On state park land
Depends who owns the park
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.
So the answer turns on which agency runs the park you are standing in – check that first.
Everywhere else on this site we explain that the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act does not reach your local park. Washington is the exception. Much of the District’s parkland is federal — National Park Service ground — and on it, ARPA and the federal park rules apply directly.
What ARPA actually covers — explainer in preparation
1. The rule, in full
District of Columbia – no parks rule, and the land is mostly federal
DC is structurally unlike every other row in this project. It is simultaneously the state-equivalent and the municipality, so the question this file exists to answer – does the state instrument reach municipal land – has no purchase. DC's own law is the municipal law.
1. DC's parks regulations contain no metal detecting rule
Checked directly against the official DCMR section list for Title 19, chapter 19-7 (Department of Parks and Recreation) at dcregs.dc.gov. The chapter runs 19-700 to 19-735 plus 19-799 Definitions, and covers operation of recreation units, reporting accidents, smoking and gambling, responsibility for government property, school facilities, fees, permits, priority of use, commercial activities, dog parks and definitions.
No section addresses metal detecting, digging, excavation or artifacts. This is the Arizona result: the absence is the finding.
2. DC's historic protection law reaches designated archaeological sites
D.C. Code 6-1102(1)(D), defining "alter" or "alteration": "Excavation or action disturbing the ground at an archaeological site listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites or an archaeological site identified as a contributing feature in the designation of a historic landmark or historic district."
So digging at a listed archaeological site is an alteration requiring a permit under the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act. It is designation-dependent – the Texas and Rhode Island shape – and it does not reach ordinary DC parkland.
3. The fact that actually governs most DC parkland is federal
A large share of DC's parks, circles and squares is administered by the National Park Service, not by DPR. On that land the operative rule is federal:
36 CFR 2.1(a)(7): "Possessing or using a mineral or metal detector, magnetometer, side scan sonar, other metal detecting device, or subbottom profiler." This paragraph does not apply to: "(i) A device broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use while in park areas. (ii) Electronic equipment used primarily for the navigation and safe operation of boats and aircraft. (iii) Mineral or metal detectors, magnetometers, or subbottom profilers used for authorized scientific, mining, or administrative activities."
DC is therefore the one jurisdiction in this directory where ARPA genuinely governs a lot of the public land a reader will stand on, because ARPA applies to federal land and much of DC's parkland is federal. Every other entry in this project exists partly to explain that ARPA does not reach the reader's park. The DC page has to say the opposite, and the ARPA explainer should link to it as the exception that proves the rule.
The practical entry for DC is therefore a question about which agency's land the reader is on, not a rule lookup. The page should say: DPR publishes no metal detecting rule; on National Park Service land – which is much of it – 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7) prohibits possessing or using a detector outright; and at any listed archaeological site, disturbing the ground needs a permit.
Not established, and left open: the precise proportion or parcel-level split of DC parkland between NPS and DPR. That would need the NPS and DPR land inventories and has not been done. The page should describe the split qualitatively and tell the reader to check which agency manages the specific park, rather than asserting a figure.
Sources: dcregs.dc.gov DCMR Title 19 chapter 19-7 section list; code.dccouncil.gov D.C. Code 6-1102; ecfr.gov 36 CFR 2.1. Checked 20 Sep 2026.
2. Cities in District of Columbia that publish a rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
3. County rules
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.
4. Cities checked — no published rule
Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.