In short
Act 314-2000 declares that the public policy of the Government of Puerto Rico is to foster mountain biking, kayak or canoe navigation and hiking, and orders departments, agencies, public corporations and instrumentalities to identify areas under their jurisdiction where trails or paths for hikers or mountain bikers exist or could be established. It orders the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources to establish dirt or gravel walking trails in all state forests, natural reserves and other public lands under its administration, and aquatic, equestrian and mountain-biking trails where topographic conditions permit and there are no significant environmental impacts. It further declares that the royal roads built in the last century and the accesses existing since time immemorial to the beaches and the maritime-terrestrial zone are of public use and may not be closed except by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources for reasons of natural-resource conservation, and provides that those roads must be converted into natural trails to be included in the Register. It creates the Register of Natural Trails, which the Department shall prepare in coordination with a Technical Committee and which shall include the location of the lands on a federal Geological Survey topographic map, the land’s official name, access by public road, the length of the trails, their main natural features, a map, the principal permitted uses and related uses, and the name and telephone of persons authorised by concession. The Register shall be available at the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and at the Department of Recreation and Sports, copies shall be provided subject to a payment for document reproduction, and it must be published on the Internet. Owners of land where natural trails exist may request inclusion in the Register, and the Secretary shall certify the land once the owner has agreed in writing to comply with the requirements of the Act and its regulations.
What is it?
Two things live in this Act and people usually know only one. The first shows up when someone puts a fence across the lifelong path to the beach: the Act declares that the royal roads of the last century and the accesses existing since time immemorial to the beach and the maritime-terrestrial zone are of public use and cannot be closed, with a single named exception — DRNA, and only for natural-resource conservation. The second is the Register of Natural Trails: a public inventory of where you can walk, ride, go on horseback or put in a kayak, which DRNA must prepare, keep available and publish on the Internet.
Who can do it?
There is nothing to qualify for as a user: the public-use declaration in Article 1 does not depend on you being a neighbour, paying anything or asking permission. Where there is a step someone can start is on the landowners’ side: Article 5 allows that “owners of the lands where natural trails exist may request inclusion in the register,” and the DRNA Secretary certifies the land as a natural area with natural trails once the owner has agreed in writing to comply with the requirements of the Act and its regulations. That step is voluntary and belongs to the owner, not to the walker.
Requirements
Information pending verification.
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The beach-access rule, word for word
It is the part of the Act that most needs quoting correctly, so here it is whole. Article 1, second paragraph: “it is declared that the royal roads built in the last century and the accesses existing since time immemorial to the beaches and the maritime-terrestrial zone are of public use and may not be closed except by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources for reasons of natural-resource conservation.” Three things to note. One: they are of public use by declaration of law. Two: the exception is named and there is one — DRNA — and for a named reason, natural-resource conservation. Three: the Act covers two distinct categories, the royal roads of the last century and the accesses existing since time immemorial to the beach and the maritime-terrestrial zone.
Step 2: And what must be done with those roads
The declaration does not hang in the air: the same paragraph continues. “These roads must be converted by the Government of Puerto Rico into natural trails to be included in the Register created in Article 2.” That is, the Act does not only forbid closing them: it orders them converted into natural trails and entered in the Register, which is what makes them visible to the public. The Act sets no deadline for that conversion and names nobody within the Government to do it, and we do not supply either.
Step 3: What the Act orders DRNA to do
The first paragraph of Article 1 hands out two mandates. A general one, to the whole Government: it orders “departments, agencies, public corporations and instrumentalities of the Government of Puerto Rico to identify areas under their jurisdiction where trails or paths for hikers or mountain bikers exist or could be established or built.” And a specific one: “The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources is ordered to establish dirt or gravel trails or paths for hikers in all state forests, natural reserves and other public lands under its administration.” It adds that DRNA shall establish aquatic, equestrian and mountain-biking trails “in those areas where the topographic conditions permit and there are no significant impacts on the environment.”
Step 4: What the Register must say
Article 2 spells it out, and it is a useful list because it is what you can demand be there: the location of the lands DRNA administers “on a federal Geological Survey topographic map,” the land’s official name, “access to the trail by public road,” the length of the trails, the main natural features, a map identifying the paths or trails, “the principal uses permitted on the trails,” related uses, and “the name and telephone of the persons authorised by this agency by concession to offer the principal and related uses.” The Register may also include trails on private land, per Article 4.
Step 5: Where you are supposed to be able to consult it
Article 2 closes with three routes. First: “The register shall be available at the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and at the Department of Recreation and Sports” — that is, two agencies, not one. Second: “Copies of any information contained in it shall be provided to citizens, subject to a payment for document reproduction.” The Act does not say how much that payment is, so there is no figure here. Third: “In addition, the Register must be published on the Internet.” The Act orders publication but names no address, and we do not guess government addresses: look for it at DRNA.
