[DoingSomeThings]

Unfortunately in my area of the USA south, there simply isn't much free land to explore. We have contained city parks and a few state parks. Less than 2% of all land in state. Everything else is either developed or privately owned.

"I studied my map for a while and found what appeared to be its most boring grid square: no roads, houses or rivers, just a single footpath, one pond and the merest flutter of a lonely contour line. Here, it seemed, was nothing at all, neatly outlined within crisp blue lines."

Near me that boring grid would almost certainly be fenced off. Untouchable.

[everforward]

Your mileage may vary, but my experience in the South was that most people (especially people with a few to many acres) don't care if you use their land if you ask. I've hunted or fished on a few strangers' land. I've used land I didn't own without asking, but did live in the neighborhood and the woods were largely considered communal if people weren't jackasses.

A lot of people own land because they want access to it, not because they want to deny everyone else access. Just go up to the nearest house and ask if you can walk through their land, or if they know who owns it so you can ask. People are generally nice about it.

You can also largely ignore corporate ownership of large swaths of land for stuff like logging or mining. They don't monitor it, and are unlikely to make a big deal of a hiker crossing through if you don't walk directly through the part they're working.

There's a greater conversation about private ownership and access to nature, but asking is a practical workaround in the mean time.

[ryandrake]

> Just go up to the nearest house and ask if you can walk through their land, or if they know who owns it so you can ask.

This doesn't seem like such a great idea these days, with armed people holed up on their property thinking they are "under siege" when someone accidentally enters their property[1][2][3]. People are too unhinged to risk knocking on a random door.

1: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/us/new-york-man-found-guilty-...

2: https://abcnews.go.com/US/gps-mistake-allegedly-leads-deadly...

3: https://www.wrdw.com/2023/11/03/texas-man-convicted-manslaug...

[beauzero]

Be careful with corporate land. Find Weyerhaeuser recreation (in the south primarily for hunting not grazing like BLM out west) here... https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com/Leases/Search Note: Weyerhaeuser combined with Plum Creek.

[DoingSomeThings]

Corporate ownership rings true. Especially land marked off for future development. You'll likely need to jump a fence, but no one is watching once you're inside.

Private land I'm more concerned about simply due to firearm ownership & laws surrounding it. I'm sure many citizens would welcome respectably sharing. There's just no way to know that in advance and the downside risk feels higher than I'm willing to accept.

[ToucanLoucan]

"How come kids don't go outside anymore?"

Then you look outside and it's nothing but 4-lane stroads, fast food places, payday loan/pawn shops, and liquor stores. Where the fuck are the kids meant to go, the local casino?

[Lord-Jobo]

I believe the system and those who pull the levers currently would prefer if the kids were in juvenile detention(1) or working low wage jobs at risk of their own health safety and future(2). Might be better off with the casino option.

1: https://ips-dc.org/whos-profiting-americas-private-juvenile-... 2: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172544561/new-state-laws-are...

[foreigner]

I thought about the same thing. Trying this in the US would be a recipe for getting shot.

[Cthulhu_]

Even in the national parks? And what about Canada?

[graphe]

Illegal activity is as American as apple pie. I don't have much free land around me and I have a lot of fun going into abandoned buildings despite it's own set of hazards such as asbestos and mold.

[sixothree]

Deep South here as well. This place absolutely sucks for exploring. Dangerous heat, mosquitos galore, "nature trails" often have pictures of hunters on government sites. I need to freaking leave.