Minnesota Posting Laws: How to Post Land

What the law asks for on signs

Minn. Stat. 97B.001 subd. 4(b) asks for signs with no trespassing or similar terms in letters at least 2 inches high. They must be signed by the owner, occupant, lessee or manager, or show that person's legible name and telephone number.

Signs must be posted once each year, so put a date on your calendar and renew them on schedule. Posted signs also bar retrieving wounded game, which hunters should know before they step across the line.

Spacing and placement

Signs go 1,000 feet or less apart along the boundary, and 500 feet or less in wooded areas where boundaries are unclear. Instead, you can put signs at the primary corners of each parcel and at access roads and trails at each entry point.

Choose the method that fits your land and stick with it. Long straight fence lines suit regular spacing, while a woodlot with few roads may suit signs at the corners and at every trail and access road.

Farm land and permission

Under subd. 2, agricultural land, meaning plowed or tilled land, standing crops, or land inside a maintained fence for livestock, needs prior permission for outdoor recreation without any posting. A visitor cannot treat a missing sign on a field as permission.

The 609.605 sign rules cover buildings, construction sites, aggregate mining sites and biosecurity signs, and none are listed there for open land. For open land the sign rule is the one in 97B.001, described above.

Practical tips

Because your name and phone number go on the sign, check them each year when you post. Our signs are custom printed on aluminum or plastic with a live preview, and the builder follows these sign rules.

Keep dated photos each time you post, so you can show when the signs went up, and check the statute yourself before you rely on this guide. A fresh sign with a clear phone number also invites a neighbor to call before problems start.

Questions about posting land in Minnesota