Metal Detecting in Minnesota

1. The rule, in full

Minnesota – Minn. R. 6100.0900, subp. 2(F)

Read from Minnesota Rules published by the Revisor of Statutes (revisor.mn.gov, "Official Publication of the State of Minnesota"), part 6100.0900, history 14 SR 2497; 24 SR 208. Checked 21 Sep 2026.

Operative text, 6100.0900, subp. 2(F):

"Except for scientific research conducted under special permit from the commissioner and with a field archaeology license issued by the state archaeologist, the use of metal detectors in state parks is permitted only for locating specifically identified items of lost personal property. Metal detectors may be used only with prior written permission from the park manager and under the supervision of the park manager."

Scope, 6100.0300:

"Unless stated otherwise, parts 6100.0100 to 6100.2400 apply to all state parks and forest lands under the control of or operated by the commissioner of natural resources."

Determination: DNR state parks only. Does NOT reach municipal parks. Subpart 2 is headed "State parks", and item F speaks only of state parks, so the rule does not extend to DNR forest lands either.

Recreational detecting has no route at all in a Minnesota state park. The only uses are research under permit plus a field archaeology licence, and a lost-property search with the manager's prior written permission and supervision.

The forest-land question, now answered from the rule rather than inferred

The previous version of this entry concluded that the detector rule "does not extend to DNR forest lands either" from the heading of subpart 2 alone. That inference was right, and the rule says so directly: 6100.0900 has a subpart 3, headed "Forest lands", and it was never quoted here. It contains three items and none of them mentions a detector:

Minn. R. 6100.0900, subp. 3, "Forest lands": A. "Wood that is dead and lying on the ground on forest lands may be used to build fires, as long as it is used on forest lands and not removed, except under permit issued by the commissioner." B. "No person may cut live merchantable trees on forest lands for constructing an elevated scaffold, except that shrubs, the lateral branches of trees, and saplings measuring smaller than four inches in diameter at 4-1/2 feet off the ground may be removed." C. "A person may not release, place, or transplant plant or animal life on forest lands unless approved by the commissioner."

So the structure is deliberate, not an oversight. Part 6100.0300 makes the whole chapter apply to "all state parks and forest lands", the drafter then wrote one subpart for each, and put the detector provision in the parks subpart only. On Minnesota state forest land, part 6100.0900 imposes no detector restriction. Three things still bind there: the Field Archaeology Act, if the spot is an archaeological site; the taking-and-collecting limits of subpart 1; and whatever the specific forest unit posts.

The penalty, which this entry did not previously carry

Minn. Stat. 85.20, subd. 1(a): any person who, within the limits of any outdoor recreation unit established in chapter 86A, "shall willfully violate, or fail to comply with, any rule of the commissioner adopted according to section 86A.06, is guilty of a petty misdemeanor."

That provision reaches 6100.0900 directly. The chapter's own statutory authority line names "MS s 14.045; 84.03; 85.052; 85.053; 85.20; 86A.05; 86A.06; 89.031; 89.19 to 89.21; 89.71" – 86A.06 is the rulemaking section 85.20 points at, and 85.20 is itself in the list. So detecting in a Minnesota state park without the park manager's prior written permission is a petty misdemeanour, and the word that matters is "willfully": the subdivision reaches a willful violation, not an inadvertent one.

Two qualifications in the same subdivision:

• 85.20, subd. 1(b) makes violations of rules adopted for wildlife management areas under 86A.05, subd. 8 full misdemeanours rather than petty ones, "consistent with game and fish law penalties defined in section 97A.301, subdivision 1, clause (6)". So the same conduct is graded harder on a WMA than in a park.
• 85.20, subd. 1(c): "If a different penalty is provided in another section of law for the violation and the person is charged under that section of law, the penalty specified for the violation will control." This is the hinge between the two Minnesota instruments – a detectorist who disturbs an archaeological site can be charged under the Field Archaeology Act instead, where 138.41, subd. 1 makes it a gross misdemeanour, three grades above a petty misdemeanour. The park rule is the lighter of the two routes.

State historic sites: a fourth land class, and the agency is not fixed

Minn. Stat. 86A.05, subd. 11: "A state historic site shall be established to preserve, restore, and interpret buildings and other structures, locales, sites, antiquities, and related lands which aptly illustrate significant events, personalities, and features of the history and archaeology of the state or nation." And: "State historic sites shall be administered by the commissioner of natural resources, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota, governmental subdivisions of the state, or by county historical societies jointly or independently as designated by law."

This is why a Minnesota reader cannot answer the question by naming a land type. A state historic site may be run by the DNR, by the Historical Society, by the University, by a city or county, or by a county historical society. Only where the DNR administers it does part 6100 and its detector provision apply at all. The rest are governed by whatever their own administering body imposes, which this project has not read site by site.

Minn. Stat. 138.665, subd. 2 adds a duty that runs the other way, onto the agencies: the state, its departments, agencies and political subdivisions "have a responsibility to protect the physical features and historic character of properties designated in sections 138.662 and 138.664 or listed on the National Register of Historic Places". It binds the custodian, not the visitor, and must not be quoted as a rule a detectorist breaks.

