I would check and see if it's on any maps you have. I think it's safe to say that if it shows up on maps that are available to the public, they "should be" deemed public roads. I will check with my connections at TXDOT next week to see if we can shed more light on the subject. We have a lot of ranch/county roads in my area (35miles west of Austin) that have no gates but with cattle guards. Nearly all of these roads have a county sign at the entrance to the road. These of course are perfectly legal to travel. As I mentioned above, I personally will not go thru anyones gate unless it's marked as an official county access road.

The purple marked fences are a relatively new thing but we are seeing more and more of them in the Hill Country as time goes on. I undestand why they do it but why in the heck did they have to choose purple?? LOL...not my favorite color but whatever!