Open holes that you know about are one of the issues with the Colorado peaks. There are old mineshafts up there. The owners put up signs, they get torn down.
There's an interesting (slot canyon) local hike that's a good example. The whole situation is a mess, it's an old non-operating mine grandfathered inside what's now a national recreation area. Seems some years ago somebody's car was damaged (not exactly astounding, you need a 4x4 HCV and know how to drive it to get there.) Since it happened on private property their insurance tried to go after the landowner. For years it was posted as no trespassing although some groups still did sneak in. Then there was a period of a few years where it wasn't posted and we (local hiking community) believed it was accessible (nope--flash flood took out the signs and gate.) I went with one such group. There were a couple of mineshafts in the side of the canyon, imperfectly blocked by chain link fencing. Once glance inside was plenty to make me NOPE! it but some of the group squirmed in anyway.
After seeing that I completely understand why the owner denies access.
While I in general support a right to roam it needs to come with extremely strong liability protections. There are too many idiots out there who do not respect that nobody's combing the land for hazards, nor is it even possible as they may change. (There was a case a while back, trespassing IIRC biker got hurt because a flash flood had taken out the paved road he was on. Owner liable.)
There's an interesting (slot canyon) local hike that's a good example. The whole situation is a mess, it's an old non-operating mine grandfathered inside what's now a national recreation area. Seems some years ago somebody's car was damaged (not exactly astounding, you need a 4x4 HCV and know how to drive it to get there.) Since it happened on private property their insurance tried to go after the landowner. For years it was posted as no trespassing although some groups still did sneak in. Then there was a period of a few years where it wasn't posted and we (local hiking community) believed it was accessible (nope--flash flood took out the signs and gate.) I went with one such group. There were a couple of mineshafts in the side of the canyon, imperfectly blocked by chain link fencing. Once glance inside was plenty to make me NOPE! it but some of the group squirmed in anyway.
After seeing that I completely understand why the owner denies access.
While I in general support a right to roam it needs to come with extremely strong liability protections. There are too many idiots out there who do not respect that nobody's combing the land for hazards, nor is it even possible as they may change. (There was a case a while back, trespassing IIRC biker got hurt because a flash flood had taken out the paved road he was on. Owner liable.)