Metal Detecting in New Jersey

1. The rule, in full

New Jersey – N.J.A.C. 7:2-2.16 (State Park Service Code)

Read from the Department of Environmental Protection's published PDF of N.J.A.C. 7:2, the State Park Service Code, parsed locally, together with N.J.A.C. 7:25 in full and the 18 February 2014 rule adoption. Checked 3 Oct

• That PDF is a courtesy copy and this entry explains below why no official version exists to read instead.
  Operative text, N.J.A.C. 7:2-2.16:

"A person shall not use metal detectors or similar devices without a permit issued by Superintendent or designee. The permit may limit the location, hours, and days of use. A permit will not be issued for use in areas of significant historical or other value, or where such use would be incompatible with protection of the resource and/or interfere with public use of the facility."

Scope, the definition at N.J.A.C. 7:2-1.7, which is the part that matters:

"'State Park' means all State owned or leased lands, waters and facilities administered by the State Park Service including but not limited to, parks, forests, recreational areas, natural areas, marinas, golf courses, botanical gardens, and historic sites, but not including wildlife management areas or reservoir lands."

Determination: all land the State Park Service administers, which expressly includes state forests. Does NOT reach municipal parks, and expressly does NOT reach wildlife management areas or reservoir lands.

New Jersey is one of only four states in this project where one instrument covers the park land and the forest land together, and it is the only one that achieves it by naming the classes in a definition rather than by naming the department. The previous version of this entry gave the scope as land "under the jurisdiction of the State Park Service" and never quoted the definition, which both understated the reach and hid the exclusion.

A permit regime rather than a ban, but a discretionary one – the superintendent may refuse on resource or public-use grounds, so this is permit_required with no guarantee of issue.

Wildlife management areas: the agency prohibits what its code does not. The 7:2 definition puts WMAs outside this chapter, so the Division of Fish and Wildlife's own rules would have to carry any detector provision. N.J.A.C. 7:25 was read in full – 1,168,684 characters – and contains no occurrence of the word "detect". DEP's WMA regulations page nonetheless states that metal detecting is prohibited on wildlife management areas. That is the agency's policy with no regulation behind it. It is quoted here as policy, and a reader should expect it to be enforced on the ground whatever the Code omits.

The detector permit is not a permission to dig, and a different official issues each

A reader who gets the 2.16 permit still has no authority to recover a target. The chapter carries a second provision the previous version of this entry never mentioned, and it sits one subchapter away from the detector rule:

N.J.A.C. 7:2-2.10(c), "Damage to property/tampering": "A person shall not dig up, deface, or remove any soil, rock, historic or fossil materials or artifacts without written permission of the Director of the Division of Parks and Forestry or the Assistant Director of the Division for the State Park Service."

The two permissions come from different officials. The detector permit under 2.16 is issued by the "Superintendent or designee" – the person who runs the individual park. The permission to dig up or remove soil or an artifact under 2.10(c) must be written and comes from the Director of the Division of Parks and Forestry or the Assistant Director for the State Park Service – a division-level officer, not the park. So the complete lawful sequence on New Jersey State Park Service land is two permissions from two levels, and nothing in 2.16 implies the second.

Two further digging prohibitions apply in specific places and neither routes through the superintendent:

N.J.A.C. 7:2-6.1(d), "Camping": "Digging or leveling the ground at camping facilities is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Superintendent or designee." N.J.A.C. 7:2-12.3(i), "Hiking trail restrictions": "The cutting, digging, defacing and/or removal of any vegetation or physical features is prohibited."

12.3(i) is a flat prohibition on a hiking trail with no permission route stated in the provision at all.

Also in 2.10, and worth a reader's attention because a detectorist moves ground cover: 2.10(a) prohibits abusing, mutilating, injuring, destroying, moving or removing "any plant or animal or natural resource" without the superintendent's permission, and 2.10(b) does the same for "any furniture, equipment, structure, or physical feature of any kind".

