I was driving and saw a turtle shell, upside down, on the road near the curb. So of course I stopped the car, got out, and went to see if the poor thing was even alive. The shell was closed up so tight I couldn't even determine if it was alive or not, but I thought just the fact that it was intact, no sign of injury, and the shell was tightly closed was a good sign. So I picked it up, and put it in the shade of a weed near the side of the road, and started walking back to my car.

That's when I started second guessing myself. I looked around at where I was. On a good sized road, within sight of an intersection of a major road. And not very far in the other direction is a 3rd fairly large road. They all make a triangle right there, and by putting the turtle off the road but closest to where I found it, it was in the middle of that triangle. I didn't know which direction the turtle had been heading, so I had no idea if the first thing it would do was try to cross the road again. Did it get flipped over trying to go down the curb? Or trying to climb up it after crossing the road? The weeds I put it under offered enough shelter that anyone driving by would see it, but there wasn't really much there to make a home for the turtle.

So I decided to pick up the turtle and brought it home with me until I decide what to do with it. Once it got over being scared, it opened up its shell again, and it seems totally fine.

Near where I found it, like within a mile or so, is a river, and 2 different parks on the river that have lots of natural spaces. Even closer, but on the other side of the major road, is some undeveloped land.

So, when they say to release a turtle near where you found it... how far is too far?

I think this is an Eastern Box turtle. Later I should be able to get up some pics so someone with more expertise can confirm that.