How long is it? Can you put topsoil, even just an inch or two deep, on top of the whole thing? Unless you have weather conditions that conflict with that approach, I imagine weeds would grow over it quickly and hide it. Companies can even seed with a local mix of meadow/weed seeds if you wanted to hurry things up.

Or... hire someone to mix up the entire thing. Rototill it. It would be really laborious... I'm not sure which idea is crazier, though.

This post was edited by lolauren on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 22:46

Your best option is to bring in tons of top soil to spread over it. Or another option is to have a bulldozer scrap it up and discard. Might want to get several quotes for both. It 'looks' like you have a hill next to it, have the bulldozer scrap some top soil off that onto the road.

Slight burm but not too high.

We have 7 acres and this runs across the entire side of our property...so it's a lot of gravel and the neighbors love to use it to walk their dogs, but don't even get me started on that.

It will eventually disappear below the meadow grasses, unless of course someone uses it as a pathway but that's all it would be, just leave it would be my non action.

Do you mow the meadow grass on either side of the road? If so, you could pile the clippings on top of the gravel road and let them compost there. In a few years that should build up some soil that weeds and grass would be happy to grow in.

Claire

It's not an easement. It was put in by the original developer as a courtesy to the fire department to access another road, but it is not an easement. It's my property.

We haven't moved in yet, so I'm torn as to what we could do down here to make it look nice.

Love the mulch idea.

Might help to have someone plow the entire area turn it over. Disturbing the compacted rocks might help nature take it over quicker.

RE: the neighbors... you said don't get you started, but do you have a plan of attack on that one? If a fence is out of your budget, I would start with prominently posted No Trespassing signs.

RE: the gravel, it doesn't look unappealing visually to me. Is there no benefit of having that access road for you? I imagine on 7 acres it would be nice to potentially drive on the entire property for various reasons. What if you wanted to build an outbuilding away from the house or drive to plant a tree on the back acre or have animals in the future or.... whatever? To me, that would probably be a benefit on the property and something you can screen from the house view using trees. However, I can't see the whole picture to know why it's ugly to you or perhaps people don't use their acreage there.

I wouldn't be sure what of the above options makes the most sense, but a local landscaper would be able to give you good ideas and should know what was most cost effective and easy. You might want to have one come out and pose your question to them...

Is that your house in the background? Can you see much of the path (in your pic it looks more like a path than a road) from the house?

I would plant trees to obscure your view.

Or put up an electric fence and get a couple of horses or llamas or something.

What is your objection to the neighbors walking across your property? Do they litter? Fail to clean up after the dogs? I hope this isn't a precursor of a hostile relationship, before you even move in.

Annkh: Are you serious? My objection to having people walk their dogs on my property is that it is private property. Having people walk through my property is weird; a major violation of our privacy. Not to mention that it's a huge liability. My private well is also in this "pathway". I don't want anyone walking near my well.

I have posted no trespassing signs, and also sent a letter to all of my new neighbors asking them to please stop using this as their dog park. If me asking people to stop walking on my property is a precursor to a hostile relationship, I'm not sure I belong in this community.

We have a major teenage problem at our property too. I pick up condoms, beer bottles and fireworks every week. Our signs are all over the place, but while we were there a few weeks ago, someone was walking her dogs on the road...after she walked past 3 signs!

The house in the background is my neighbor's. She owns the property 8' from the gravel road over. She lives on 12 acres.

This post was edited by Eden-Manor on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 21:15

It sounds odd that the developer put in a road for the fire department and did not record an easement across your property. Have you checked your plat? If there is an easement, your neighbors may feel entitled to use it even though the easement is not for their benefit. People are funny that way.
Also, if your neighbors use it for a certain time, they may establish a prescriptive easement. That period of time will be specific to your state law.
If this road is not protected by an easement I would plow it up, plant grass and a few trees. If there is an easement you will not be able to alter it even though it is on your property.

Sounds like the issue isn't so much the road as it is other people USING the road. Actually, it doesn't look like much gravel to me. It really looks more like a pathway. But if people are using it, no matter what you do to it, the pathway will remain due to all the traffic.

How are people accessing it? Presumably, this road joins up with a major street or highway. Put a gate there, or a fence, or a car, or a barricade of some type. Obviously your signs aren't doing the job. You need a physical barrier.

Sorry, Eden, if I offended you. I live in a neighborhood where kids run from one yard to another, people walk into our yard to retrieve balls, kites, etc that stray from the adjacent park, and we don't think anything of it. Kids smoking in our yard - that I don't tolerate.

I had the impression your location was more rural, considering the size of the lots.

Does someone live there now? I can see where a vacant property would be used as you describe, but with people in residence, parties and fireworks will go elsewhere.

Check with your local fire department. Fire roads are required in many rural areas, and they MUST remain maintained as a road and able to be accessed by the fire department. That should be recorded on your deed as an easement, and you need to know 100% if that got missed on the survey or not. Otherwise, you could be on the hook for a lawsuit if they can't access someone's forest or home that burns down.

And yes, you may not fit into the neighborhood if you come in and immediatly start with the "mine, mine, mine". Rural neighbors are more about a shared community and shared assets and helping their neighbor. If John has a tractor, and Bill's tractor is in the shop, John will often bushhog Bill's property for him until he gets the tractor working again. The whole neighborhood shows up to help when you have a large project like building a shed. Many have had community wells or sewage treatements in the past that require the cooperation of all involved to maintain them even if they are now on city water and sewer. It's a lot different mentality.

Thanks, GreenDesigns! I'm very aware of rural neighbors. I live 3.5 miles away from the new property. ;) No worries there!

Always willing to help a neighbor, but I don't want people walking through my property. This is not an easement. It's private property.

We did check with local fire department and they don't need my road; they have plenty of ways to access the homes behind us without cutting through my property. We've already told them we've purchased the property and it's not available for them. They agreed, they do not need it. We're all good there.

I appreciate so much concern over whether this is an easement or not. We bought the property and there is no easement. We're 100% certain. :)

Eden -- I would be upset if people were trespassing on my property, so I totally relate to how you feel. While I agree that some rural neighbors are helpful and willing to help each other, some rural neighbors are also extremely private and value their space & distance... hence the reason they chose to have acreage in the country. I certainly didn't move to the country to share my assets with anyone. (That is not to say I am unwilling or don't help.) Actually, my previous home in the city had more neighborly helpers than the current country home...

Anyway, I would put up as tall of a fence as is allowed on the entire acreage, even if it's just something relatively inexpensive like field fence with t-posts. Is that something you have considered? That coupled with the no trespassing signs would be enough reason for local sheriffs to cite/arrest anyone on your property, at least in my state.

This post was edited by lolauren on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 13:30

I understand your frustration, but I think you may want to wait until you move in to address this. Once you're physically in the house you can be more consistent about addressing this, and people may stop on their own once they're trespassing on occupied land.

Do you live near a development or something? Where do all these people come from?

I would be inclined to put a physical barrier across the path with the message "PRIVATE PROPERTY. This is not a public path. You are trespassing. No Dogs Allowed. No Hikers Allowed." If your signs are off the path, they may think that if they stay on the path, they're good.

Did you ask the woman you saw to leave? I'd be curious how she reacted, you'd think she'd be embarrassed.