The statute behind the chapter, captured 21 October 2026

This entry said for eighteen days that it stated a prohibition and could not state a consequence. The statutes were unreadable: the Legislature serves them through a session-bound application that returns an empty frame to a plain request. Jason copied them by hand. The consequence exists, it is civil, and it is graded.

There is also a statutory prohibition that the regulation does not contain, and it is wider than 7:2:

N.J.S.A. 13:1L-10(a)(1): "Except as may be provided pursuant to subsection c. or subsection d. of this section, no person may alter, deface, destroy, disturb, or remove any State park or forest property, whether man-made or natural, or any animal, or any archaeological findings on State park or forest property or which are held by the department pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-1 et seq.), without the written permission of the department. As used in this section, 'archaeological findings' shall include, but need not be limited to, relics, objects, fossils, or artifacts of an historical, prehistorical, geological, paleontological, archaeological or anthropological nature."

Three things in that definition. It is inclusive, not exhaustive – "include, but need not be limited to". It carries no age test of any kind. And it reaches the geological, so a rock or a fossil is an archaeological finding for this section's purposes whatever its human history.

And the prohibition reaches the disposal, not only the digging:

13:1L-10(a)(2): "No person may sell, transfer, exchange, transport, purchase, receive or offer to sell, transfer, exchange, transport, purchase or receive any archaeological findings originating in a State park or forest property without the written permission of the department."

Note "transport" and "receive". On its face this reaches carrying a find home and reaches the person a finder gives it to, not merely a sale.

The statute requires an exception for small innocent finds:

13:1L-10(c): "The department shall provide for exceptions to the prohibitions concerning archaeological findings set forth in subsection a. of this section for archaeological findings of de minimis value innocently discovered on any State park or forest property."

This entry does not tell you how wide that is, because the statute does not and the department has not said – see the next section. Two further carve-outs: 13:1L-10(d) preserves "fishing, hunting, trapping, or other such activities or related activities otherwise authorized or permitted", and 13:1L-10(e) exempts examination, retrieval or research by a State body required or permitted by law.

The penalties, which are civil and come in two tiers

N.J.S.A. 13:1L-23(b), for a knowing violation of 13:1L-10(a), or soliciting or employing another to commit one: "a fine of not less than $750 nor more than $1,500 for the first offense; a fine of not less than $1,500 nor more than $3,000 for the second offense; and a fine of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000 for any subsequent offense." The same subsection: penalties "shall be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding"; "any vessel, vehicle or equipment used in the commission of the violation shall be subject to confiscation and forfeiture to the State, if warranted, as determined by the courts"; restitution and damages may be ordered "for the cost of remediating any violation… and for the value of any lost, damaged, or destroyed archaeological findings"; all sums collected are remitted to the department "to be used for the preservation, remediation or protection of State archaeological sites"; and "any archaeological findings obtained as a result of a violation of this section shall be subject to confiscation, forfeiture, and return to the State and, upon recovery, shall be deposited with the New Jersey State Museum."

13:1L-23(d), the tier that reaches the regulation: "A person who violates any provision of P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-1 et seq.), or any rule, regulation, or order adopted or issued pursuant thereto, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $1,500, plus restitution if applicable, for each offense, except as otherwise provided under subsection b. of this section…" It adds: "If the violation is of a continuing nature, each day during which it continues shall constitute an additional, separate, and distinct offense." And: "If the violation results in pecuniary gain to the violator, or the violator willfully or wantonly causes injury or damage to property, including but not limited to natural resources, the violator shall be liable to an additional civil penalty equal to three times the value of the pecuniary gain or injury or damage to property."

13:1L-23(e): "Penalties assessed pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties that may be applicable pursuant to law."

Subsection (d) is the answer to the question this entry could not previously answer. N.J.A.C. 7:2 is a rule adopted pursuant to P.L.1983, c.324. So detecting without the 2.16 permit, or digging without the 2.10(c) written permission, is a civil penalty of $50 to $1,500 per offence – and a detectorist who spends an afternoon at it is exposed to the continuing-violation clause, because each day is a separate offence by the statute's own words.

Four features worth separating out.

