What is an inholding? Private land inside national forests

The line around a national forest on most maps is its proclaimed boundary: the area Congress or the President set aside. Inside it, much of the land may belong to someone else, from homesteads and ranches to timber company land and state school sections. In parts of the West, old railroad grants left a checkerboard of alternating public and private square miles.

The west side of Eldorado National Forest is a good example. In the view on the home page, near Pollock Pines, California, the Forest Service owns about two thirds of the land inside the boundary; the rest is other ownership scattered throughout.

A forest road can cross private land, and a clearing that looks like every other one may be on someone’s property. The forest’s stay limits, fire orders and permits do not make it public. Private land may also be posted, gated or leased for hunting.

• Use an ownership map. The scouting map shows Forest Service and BLM land parcel by parcel as you zoom in, so the gaps are visible.
• Read the signs: “private property” and “no trespassing” signs, gates and fences mark land you cannot camp on.
• Check the Motor Vehicle Use Map, which shows only roads open to the public on national forest land. A road on it may still cross private land where you cannot stop.