It’s been a long time coming, but hunters have finally scored a big win in the corner crossing dispute that’s been raging for decades.
On March 18, 2025 the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling, declaring that “corner crossing” – which simply means accessing public land by crossing at a corner between public and private land without touching the private land – is legal in the states under the court’s jurisdiction. This includes: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.
According to a release by the Backcountry Hunters and Angler (BHA), the court’s decision, which centers on the practice of corner-crossing—allowing hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to legally cross at the corners of public and private lands so long as they do not step foot on private property—reaffirms the core principle that public lands should remain accessible for all, particularly for those seeking to engage in responsible hunting and outdoor recreation.
This ruling protects public land access, ensuring that private landowners cannot unjustly restrict the ability of individuals to utilize public lands that are otherwise landlocked due to a checkerboard pattern of land ownership.
“This decision is a major win for hunters, anglers, and anyone who values the freedom to access and enjoy our public lands,” said BHA’s President and CEO Patrick Berry. “The American ideal of public land ownership depends on access to the landscapes and wild places that belong to all of us, not just a select few. This ruling makes it clear that corner-crossing is a legally acceptable way to preserve that access.”
This highly publicized court case stemmed from a group of four Missouri hunters who accessed a section of public land in Wyoming in 2020 and again in 2021. The public land was shared on two sides by private land owned by Iron Bar Ranch. In hopes of maintaining exclusivity of the public land access, the ranch owner had the hunters charged with both criminal and civil trespass, citing their momentary presence in the airspace above the private land when they used a ladder to cross the corner.
In 2022, the Wyoming Carbon County court found the hunters innocent of criminal trespass charges and the case was thrown out. However, Iron Bar appealed the case.
What was their claim?
In the original civil suit, the ranch claimed the men caused more than $7 million in damages.
“Iron Bar Holdings has a right to exclusive control, use, and enjoyment of its Property, which includes the airspace at the corner, above the Property,” wrote prosecutors in the civil suit.
An Outdoor Life article stated that the court ultimately based its decision on a provision of the 1885 Unlawful Inclosures Act (UIA), passed by Congress to “harmonize the rights of private landowners and those accessing public lands.” The court concluded that based on case law and language in the law, “any inclosure of public lands is prohibited, and no one may completely prevent or obstruct another from peacefully entering or freely passing over or through public lands.”
“The western checkerboard and UIA reflect a storied period of our history,” wrote Tymkovich. “Whatever the UIA’s merits today, it — and the case law interpreting it — remain good federal law.”
What states will be next? The state of Montana is ground zero for the corner crossing battle. Will they follow the lead with this latest corner crossing decision?
Comment below, and let us know what you think.
