Last verified Jul. 2026

Public-land & SWA access rules

National forest and BLM land

The bulk of Colorado's huntable public land is federal — national forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ground — and it's open to hunting with nothing beyond your regular license and the season's rules. There's no separate CPW land-access permit layered on top. Use CPW's Hunting Atlas to see where national forest and BLM boundaries actually fall inside your unit before you go. CPW · Maps and Access

State Wildlife Areas (SWAs)

SWAs are land CPW manages specifically for wildlife and the hunters and anglers who fund that management through license fees — which is the reasoning behind the access rule above. Find SWAs inside your unit with the CPW · SWA Finder tool, and check each property's posted rules; some carry additional restrictions (closed seasons, foot-travel-only zones, etc.) beyond the general license requirement.

State Trust Lands

Colorado's State Land Board owns roughly 973,000 acres of State Trust Land (STL) opened to hunting and fishing through a lease agreement with CPW — separate from both the federal public land above and the SWA system. The baseline rule matches SWAs: anyone 16 or older needs a valid hunting or fishing license to be on an STL property. Some STL parcels go further and require a free Hunting Access Permit (HAP), awarded by drawing, which must be carried while you're on the property. Access generally runs September 1 through the end of February, though individual properties post their own signage and rules — check the specific parcel before you go. CPW · State Trust Land Finder

Walk-in Access (WIA) Program

The Walk-in Access Program is different again: it's private land the landowner has voluntarily enrolled for public hunting access, not state or federal land. Properties are marked with WIA boundary signs, access is on foot only, and hunters need a qualifying license (typically the annual small-game license) and the habitat stamp — the same add-ons covered in the license cost breakdown. Access windows are species-specific and generally run within the fall-through-late-winter season calendar. CPW · Walk-in Access Program

Putting it together before you go

Four different land types, four different rules: federal land needs just your license; SWAs and State Trust Land need a license (SWAs alone can be satisfied with an SWA pass instead); some State Trust Land also needs a drawn HAP; Walk-in Access needs the qualifying license and habitat stamp specifically. CPW's Hunting Atlas shows all of these layered on one map, so check it before you plan a route that crosses land types. CPW · Hunting Atlas