These are civil penalties in a summary proceeding, not criminal fines. The word "fine" in (b) sits inside a subsection that says the penalties are collected in a civil action. Nothing here makes a 7:2 detector breach a crime.

The two tiers turn on knowledge and on which instrument is breached. (b) needs a knowing violation of the statute's own prohibition and starts at $750. (d) catches any violation of the act or its rules, needs no knowledge, and starts at $50.

Equipment confiscation is real but conditional. (b) makes a vessel, vehicle or equipment "subject to confiscation and forfeiture… if warranted, as determined by the courts". It is a judicial decision, not an automatic consequence, and it only attaches to the (b) tier.

The finds themselves go to the State Museum. Not to the department, and not back to the finder.

The de minimis exception the statute requires, and which the Code does not contain

13:1L-10(c) says the department "shall provide for exceptions" for archaeological findings of de minimis value innocently discovered. No such exception appears in anything this project holds.

Searched, as counted absences rather than things not looked for:

That is 1,383,000 characters of New Jersey regulation and rulemaking with no occurrence of the exception the statute directs the department to create.

What that means and what it does not. It does not mean the exception does not exist somewhere: this project holds 7:2 and 7:25 in full and has not read the rest of Title 7, and an exception could also be operated as unpublished practice. It does mean a reader cannot point to a rule granting it, and that the only artifact provision in the park code runs the other way: 7:2-2.10(c) prohibits digging up or removing "soil, rock, historic or fossil materials or artifacts" without the Director's written permission, and states no exception at all.

So the honest reading for a detectorist is the strict one. The statute contemplates that a small innocent find should be excepted; the Code a park officer would be enforcing does not say so. Treat a find as requiring written permission until the department says otherwise.

The access question

New Jersey has no trust-land class, and "trust land" appears nowhere in the chapter. The access question therefore has a short answer here: the State Park Service Code regulates conduct by people already lawfully present, not entry. It sets hours and admission in places and it closes specific facilities, but nothing in it requires permission to be on state park land as such. The instrument a detectorist meets is the detector rule and the digging rule, not a land-entry rule.

Human remains: a second-degree crime, and no duty to report

This is the one New Jersey statute this project has read, and it was captured by hand because the Legislature's statutes site cannot be read automatically – see manual-capture.md.

N.J.S. 2C:22-1, "Disturbing, desecrating human remains; offenses": "a. A person commits a crime of the second degree if he: (1) Unlawfully disturbs, moves or conceals human remains; (2) Unlawfully desecrates, damages or destroys human remains; or (3) Commits an act of sexual penetration or sexual contact, as defined in N.J.S.2C:14-1, upon human remains. b. A person commits a crime of the third degree if he purposely or knowingly fails to dispose of human remains in a manner required by law. c. As used in this act, 'human remains' means the body of a deceased person or the dismembered part of a body of a living person but does not include cremated remains."

For a detectorist the operative words are "unlawfully disturbs, moves or conceals". Disturbing remains is the offence, and it is a second-degree crime – the most serious grading on any page in this directory. New Jersey does not need an antiquities statute to make this the hardest line on its ground, and nothing about it depends on the remains being old: 2C:22-1 sets no age test at all.

The section imposes no duty to report anything. The words "report" and "notify" do not appear in it. What subsection b. penalises is failing to dispose of remains "in a manner required by law", which is a duty on whoever is responsible for disposal, not a finder's duty to tell the authorities.

And it is not exceptionless. Subsection d. excludes acts performed in accordance with law, naming the State Medical Examiner Act, the Mortuary Science Act, chapters 6 and 7 of Title 26, the New Jersey Cemetery Act, a criminal investigation by a law enforcement authority, and an order of a court or other appropriate legal authority. It closes: "Nothing in this section shall be construed to criminalize any good faith action involving interment or disinterment which disturbs, moves, conceals, desecrates, damages or destroys human remains."

