Metal Detecting Rules by State

Written permission from the park superintendent.

Alaska State Parks says no. Asked directly, the division could not identify the regulation its answer rests on, and is reviewing the question; the text other sites quote as Alaska's is a federal regulation.

Arizona State Parks does not allow it, as published policy. There is no regulation behind that – the state's park rules contain no metal detecting provision at all.

Only on the public swim beaches of nine named state parks, on a free registration form you carry with you, and only from the day after Labor Day to the weekend before Memorial Day, 8am to 5pm.

Each state park unit sets its own position, so there is no single statewide answer – check the unit you are going to.

Park manager's permission on state park land.

In a state park, removing earth or rock material is prohibited except as authorised by DEEP, so the hole is the problem rather than the detector, and the only written-permission route is for scientific or educational work. Separately, disturbing an archaeological site on any state land or a designated preserve needs a permit from the Department of Economic and Community Development. Connecticut counts anything fifty years or older as archaeological, and that is a definition rather than a reporting duty or a claim of state ownership.

Ocean beaches east of the dune line, during park hours. Nowhere else on state park land – and carrying a digging tool is itself treated as evidence of a violation.

The District publishes no rule for its own parks. Much of Washington's parkland is National Park Service ground, where federal law bans even carrying a detector.

By the park service's published policy, only on beach areas of coastal state parks that the park manager designates, between the toe of the dune and the high-water line. The rules themselves forbid digging or removing anything from state park land. On Florida Forest Service land a separate rule prohibits using a metal detector outright.

Banned outright on land in the Department of Natural Resources' custody and control, with no permission route and no exception for lost property.

Detecting itself is not regulated anywhere in Hawaii law. Taking or digging up anything over fifty years old that qualifies as a historic property needs state permission.

The park manager may allow it, as what the rule calls a non-traditional recreational activity. Idaho neither permits nor forbids it by default – you have to ask.

On Department of Natural Resources property, a handheld detector needs an advance permit from the Chief of Lands naming the location, and a non-handheld detector is not allowed.

On a sand swimming beach that an authorized representative has approved, and nowhere else on Department of Natural Resources property. Digging or excavating is separately prohibited across all DNR property, so a find cannot lawfully be recovered without a license.

In state parks and recreation areas, only on designated beaches during set hours, and on drained lakebeds after an archaeological survey, with probes and scoops limited in size.

On state park land, permission is needed to disturb an archaeological site.

Metal detectors are barred from state park property outright.

State land only. Louisiana was checked for municipal reach and does not have it.

Only at a protected site – and to be one, a site must be on the National Register and physically signposted. Ground with no sign on it is not a protected site, whoever owns it.

On designated swimming beaches operated by the Maryland Park Service, excluding Point Lookout and Calvert Cliffs, with permission from the Service. Barred 9 a.m. to dusk from 30 May to Labor Day, AND at other times at the park manager's discretion.

On coastal and inland sandy beaches you need no permission at all. Anywhere else on state conservation land you need a staff member's permission, and only to look for lost property.

In state parks and recreation areas, inside whatever the access map published by 15 April that year shows as open; elsewhere in them, with the written authorization of the unit supervisor or manager. The Land Use Orders carry no detector provision for state forests or game and wildlife areas.

In state parks, a detector may be used only to find a specific item of lost property, with the park manager's prior written permission and under the manager's supervision.

Barred on state park property.

Only on designated beaches at eleven state parks, with a free annual registration and during set hours – under park division policy, which the regulation adopts. On Department of Conservation land, a different agency, digging or excavating is prohibited outright and cannot be permitted.

Written permission from Fish, Wildlife and Parks, covering state parks, wildlife management areas and fishing access sites.

On Game and Parks property, detectors are permitted year round at designated state recreation area swimming beaches posted as open, restricted to 6 to 9 a.m. between 22 May and 7 September, below the vegetation line, with hand tools no more than twelve by four inches; use in State Parks and State Historical Parks is expressly prohibited except as provided. Separately, appropriating or excavating an archaeological resource – at least fifty years old and of archaeological interest – on public land needs written permission from the State Archaeology Office. Whether that reaches a city park is not answered by the Act.

The park supervisor can authorise it. That single sentence is the whole rule, and it covers only land the state parks division runs.