The Minnesota result is not "state land only". The Field Archaeology Act reaches archaeological sites owned by a county, township or municipality. See the political-subdivision entry. The statute pass recorded Minnesota as state parks only; that was the park rule, and the Act was never read.

Sources: revisor.mn.gov rules 6100.0100, 6100.0200, 6100.0300, 6100.0900. Checked 21 Sep 2026. Deepened 18 Oct 2026 with Minn. R. 6100.0900 subp. 3 re-read from the same archived copy, and Minn. Stat. 85.20, 86A.05 and 138.665 read that day from the Revisor of Statutes, "Official Publication of the State of Minnesota", and archived with their sha256.

2. Where it reaches city and county land

Minnesota – Minn. Stat. 138.31 to 138.42 (Field Archaeology Act)

Read from the 2025 Minnesota Statutes published by the Revisor of Statutes (revisor.mn.gov), sections 138.31, 138.32, 138.33, 138.35, 138.36, 138.40 and 138.41. Checked 21 Sep 2026.

Operative text, 138.33:

"No person, including state or other public employees other than the state archaeologist and individuals duly licensed by the director of the Minnesota Historical Society shall engage in any field archaeology on any state site."

Definition, 138.31 subd. 7:

"'Field archaeology' means the study of the traces of human culture at any land or water site by means of surveying, digging, sampling, excavating, or removing objects, or going on a site with that intent."

Scope: reaches municipal land, but only archaeological sites on it. 138.31 subd. 14:

"'State site' or 'state archaeological site' means a land or water area, owned or leased by or subject to the paramount right of the state, county, township, or municipality where there are objects or other evidence of archaeological interest. This term includes all aboriginal mounds and earthworks, ancient burial grounds, prehistoric ruins, historical remains, and other archaeological features on state land or on land subject to the paramount rights of the state. Historical remains do not include bottles or ceramics manufactured after 1875."

Despite its name, a "state site" includes an archaeological site owned by a county, township or city. An ordinary city park that holds no evidence of archaeological interest is not a site and is not reached.

Same instrument as Wisconsin, with the Massachusetts intent clause. Minnesota's definition of field archaeology is Wisconsin's 44.47(1)(d) with one clause added: "or going on a site with that intent". That clause is in the Massachusetts definition too (950 CMR 70.04, "or the entrance onto a site with that intent"). So Minnesota sits on the activity axis with Wisconsin and Massachusetts, reaches land like Wisconsin (archaeological sites only), and bites at the point of entry like Massachusetts.

The limiting clause speaks to state property, as in Wisconsin. 138.40 subd. 1:

"sections 138.31 to 138.42 are not meant to burden persons who wish to use state property for recreational and other lawful purposes or to unnecessarily restrict the use of state property."

It says "state property", twice. It must not be quoted as reassurance about a city park.

Licences, 138.36 subd. 2: the director of the Minnesota Historical Society "may issue a license to a qualified person approved by the state archaeologist to engage in field archaeology on a specified state site." Unlike Wisconsin's 44.47(4)(a), 138.36 requires the approval of another state agency whose jurisdiction covers the site, and says nothing of the owning city.

Penalty, 138.41 subd. 1:

"Whoever willfully violates section 138.33, or willfully defaces, injures, destroys, displaces, or removes any object or data belonging to the state, or willfully interferes with evidence or work on any state site or other site for which a license has been issued, or willfully violates any other provision of sections 138.31 to 138.42, or the rules adopted by the commissioner is guilty of a gross misdemeanor."

What it does NOT prohibit: recreational metal detecting as such, and anything on municipal land that is not an archaeological site.

Directory entry should read: in Minnesota, only the state archaeologist and licensed individuals may engage in field archaeology – which includes going onto a site intending to survey, dig or remove objects – on an archaeological site owned by the state or by a county, township or city. It should NOT read that metal detecting is prohibited in Minnesota city parks.

3. Cities in Minnesota that publish a rule

2 cities in Minnesota publish a rule we can quote, out of 100 checked.

Of the 100 checked, 66 had pages on the city’s own site that we found and read. For the other 34 we could not locate a municipal source, so nothing is claimed about them either way.

4. County rules

County rules exist in Minnesota, and they govern county land only. 7 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 7 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.

5. Cities checked - no published rule

98 cities in Minnesota were checked and have no published rule on this page. Of those, 91 returned no rule, and 7 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 98 were checked on 13 September 2026, in one sweep, so that date applies to every row.

6. Clubs in Minnesota

3 in our directory for Minnesota - 3 verified against their own website or group, 0 we could not verify. Verified means we opened the link and read it. All Minnesota clubs on the club directory, with meeting nights and contacts where we have them.

• Gold Prospectors of Minnesota and Wisconsin - Facebook group · verified
• Gopher State Treasure Hunters - gopherstatetreasurehunters.weebly.com · Minneapolis/St. Paul · verified
• Zumbro Valley Treasure Hunters - Facebook group · Rochester · verified

7. Land this page does not cover

This page answers for Minnesota 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.