What that means in practice, stated carefully. Stopping and calling the police on encountering remains is sound practice and the thing to do. It is not compelled by 2C:22-1, and a reader should not be told it is. Whether some other New Jersey statute imposes a finder's duty is not established – the State Medical Examiner Act that 2C:22-1(d) points at has not been read, because New Jersey's statutes are not retrievable by this project. What is established is that the risk here runs the other way: the exposure is in disturbing the remains, not in failing to announce them.

Read from N.J.S. 2C:22-1 as copied by Jason Smith from lis.njleg.state.nj.us on 19 October 2026, archived as njsa-2C-22-1 with sha256 59a172d580e93183; the section's source note is L.2002,c.127,s.1.

Why this entry cites a courtesy copy, under the rule 11 exception

There is no official version of the New Jersey Administrative Code published online, at any price. This is variant B of the rule 11 exception, and the four conditions are met in the publisher's own words rather than by our failure to find something:

• The official publication exists and is unavailable online. The Office of Administrative Law says of the freely accessible LexisNexis Code: "Please note that the online version of the Code is not the official Code." DEP's own PDF states on every page: "THIS IS A COURTESY COPY OF THIS RULE. ALL OF THE DEPARTMENT'S RULES ARE COMPILED IN TITLE 7 OF THE NEW JERSEY ADMINISTRATIVE CODE." Both are the publisher conceding the gap.
• The gap is established, not assumed. Every readable form of this rule is a reproduction that disclaims official status, including DEP's rule adoptions: the 18 February 2014 adoption document is itself headed "THIS IS A COURTESY COPY OF THIS RULE ADOPTION. THE OFFICIAL VERSION WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE FEBRUARY 18, 2014 NEW JERSEY REGISTER."
• Later amendment is ruled out. DEP's chapter PDF records "Date Last Amended: February 18, 2014", and that adoption's own list of amended sections – 7:2-1.7, 2.1, 2.5, 2.8, 2.9, 2.11, 2.12, 2.17, 2.20, 2.22, 2.25, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 8.1, 8.9, 8.10, 9.7, 13.2, 13.3, 13.7, 16.2 and 17.1 through 17.4, read from the adoption document – does not include 2.16. So the text of 2.16 predates February 2014 and was not changed by the last amendment to the chapter.
• The official source that would settle it is the printed New Jersey Register and the official New Jersey Administrative Code. Read those before relying on this quotation anywhere it has to be relied upon – the same caveat this project carries on Vermont's statutes. What this does not mean: the text is unverified guesswork. It is the Department's own reproduction of its own rule, and the quotation above is character-for-character what that document says. What is missing is an official publication to check it against, and that is New Jersey's doing rather than ours. Sources: dep.nj.gov njac7_2.pdf (State Park Service Code courtesy copy, chapter last amended 18 Feb 2014) and njac7-25.pdf (Division of Fish and Wildlife rules, read in full); dep.nj.gov adopt_20140218a.pdf (adoption courtesy copy, retrieved through a premium proxy because the host serves an Incapsula challenge to direct requests); nj.gov/oal access statement. Checked 3 Oct 2026. Statute layer captured 21 Oct 2026, copied by Jason Smith from lis.njleg.state.nj.us and archived with their sha256: 13:1L-10 (5e823a3b879b554b), 13:1L-23 (0d96d96df04cdf0d), 13:1L-21 (4f3857983657c000) and 13:1D-129 (8c050671ed0effb1). 13:1L-21, the power to arrest without warrant, and 13:1D-129, DEP's minor and non-minor violation designations under the Grace Period Law, were read and are not on the page: the first is enforcement authority this entry makes no claim about, and the second would only bite if the department had designated a 7:2 detector breach a minor violation, which is a designation this project has not read. The 13:1D-129 capture is an excerpt – subsection b.(5) is abbreviated in it and nothing here relies on b.(5). Re-read in full 18 Oct 2026 for the digging, artifact and penalty questions: 7:2-2.10, 7:2-6.1 and 7:2-12.3 are quoted above from the same archived chapter PDF, and the five absences in the table were counted from it. New Jersey's statutes remain unread – manual-capture.md.

