CA
the country's most detected placer ground, and the one with the most claims on it
Metal detecting rules, by who manages the ground
There is no national permit and no national ban. Whether you may swing a coil is decided by whoever administers the specific ground under your boots, and the four biggest federal managers give four different answers — one of them a flat no that applies even to a detector sitting assembled in your car. Start with the manager, then the material, then the age of what comes out of the hole.
What this page is, and is not. This page sets out what each land manager has published about detecting. It does not tell you that any particular spot is open — that answer comes from the office that administers that ground, and on federal land it can change on a posted closure without notice reaching anyone. The wording here is what those pages said on the day each was read.
What each manager has published
Read top to bottom, this is a spread from a flat prohibition to a rule that names the detector as an exception — over ground that can change hands twice in a mile. Each row is quoted close to the source and linked to the page it was read on.
| Who decides | What the rule says | Citation and source |
|---|---|---|
| National Park Service — no, everywhere, including in the car | The prohibition covers "possessing or using a mineral or metal detector, magnetometer, side scan sonar, other metal detecting device, or subbottom profiler." Three things fall outside it: a device "broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use while in park areas," navigation electronics on a boat or aircraft, and detectors used for authorized scientific, mining, or administrative work. Note what the first exception implies — a detector in the trunk, assembled, is already the offence. | 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7) eCFR, 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7) |
| National forests — yes, as policy, with one exclusion | "It is Forest Service policy that the recreational use of metal detectors and the collection of rocks and mineral samples are allowed on the National Forests," and the activity "usually does not require any authorization." The exclusion is archaeology, not land: "metal detectors may be used on public land in areas that do not contain or would normally not reasonably be expected to contain archaeological or historical resources." Developed campgrounds and swimming beaches are normally open unless such resources are present, in which case the forest supervisor closes and posts the site. Some wilderness areas are closed to panning and detecting outright. | Forest Service policy; 36 CFR 261.9(g)–(h) USDA Forest Service — Mineral, Rock Collecting, and Metal Detecting on the National Forests |
| BLM public land — the detector is the named exception | The rule bars "explosive, motorized or mechanical devices, except metal detectors, to aid in the collection of specimens" — the detector is written into the exception. The BLM's own guidance puts it plainly: rockhounds may "prospect with hand tools (pans, shovels, metal detectors) if it causes no more than minor surface disturbance," up to 25 pounds a day and 250 pounds a year. Not at picnic sites or campgrounds; hand tools only in Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas; and inside an existing mining claim only with the claimholder's permission. | 43 CFR 8365.1-5(a)(3), (b)(2); BLM collecting guidance eCFR, 43 CFR 8365.1-5 — Property and resources Bureau of Land Management — Can I Keep This? |
| Army Corps of Engineers beaches — designated ground only | "The use of metal detectors is permitted on designated beaches or other previously disturbed areas unless prohibited by the District Commander for reasons of protection of archaeological, historical or paleontological resources." Which beaches are designated is a question for the Manager's Office. Found items go through the regulation's lost-property route, "except for non-identifiable items such as coins of value less than $25." | 36 CFR 327.14(d) eCFR, 36 CFR 327.14(d) |
| State parks — no national answer, and Washington shows why | Detecting is "permitted only within specified portions of approved state parks as posted for public reference," daylight hours only, and anyone detecting must register with park staff first. The tools are specified down to the inch: ice picks, screwdrivers and probes no wider than two inches, sand scoops no larger than six by eight inches and only on sand, holes no deeper than six inches and refilled at once. Anything that is or appears to be of historical or archaeological significance may not be removed, must be reported, and closes the area where it was found. | WAC 352-32-235 Washington Administrative Code — WAC 352-32-235, Use of metal detectors in state parks |
| Oregon's ocean shore — a published list, or nothing | "A person may use a metal detector or similar device on the ocean shore state recreation area without a written permit from the department in the areas noted in the “Detecting Allowed” list, published on the OPRD website." Read that the way it is written: off the list, the permit is back. | OAR 736-021-0090(11) Oregon Secretary of State — OAR 736-021-0090(11) |
| The 100-year line, wherever you are on federal ground | The one rule that outranks the land manager. An "archaeological resource" is material remains of human life or activity "at least 100 years of age" and of archaeological interest, and "no person may excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface" one without a permit. The BLM's list of what that covers is short and specific: pottery, beads, baskets, historic bottles, metal tools, horseshoes, projectile points and stone tools, remnants of cabins, mills, graves, railroads and townsites — and "historic coins (only modern money may be collected)." | 43 CFR 7.3(a), 7.4(a); BLM collecting guidance eCFR, 43 CFR 7.4 — Prohibited acts and criminal penalties (ARPA) Bureau of Land Management — Can I Keep This? |
Four things the rules agree on, whatever the ground
- The hole is the regulated part. Every rule that permits detecting also limits what you may dig with and how deep — six inches and refilled at once in Washington state parks, tools no wider than two inches, minor surface disturbance on BLM land, small holes rarely more than six inches deep in the Forest Service's own description of the activity. A permission to detect has never been a permission to excavate.
