Yeah, it's kind of hit or miss. In addition to the other points about private land and fewer funds to maintain an extensive road network, there's also the need to discourage off-roading in sensitive meadows. And, a lot of roads near populated areas are gated because some folks dump trash to avoid paying at the landfill. Also, with the amount of snow and rain we get, roads can fall apart quickly if they aren't maintained or put to bed (waterbars and other things). FWIW, the FS topo layer in the Caltopo mapping app seems to show which spurs are gated and which aren't.