Land rules
Metal detecting in national parks and forests
In National Park Service areas, possessing or using a metal detector is prohibited, except as the chapter provides otherwise and for a few listed uses. In national forests, the rule we read targets the resource, not the device. Digging in, disturbing or removing any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource is prohibited.
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What the texts say
One line per rule: the land it covers, what it says, and the text it comes from, with the date we read it.
| Land | Rule | Text |
|---|---|---|
| National Park Service areas (national parks, seashores, and monuments the NPS manages) Prohibited | Except as the chapter provides otherwise, possessing or using a metal detector is prohibited. Exceptions include a device broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use, and one used for authorized scientific, mining or administrative work. | 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on ecfr.gov |
| National Park Service areas Digging or removal prohibited | Except as the chapter provides otherwise, possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging or disturbing cultural or archeological resources, paleontological specimens or mineral resources is prohibited. | 36 CFR 2.1(a)(1)(iii)-(iv) and (a)(6) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on ecfr.gov |
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National parks, seashores and NPS monuments
The NPS rule, 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7), names the device. Except as the chapter provides otherwise, possessing or using a metal detector is prohibited. Exceptions include a device broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use, and one used for authorized scientific, mining or administrative work.
A second paragraph of the same section protects the ground. Possessing, removing, digging or disturbing cultural or archaeological resources, paleontological specimens or mineral resources is prohibited, except as the chapter provides otherwise. Under 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7), a detector packed so it cannot be used is exempt. A detector in use is not, unless the work is authorized scientific, mining or administrative work.
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National forests
The Forest Service property rule, 36 CFR 261.9, does not name metal detectors in the paragraphs we read. It prohibits damaging or removing natural features and other federal property. Damaging or removing any natural feature or other property of the United States is prohibited.
For historic sites, digging in, disturbing or removing any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource is prohibited. Before you search a forest, ask the ranger district which areas it considers sensitive, and whether any local order applies.
| Land | Rule | Text |
|---|---|---|
| National Forest System lands Digging or removal prohibited | Damaging or removing any natural feature or other property of the United States is prohibited. | 36 CFR 261.9(a) and (b) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on ecfr.gov |
| National Forest System lands Digging or removal prohibited | Digging in, disturbing or removing any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource is prohibited. | 36 CFR 261.9(g) and (h) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on ecfr.gov |
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What ARPA adds
The Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) applies on federal public lands and Indian lands. Excavating, removing, damaging or defacing an archaeological resource, or trying to, is prohibited without a permit or a listed exemption. A knowing violation is a federal crime.
Age is the first test. An item is an archaeological resource only if it is at least 100 years old. The Interior Department's ARPA rule adds a carve-out. Coins, bullets and unworked minerals and rocks are not archaeological resources unless found in a direct physical relationship with archaeological resources. That carve-out is ARPA's alone. The NPS and Forest Service rules above still cover what they name.
| Land | Rule | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Federal public lands and Indian lands Digging or removal prohibited | Excavating, removing, damaging or defacing an archaeological resource, or trying to, is prohibited without a permit or a listed exemption. A knowing violation is a federal crime. | 16 U.S.C. 470ee(a) and (d) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on law.cornell.edu |
| Federal public lands and Indian lands Definition | An item is an archaeological resource under ARPA only if it is at least 100 years old. | 16 U.S.C. 470bb(1); 43 CFR 7.3(a) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on law.cornell.edu |
| Federal public lands and Indian lands Definition | Coins, bullets and unworked minerals and rocks are not archaeological resources unless found in a direct physical relationship with archaeological resources. | 43 CFR 7.3(a)(4)(ii) (opens in a new tab)Read Oct. 16, 2026 on ecfr.gov |
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Other federal land
BLM land has its own rules, which we cover on our BLM land page. At Corps of Engineers lakes, detectors are permitted on designated beaches or other previously disturbed areas, unless the District Commander prohibits them. Wildlife refuges and military land each have their own manager. Ask the office that runs the land before you search.
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Questions
Answered from the texts on this page, read Oct. 16, 2026.
36 CFR 2.1 says possessing or using a metal detector is prohibited in National Park Service areas. Its exceptions include a device packed away and one used for authorized scientific, mining or administrative work.
The Forest Service rule we read does not name detectors. It prohibits digging in, disturbing or removing any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource. Ask the ranger district before you search.
Coins and bullets are not archaeological resources unless found in a direct physical relationship with archaeological resources. Other rules on the land can still forbid removing them.
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