Step 6: If you own land with trails and want it registered
Article 5 opens that door and describes the process in two steps. First, the application: “Owners of the lands where natural trails exist may request inclusion in the register. That application must contain a description of the land, with its main natural features and any other pertinent information required by the Secretary.” Second, the certification: “The Secretary shall proceed to certify the land as a natural area with natural trails once the owner has agreed in writing to comply with the requirements established by this Act and the regulations adopted under it.” The same article adds that DRNA shall promote that these lands be dedicated as auxiliary forests under Act No. 133 of 1 July 1975, the “Puerto Rico Forests Act.” The Act sets no term for the Secretary to answer and no fee for the application.
Step 7: Who regulates what
Worth distinguishing because these are two agencies with different roles. Article 4: “The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources shall establish the requirements for the lands where motorised and non-motorised natural trails will be established.” And in the same line: “The Department of Recreation and Sports may establish requirements by regulation for holding mountain-biking and off-road-vehicle competitions.” That is: the land is regulated by DRNA; the competitions, by DRD. And lands meeting DRNA’s requirements and the Government’s regulations “shall be included in the register created by this Act.” Article 3 adds the Advisory Board created in 1994, which is ordered to coordinate with the municipalities and the private sector, to include a representative of an off-road vehicle association or federation, and to create the technical committee that helps DRNA prepare the register.
Where to do it
The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources is the agency the Act puts at the centre: it prepares the Register, regulates the lands, certifies those owners request, and is the only body empowered to close a royal road or a beach access, and only for natural-resource conservation. The Register must also be available at the Department of Recreation and Sports, which may additionally regulate mountain-biking and off-road-vehicle competitions. The Act orders the Register published on the Internet but names no address, and we publish none the source does not carry. Nor do we publish a form, office, physical address or telephone, because the Act carries none.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
What we did not read and therefore do not publish: the DRNA regulation Article 4 orders on land requirements, any DRD regulation on competitions, and the SCORP Plan — the Puerto Rico Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan 1994-1998 — which the statement of motives cites as the document whose chapter 5 carried a matrix of 116 places with existing or possible trails. Without those documents there are no concrete requirements to publish, and that is why this guide describes the Act and not an operating procedure. Four gaps in the text worth being clear about before relying on it. First, the Act declares the public use of royal roads and beach accesses but creates no complaint, forum, fine or penalty should someone close them; nor does it say whom to report to. Second, it orders those roads converted into natural trails without setting a deadline or naming who within the Government does it. Third, the Register must be published on the Internet but the Act gives no address, and we never guess a government address. Fourth, the owner’s application under Article 5 has no response term and no published fees. Cost is unverified because the only payment the Act mentions is “a payment for document reproduction” with no figure; time is unverified because the Act sets no term at all. A note on the source: the benefit to the owner through a use charge “provided they do not alter or improve the natural characteristics of the lands” appears in the statement of motives, not in the enacting articles, and we say so.
Common mistakes
- Believing anyone may close a royal road or a beach access: the Act empowers only DRNA, and only for natural-resource conservation.
- Thinking the declaration covers only the beach: Article 1 names the beach and the maritime-terrestrial zone, and separately the royal roads of the last century.
- Looking in this Act for a fine or a complaint: it has neither, nor does it say whom to report a closure to.
- Assuming the trails mandate is only for DRNA: Article 1 orders all agencies, public corporations and instrumentalities to identify areas.
- Thinking the Register is only at DRNA: the Act also places it at the Department of Recreation and Sports and orders it published on the Internet.
- Believing registering private land is mandatory: Article 5 says owners “may request” inclusion.
- Taking the use charge to visitors as part of the enacting text: it appears in the statement of motives.
Frequently asked questions
Can they close the lifelong path to the beach?
Article 1 declares that accesses existing since time immemorial to the beaches and the maritime-terrestrial zone are of public use and may not be closed, except by DRNA and for reasons of natural-resource conservation.
And the royal roads?
The same declaration covers them: the royal roads built in the last century are of public use and must be converted by the Government into natural trails to be included in the Register.
Where do I see what trails exist?
In the Register of Natural Trails, which per Article 2 must be available at DRNA and at the Department of Recreation and Sports, and must be published on the Internet. The Act gives no internet address and we do not invent one.
Can I register my farm in the Register?
Yes, if it has natural trails. Article 5 allows requesting it with a description of the land and its main natural features; the Secretary certifies once the owner agrees in writing to comply with the Act and its regulations.
How much does a copy of the Register cost?
The Act only says copies shall be provided “subject to a payment for document reproduction,” without setting an amount. That is why we publish no figure.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA)
DRNA
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
August 30, 2026
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