2. Cities in New Jersey that publish a rule

1 city in New Jersey publishes a rule we can quote, out of 111 checked.

Of the 111 checked, 56 had pages on the city’s own site that we found and read. For the other 55 we could not locate a municipal source, so nothing is claimed about them either way.

3. County rules

County rules exist in New Jersey, and they govern county land only. 3 county rules surfaced while checking cities in this state. Each was read and then set aside, because a county park rule does not answer whether a city park allows detecting, and it is not the state rule either. They are listed because their existence is the useful fact: if you are in a county park, a separate rule probably applies to you.

0 of these 3 name their county in the text that was read; the rest name only “county park” or “county parks”, so the source is given instead of a county name. A county is never inferred from a web address.

River Edge: a rule was found and could not be attributed. The document came from a county historical society rather than from the county, so there was no way to say the county had adopted it. That is a different failure from the rows above – those were set aside for scope, having been correctly attributed. This one is not evidence that a county rule exists.

4. Cities checked - no published rule

110 cities in New Jersey were checked and have no published rule on this page. Of those, 106 returned no rule, and 4 did return something that has not been published – mostly rules that turned out to govern county land, which are in the county section above. A city here is not a city where detecting is allowed. It is a city whose own published material did not answer the question.

All 110 were checked on 13 September 2026, in one sweep, so that date applies to every row.

5. Clubs in New Jersey

8 in our directory for New Jersey - 6 verified against their own website or group, 2 we could not verify. Verified means we opened the link and read it. All New Jersey clubs on the club directory, with meeting nights and contacts where we have them.

• Deep Search Metal Detecting Club - deepsearchmdc.com · Deal · verified
• East Coast Research and Discovery Association (E.C.R.D.A.) - Facebook page · verified
• Metal Detecting NEW JERSEY - Facebook group · verified
• Mid Jersey Research & Recovery Club - midjersey.com · verified
• South Jersey Metal Detecting Club - Facebook group · Haddon Heights · verified
• South Jersey Metal Detecting Club and News - Facebook page · verified
• East Coast Research and Discovery Assoc - Pompton Plains · could not verify
• Pirates of the Pines Treasure Hunters - could not verify

6. Land this page does not cover

This page answers for New Jersey state land, and for city and county land where the state rule reaches it. Several other kinds of ground are not covered here, and naming them is more honest than letting a reader assume the page is complete.

Tribal land. This directory does not cover it, and will not.

There are 574 federally recognised tribal nations. Each is a sovereign jurisdiction with its own law, its own permitting, its own enforcement and its own cultural-resource provisions, and none of them is answered by a state's code or by any federal rule quoted on these pages. A one-line instruction to "get tribal permission" would be worse than this paragraph, because it implies one process and one authority where there are 574. If you are on or near tribal land, the governing law is that nation's, and the place to ask is that nation's own offices. Nothing on this page applies there.

BLM land is covered, partly, in its own place. The Bureau of Land Management holds about 245 million acres and the federal rule names metal detectors and permits them, which is the opposite of the national park rule. See BLM land: the detector is named, and permitted. That page covers the base regulation; it does not yet cover the supplementary rules individual BLM State Directors issue for particular field offices.

Named and not examined. These are recorded so their absence is visible rather than silent. No claim is made about any of them:

• Military withdrawn land, including ranges and training areas.
• Bureau of Reclamation land, which surrounds a great many reservoirs.
• Water district and irrigation district land.
• Wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas and National Conservation Areas, which carry designations of their own. And one general point about signs. The commonest piece of reasoning in this subject is "there was no sign, so it was allowed." Arizona's State Land Department answers it in writing, in condition 2 of its own Recreational Permit terms:

"You will comply with all laws, rules, regulations and ordinances. Posting is not required for these provisions to be enforceable."

That is Arizona's sentence about Arizona's provisions and this directory does not present it as the law of any other state. But the proposition it states is the one to carry: nothing read for this project makes a published rule's enforceability depend on a sign at the boundary. Where posting does matter, a specific provision says so, and that provision is quoted on the page where it occurs.