full use of the lake. It is only right to reimburse them for this.
My two cents.

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I couldn’t have said it better myself

no not all lakes. you must be forgetting that you are not allowed on the reservation part of upper red no matter were you access from. not to be a smart but, i always thought noone can own water.

Maybe I wasn’t clear. I fully understand and support paying the resort if I drive out from their land/landing. I would pay the fee provided I was in fact staing at the resort or using their baitshop and fish cleaning facilities or whatever else they offer.

The point I am trying to get accross is that if you were driving on a road that was plowed by xyz resort, even though you accessed the lake from a PUBLIC boat landing you are free to drive wherever you please. If confronted by a resort about driving on THEIR road, I will be informing them of my desire for them to copulate with themselves.

Just continue on your way…there is nothing legally they can do about it. I guess if I was out there doing it all the time I might give them a fee here or there.
My 2 cents.

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Why should you pay to use the road, a road that is staked, plowed, and maintained by a resorter? The only answer I can provide is, “common courtesy.”

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Ditto to the above
We all waste so much money in life,, whats a few bucks to have good road and access to our favorite ice spot and such
In my mind it’s well worth whatever they ask.

Jeff

Or you could ask them why they put a road on your GPS route!

I am going to bed now. I think I started enough trouble for one lifetime!

Don’t cross their roads then!!

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Don’t cross their roads then!!

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Simple answer to a question

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Don’t cross their roads then!!

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Whose to say they put their unmarked road across my unmarked road?

I have never fished on a lake that big with resort plowed roads and all that good stuff. However if I got on from public landing used a road and a guy chewed my butt. He would not get a dime from me. However if he was civil and said you know we do alot of hard work any donation would be appreciated. You bet I would contribute. That said, I personally would have to go through a resort. From what I have learned here on IDA thats the way to go to make sure you are as safe as you can be. Paying a fee for that is only fair.

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From what I have learned here on IDA thats the way to go to make sure you are as safe as you can be. Paying a fee for that is only fair.

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Well there is no such thing as there road my road his road when it comes to the lake part. The fee is for access thru there property. Yes they plow and maintain the road with bridges etc, by there choice as a perk to draw in more people to access from there property. Yes it is courtesy on there part and is very respectful to the people leaving thru there resort. But it does not give them authority of the road. For them to chew you out is purely showing there ignorance of the real/true laws. A few years back it was even known that some resorts were cutting people off with there vehicles,YES the real law got involved and put a BIG STOP to them the resorts trying to claim ice roads as there property.
I use resorts for entry to the lakes mainly for the safety of myself and to get the knowledge of ice conditions before entering the ice which no ice is ever safe. But if I am out there hunting fish and I come across another road from another resort I am not going to go pay them for there access as well unless I use there access to enter/exit the ice..
But I do have respect for all resort owners out there everyday working on and keeping the roads up with bridges and all and that was there choice of business when they got into the business. Keep up the good work guys and remember if some one is breaking the laws in your eyes call the authorities and let them do there jobs,don’t take the law into your own hands…

Let’s see now…..you want to use there roads,get their knowledge of the ice but not help out with a small fee…..Do you want your cake and eat it to or what!! The resort owners bust their humps to maintain the roads so that we have good access to our lakes whats $5-10.00.

my opinion on this is, are there paths you have to follow in the summer on your boat? not really, therefor they aren’t really offically roads. it is just ice! i could go drill a hole in the middle of the “road” and i should be in no trouble.

Coyote~
It is not about trying to get around paying for the knowledge of the resorters or there work in the roads. It is if using a public access and coming upon a plowed road out there by a resort.You are correct resorts put alot of time in on there roads but it does not stake the claim to ownership of the road.
If I had a resort up there and I did not plow or place bridges how many people are going to use my resort? Not many but if I have it plowed out bridges in place over cracks etc. Now I will have more business. BUT because I chose to make my roads driveable and more of the lake accessible it does not mean I as the resort owner and the maintainer of these roads now own that road and others must pay me for there use of the road. Yes if a grateful person of my services rendered me some type of payment for my work on keeping the road clear and cracks crossible it would make my day. But actually all that lawfully is owed to me is someone accessing the lake via my property..
If hunting for a good fishing spot you may cross many resort roads, lets say 5 for example that 5 or 10 dollars now is 25 to 50 dollars…OUCH That could get spendy just crossing roads on a public lake..

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my opinion on this is, are there paths you have to follow in the summer on your boat? not really, therefor they aren’t really offically roads. it is just ice! i could go drill a hole in the middle of the “road” and i should be in no trouble.

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Thats a REAL screaming match waiting to happen, although you are 100% correct.

I suppose if you wanted to be a real “HELMET” you could or would drill a hole in the road

Fish, that same resort could also plow you in with snow, trapping you on “their” road. They have no obligation to get you out either.

The past few years, people seem to be taking advantage of this. But soon enough, we will have plenty of snow up there and this won’t happen much. But I suppose a few people will try and be cheap and try to “copulate” a resort out of $10 for making a nice path for the person to drive on.

You’ll get away with it this year. But I recall winters with roads that 3′ high embankments, if not higher, that will snow bound you all winter if you try and cross them.

I guess technically, you could cut out a bunch of vehicle sized holes too, but that would just make you an . I suspect people already knew the answer to this question before it was asked. Typically, a winter will put about 2 or 3 feet of white stuff on the lake, and you will not drive anywhere you want, without a road. I know there was a story on TV in recent years about this exact thing. Somebody, with their own truck, was plowing from the public access on the north end, right to the Red Doors roads. This then shut down anybody accessing the roads from the resort, and basically shut off his income to recoup costs, for fuel, plows & trucks and maintenance. I guess in my opinion, that was pretty cheesy to save your self $10, but to then ruin the guys ability to make a living, is just plain idiotic. Well I am done here, but I think this was a loaded question to begin with… Common sense and common courtesy, I guess do not always win out.

Glen Ertl

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but to then ruin the guys ability to make a living, is just plain idiotic.

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Maybe that is the intent here?

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If confronted by a resort about driving on THEIR road, I will be informing them of my desire for them to copulate with themselves.

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No matter your view on the subject, thats funny!

This threads not going to last long now!!

Every year this topic comes up, and every year the same things get said. In the end, we all should know what is right and what is wrong in the way we deal with other people. It shouldn’t take a law, or some court order for us to know what the right thing to do is.

You wouldn’t accept an invitation to fill a seat in a guys boat for a day of fishing, enjoy the use of his boat, bait and equipment and then not offer to at least buy the gas at the end of the day, would you?