What's the law?

[Scoot]

I know that nobody can deny access "through" their land when you're on a river. I believe that the shoreline is also public land too for X number of feet from the water's edge. What's the law say about this? How many feet?

[fivebucks]

The water on a navig. body of water and the land below it is public property as long as you can legally access the water. All of the land is private but there can be easements to allow access. Basically you can wade or float the water but not step on the land. There was a post about 1-2 weeks ago on the same subject. Good info. there.

[doubleUcubed]

For lakeshore the determination between public and private is based on the OHWL Ordinary High Water Level. There is no "set/determined" number of feet from the water where public becomes private. Do some searching on the MN DNR for "shorelines" and you will find additional information for other types of water classifications.

[Scoot]

Yep, I read through the old thread and the specific instance there was related to lake property. This is regarding land that a river runs through. I'm pretty sure that they have to allow you access to a small number of feet along the shore. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. Anybody know...?

[Duffman]

Some streams have easements, most do not. You can wade the entire length of the river through said piece of property if you have gained access legally (Road ROW, neighbors permission, etc...) But once you step on land you would be considered tresspassing. The only easements I know of are from a few trout streams in SE MN.