Detecting is expressly permitted on seven named kinds of state land – beaches, athletic fields, school grounds, cemetery edges, unpaved roads, near picnic tables and pavilions, and working dumps – unless a historic site there is on record and signposted.

A permit from the Superintendent or designee, on all land the State Park Service administers – which expressly includes state forests, and expressly excludes wildlife management areas and reservoir lands. The Division of Fish and Wildlife's rules carry no detector provision, though DEP's own page says detecting is prohibited on WMAs.

The superintendent can give permission for two things only: a scientific project already approved by the state, or retrieving something you lost.

Permission from the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, on its own land, in designated areas. On DEC Division of Fish and Wildlife land a separate rule bars even possessing a detector afield without a written permit.

Not allowed in any park area except to locate lost personal property, and then only under a Special Use Permit, which .0104(b)(1) names as a permit category. The rule's own heading says PROHIBITED and overstates it.

Written permission, state park land only.

In state parks, on sand beaches and on mowed areas other than those at golf courses, rental facilities and campgrounds, with no permission needed. Anywhere else in the park, the area manager's written permission. On state forest land nothing is permitted without the division chief's written permission.

A permit from the State Archaeologist is needed before exploring or excavating at any prehistoric ruin or archaeological site in Oklahoma, whoever owns it.

On state park property and the ocean shore, only where the department's published 'Detecting Allowed' list says so, unless the park manager gives written permission. On State Forest Land, which is any state-owned land the Forester manages, written permission of the Forester is required everywhere.

In many state parks with the park manager's prior approval, digging only with screwdrivers, ice picks or similar narrow tools – under the Department's published policy.

Only on sites the state has formally designated as archaeological landmarks, and there you need both the commission's permission and the landowner's. Nothing in the chapter carries a fine or a jail term.

Banned outright at seventeen named historic sites and battlefields. Everywhere else you need a signed permit from the park manager before each visit, and any modern jewellery you find goes to the park office.

Written authorization from a department representative, on any land the Game, Fish and Parks Department owns, leases, manages or controls – which is all of it, not only parks and recreation areas.

Prohibited outright on Division of State Parks land, with three narrow exceptions and none of them a route for recreational detecting: boat and aircraft navigation electronics, a State Archaeologist research permit countersigned by the Director of Parks and Recreation, and a supervised search for a specific lost item.

Archaeological sites of every character on state, county or city land are state archeological landmarks and are eligible for designation – the statute says both – and all treasure imbedded in the earth on state land is declared a landmark too. Conducting an operation on a landmark needs a permit, in your possession at the site. Violation is a misdemeanour of $50 to $1,000 and up to 30 days, with each day a separate offence. The chapter never mentions metal detectors.

Park manager's permission on state park land.

A permit from the state historic preservation officer, and Vermont is unusual in opening those to amateurs as well as professionals.

The Code carries no detector provision. By DCR policy, only on designated man-made beaches at six parks and only with a DCR special use permit from the park manager. On state forests the Department of Forestry's chapter bars removing an artifact without the State Forests Superintendent's approval.

In a state park, detecting is permitted only in portions of approved parks as posted, in posted daylight hours, and you must register with park staff before starting. Removing small contemporary materials is expressly allowed; anything that is or appears historical or archaeological may not be removed, must be reported immediately, and closes the area. Separately, on any land in Washington including a city's and private ground, disturbing a historic or prehistoric archaeological resource needs a written permit from the director.

Written authorisation from the Chief of Parks and Recreation is needed to remove anything at all from a state park, forest or wildlife management area – which in practice is what detecting is for.

On DNR property the rule that reaches an ordinary detectorist is NR 45.04(1)(a): removing or disturbing natural growth or a natural or archaeological feature needs the department's authorisation, so the hole is the problem rather than the detector, and the carve-out for collecting rocks, minerals and fossils by hand is not a detecting allowance. Separately, only the state archaeologist and licensed individuals may do what Wisconsin calls field archaeology, and that covers archaeological sites owned by a city or county as well as the state.

Banned outright at state historic and archeological sites, with no permission available. Everywhere else on state park land, the superintendent's written permission. Separately, on state or federal land, excavating a prehistoric ruin or an archaeological deposit needs a permit from the state board of land commissioners, and removing artefacts worth more than $500 cumulatively is a felony carrying up to $10,000 and ten years.