Laws & Policies

The North Country Trail spans 7 states. Portions of the trail cross lands administered by 4 National Parks, 10 National Forests and numerous other Federal, State, and locally administered lands. The trail also crosses many miles of privately owned lands. Each one of these agencies and owners will have their own rules and regulations.

Park User Responsibility:

It is the responsibility of visitors to respect private property owners rights and to understand and comply with all applicable state, local laws before using this trail.

Firearms and Other Weapons

Legislation: As of February 22, 2010, federal law allows people who can legally possess firearms under applicable federal, state, and local laws to legally possess firearms on lands owned by the U.S. Government and managed by the National Park Service. Refer to Section 512 of the Credit Card Accountability responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, Public Law 111-24, 123 Stat. 1764-65

This applies to:
This law only applies to lands owned by the U.S. Government and managed by the National Park Service.

This does not apply to:
This law does not apply to the portions of the North Country Trail located on lands owned and managed by other Federal (non-NPS), State, local, or private land owners. Fire Arms rules and regulations on these lands are determined by the individual agencies or owners.

Weapons Prohibited in Federal Facilities:
Federal law also prohibits firearms in certain facilities in this park, those places are marked with signs at all public entrances.

Links below will enable you to begin researching the State laws relating to Firearms possession:
Michigan, Minnesota,New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania,Wisconsin

Superintendent's Compendium

The Superintendent’s Compendium is the summary of park specific rules implemented under 36 Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR). It serves as public notice, identifies areas closed for public use, provides a list of activities requiring either a special use permit or reservation, and elaborates on public use and resource protection regulations pertaining specifically to the park administration. The Superintendent’s Compendium does not repeat regulations found in 36 CFR and other United States Code and CFR Titles, which are enforced without further elaboration at the park level.