A swinging gate or a sliding gate?

Is the 'driveway slope' up or down

Snow / ice? if so, what's your vehicle's typical ability for slopes -- which way works best...

It’s a downslope, about 15%. I’m thinking of a sliding gate. Most friends / family drive SUVs. It will be a gravel driveway- just to help with some snow / ice. The winters are fairly mild for NW (snows mid Dec to mid Feb), mostly wet snow.

With limited information and based upon my past experience, I would recommend a chain between two four foot high posts at the property line. A gate tells others there is something valuable worth taking on the other side.

Since it is fenced all around a Beware of Dog sign should give burglars a second thought.

What, exactly, are you building the fence to protect? 'Normal' people don't need deer fences. Rabid gardeners need deer fences, so what are you rabidly gardening?

BTW, to do this properly for my local whitetails, the fence is at least 8 ft tall, and 10 works better. A local nursery had a fence that looked like it has escaped from Sing-Sing. Is that really the look you want for your get-away?

I’m more concerned about deer than burglars. :) Biggest pests around, destroying gardens, fruit patches, etc. The fence will follow the outer, dash-dotted line.

Is it an automated gate? If you have to open it by getting in and out of your car on both sides, put it in the flattest area you have.

Out here on the East End of Long Island (NY) we have lots of deer, and in the most deer-prone areas you need at least an 8-foot fence. Many homeowners have automated gates for both deer and for privacy/security (there are a lot of celebrities out here who prize their privacy). Without seeing the actual space, it looks like the best place for the gate is where the fence meets the driveway.

I disagree that you need to be a "rabid gardener" to want to keep deer out of your yard. They will eat anything if hungry enough, and can decimate your plantings. Their droppings are unsightly and annoying, and dogs will try to eat them and can get very ill. The deer also carry ticks that cause Lyme disease. Unfortunately, they have no natural predators, so as the wild areas get built up, their habitat is lost and they do what they need to survive, which is move in with people.

The fence will follow the outer, dash-dotted line.

If this is the case, then wouldn't the ONLY viable gate location be where the outer dash-dotted line crosses the driveway?

Be mindful of the style of fence you put up. Google images of "deer stuck on fence" and let me assure you it happens. I was on the phone with 911 one dusk trying to determine if a deer on our lane was impaled or wedged on a "spear" type fence. Don't worry, it was wedged and eventually freed itself, but the dispatcher told me it happens more often than one would think, and as likely as not to be tragic for the deer.

(Also, be sure you don't fence a deer IN.)

At the entry to the driveway would in my mind make the mosr sense .IMO you plant deer resisatnt stuff and enjoy the fact they like your yard . I live where deer wander into town all the time we live right on the edge of town and we have had moose in out pond, deer in the yard and honestly not a big deal and deer can jump really high do you want the big high fence all around out in the country ?

With the driveway slope, can the gate be placed so that there is level surface on either side of the gate? That would be helpful in slippery weather.

We have a long gravel driveway that transitions to concrete at a curve. The concrete continues up the slope to the house. We live in the upper Midwest, so our winters are probably rougher than yours, but, fwiw, heading down the curve is where the truck slides if its going to and driving up around the curve is impossible if I have to stop or change speed for any reason.

Venison helps solve deer problems.

If you need to keep deer out, use either an 8' fence or a 6' with another small fence a foot away, as deer don't like double fences.

One option, rather then gating your entire property is making an enclosure for the plants you don't want them near. Most people in my are do that for their vegetable gardens- must less costly than fencing the entire property

I can't see how you can keep deer out if the gate isn't connected to the fence.

2 5' fences less than a yard apart work better than one 8' fence. But fencing is expensive. So perhaps consider only fencing the vegetable/fruit garden. One of the attractions of a cabin in the woods is being near the wild life.

"I’m more concerned about deer than burglars"

FWIW, my Minnesota friends, whose property backs up a a forested area, had their garden plantings decimated for years by deer. They finally put in motion-sensor sprinkler heads on their sprinkler system, and voila! Everything started to grow because the deer got scared (sprayed) away.

This, of course, required a sprinkler system which has its own challenges, but you might want to weigh the cost difference between something motion-sensored and a very high fence.

Another thought... my favorite vacation spot has wild donkeys and goats. Many driveways have a goat grate (basically metal rods or poles with gaps between) embedded in the drive. Goats and donkeys can't walk over them. I would think deer would be the same. This might work for you if you have the rest of the property fenced, and you put the grate across the drive adjacent to the fence line. Try looking up cattle grate. Example below.

If you ever want to bike across a cattle grate, or even walk in bike shoes, leave a tiny section of flats on the edges. :)

Cattle grate - love it! Simple and it solves so many problems I was worried about:

1. eliminates the need to stop on the hill to open the gate (read - get stuck),
2. avoids costs of electric gate openers,
3. keeps wildlife away.

Thank you!

Unless thr fence on all the sides is 8' no way does a cattle guard keep deer out only cows in . The deer just jusp the fence some even the cattle guard .

Cattle guards have not proven effective in controlling wildlife, such as keeping deer out of orchards and hay fields. Tested in conjunction with deer exclusion fences, guards 10 feet wide and up to 24 feet across using 1/2 inch steel plate on edge spaced 4 inches apart did not repel deer.

Is it possible to fence around the drivway and not try to encapsulate the driveway inside the fence? You could keep fruit, vegetable, and other delicate plants inside the fence and plant deer-resistant plants in the area between the road and the driveway.

It’s definitely possible to only fence under the driveway. There are 2-3 excellent suggestions made here. I’m still trying to make up my mind ☺️…

Have you considered not planting things that deer eat and only fencing "gardens, fruit patches, etc." ?

We have a similar situation and found a better material for driveways on a slope…it has been along time ago ..but I think it is called “road base”…it is gravel with a sticky kind of tar mixed in…has to be rolled to compact and smooth the surface…it stays in place better and compacts to a harder surface….still resembling just gravel …ours is still working well after 20 years with just residential use

We also fenced about 4 acres as we have gardens and pets to protect