- Age is the tripwire, not value. A century is the federal line, and what it protects is the interest a find carries rather than the price it fetches: a square nail from the 1880s can be a protected archaeological resource, while a gold ring dropped last summer is not. That is why the Corps regulation exempts non-identifiable coins under $25 by name and the BLM allows only modern money.
- Developed sites are treated separately everywhere. Campgrounds, picnic areas and swimming beaches get their own sentence in nearly every rule — sometimes to open them, sometimes to close them. Whichever way it runs, it is never covered by the general answer for that agency.
- A claim closes the ground to everyone else. Active mining claims cover long stretches of public land in the West, and the BLM is explicit that collecting inside one needs the claimholder's permission. This is the same fact that governs panning, and it is the one most detector maps leave out.
Detecting for gold, and where that overlaps with panning
The Forest Service treats a detector as a legitimate prospecting tool as well as a hobby, which is why detecting and panning share rules, share closures, and share the claim problem. The designated gold-panning areas are the places an agency has put in writing that recreational prospecting is welcome, one page per state with the agency's own page linked at every listing. Below are the state gold pages, which carry what the historic record says the ground held and every legal place this directory can show you.
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AZ
dry washes are detector country, and most of it is BLM
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OR
forest and ocean shore in one state, under two different answers
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MI
gold-bearing material sits outside the state's 25-pound cap
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AK
where a detector is a prospecting tool before it is a hobby
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NV
open BLM ground, and claims across most of it
For places that charge admission and let you keep what you find — no claim question, no land manager to ask — the fee-dig finder lists every site in the directory with an official page behind it.
Questions detectorists ask
Can I metal detect in a national park?
No, and the prohibition is wider than the activity. The regulation bars possessing or using a mineral or metal detector, magnetometer, side scan sonar, other metal detecting device, or subbottom profiler anywhere in a park area. The only carve-outs are a device broken down and stored or packed so it cannot be used, navigation electronics on a boat or aircraft, and detectors used for authorized scientific, mining or administrative work. A detector assembled in the back of the car is already the offence — that is what the first exception implies.
Is metal detecting allowed in national forests?
As a rule, yes. Forest Service policy is that the recreational use of metal detectors and the collection of rocks and mineral samples are allowed on the national forests, and the activity usually needs no authorization. The limit is archaeology rather than land: detectors may be used in areas that do not contain, and would not reasonably be expected to contain, archaeological or historical resources. Developed campgrounds and swimming beaches are normally open unless such resources are present, in which case the forest supervisor closes and posts the site. Some wilderness areas are closed to detecting and panning outright, so ask the ranger district.
Do I need a permit to detect on BLM land?
Normally no — the detector is written into the rule as an exception. The regulation prohibits explosive, motorized or mechanical devices to aid the collection of specimens, "except metal detectors", and the BLM's own guidance lists pans, shovels and metal detectors together as hand tools you may prospect with where the surface disturbance stays minor. The limits are 25 pounds a day and 250 pounds a year, no collecting at picnic sites or campgrounds, hand tools only in Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas, and no detecting inside an existing mining claim without the claimholder's permission.
Can I detect on a beach?
It depends who owns the beach, and this is where the answers spread furthest. A national seashore is park land and closed. Army Corps regulations permit detectors on designated beaches or other previously disturbed areas unless the District Commander has prohibited it, with found items handled as lost property except for non-identifiable items such as coins worth under $25. Washington state parks allow it only in posted portions of approved parks, after registering with staff, with sand scoops capped at six by eight inches and holes at six. Oregon allows a detector on the ocean shore without a written permit only in the places on the state parks department's published "Detecting Allowed" list.
What happens if I dig up something old?
Stop, leave it where it is, and tell the managing office. On federal or tribal land, material remains of human life or activity at least 100 years old that are of archaeological interest are archaeological resources, and no person may excavate, remove, damage, deface or attempt any of those without a permit — a first conviction reaches a $10,000 fine and a year in prison, and more where the value and the cost of repair exceed $500. The BLM's own list of what this covers includes projectile points, historic bottles, metal tools, horseshoes and historic coins; only modern money may be kept. Washington's state-park rule goes further and closes the area where the find was made.
Does this page mean a particular spot is open?
This page sets out what each land manager has published about detecting. It does not tell you that any particular spot is open — that answer comes from the office that administers that ground, and on federal land it can change on a posted closure without notice reaching anyone. The wording here is what those pages said on the day each was read.
If the ground you had in mind is a beach
Shoreline adds a second layer, because what you may keep off a beach is decided separately from whether you may hunt it — shells, driftwood, marine mammal bone and anything a century old each have their own answer. What you can legally keep from a beach sets those out with the same citations.