On U.S. federal land the answer changes with the agency: in a National Park Service unit, possessing or using a metal detector is prohibited by regulation; on Bureau of Land Management land in Nevada, the agency’s own brochure says detector use is allowed, but historic sites are closed to collecting and coins and artifacts more than 100 years old may not be taken; and in a national forest, the regulation does not ban the detector itself but does ban digging in or removing archaeological resources. This guide quotes those texts, links them, and says where we could not read the source. It is not legal advice. Before you detect on a specific piece of land, ask the office that manages it.
The three agencies side by side
Checked on 8 October 2026. Where a rule is a regulation we link to its text; where it comes from an agency page or leaflet we say so and give its date when it shows one.
| Land managed by | Detector itself | Digging and removing finds | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Park Service (national parks, monuments, battlefields and other park units) | Prohibited: possessing or using a metal detector. Exception: a device “broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use” while in park areas. | Not applicable in practice: the detector may not be used. | 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7); NPS archeology FAQ (page updated 10 February 2025) |
| Bureau of Land Management (read here: its Nevada leaflet) | Allowed on public lands, according to the leaflet. Gold and silver may be prospected with hand tools “including pans and metal detectors”. | Modern money may be collected; coins and artifacts more than 100 years old may not. Cultural materials may not be removed, disturbed or excavated without a BLM permit. Historic sites such as cabins, sawmills, graves, mining areas and townsites are not open to collecting. | BLM Nevada leaflet “Collecting on Public Lands” (no date shown on the copy we read) |
| U.S. Forest Service (national forests and grasslands) | Not addressed by the regulation we read; depends on the forest. Ask the ranger district. | Prohibited: digging in, excavating, disturbing, injuring, destroying or damaging a prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource, and removing such resources. | 36 CFR 261.9, paragraphs (g) and (h) |
National Park Service: leave the detector at home
The regulation is a flat prohibition on “possessing or using” a mineral or metal detector, and it lists magnetometers and side-scan sonar in the same sentence. The only exception we found in the text is a device that is broken down and stored or packed so it cannot be used inside the park. The Park Service’s own archeology FAQ says metal detecting and metal detectors are illegal in parks it manages and that it is illegal for visitors to have metal detectors in their vehicles. Individual parks can write stricter rules on top, so read the park’s own “laws and policies” page before you go.
This covers more than “no digging”: the prohibition is on possessing or using the device. The text does not say how “broken down and stored or packed” is judged, so if you will pass through a park unit with a detector, ask the park first.
BLM land: allowed on paper, closed in the places that matter
The BLM leaflet we read is from the Nevada state office, and it says metal detector use is allowed on public lands. The same leaflet lists what does not follow from that:
- Cultural materials cannot be removed, damaged, disturbed, excavated or transferred without a BLM permit. It defines cultural resources to include broken objects and debris more than 100 years old that humans made or used.
- Protected materials it names include old bottles, horseshoes, metal tools, graves and trash scatters, which is exactly what relic hunters dig.
- Coins and artifacts more than 100 years old may not be collected, while modern money may.
- Historic sites are closed to collecting. Separately, the leaflet’s general collecting rules exclude wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, areas of critical environmental concern and national natural landmarks, so ask the field office about those designations before you detect.
- Violations of the laws it lists, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, may be punished by fines, imprisonment and forfeiture of equipment and vehicles used.
Two cautions. First, this is a Nevada leaflet with no date on the copy we read; other BLM offices and states may word or apply the rules differently, and a recreation area or special designation can carry its own restrictions. Second, “allowed” here means the detector, not whatever it finds: the leaflet says artifacts belong on public lands. The BLM offices named in the leaflet publish maps and restrictions for their areas.
National forests: the line is drawn at digging and removing
Paragraph (g) of 36 CFR 261.9 prohibits digging in, excavating, disturbing, injuring, destroying or in any way damaging any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resource, structure, site, artifact or property, and paragraph (h) separately prohibits removing them. The paragraphs we read do not mention detectors. Individual forests publish their own pages on detecting, but the Forest Service’s website refused our automated requests, so we cannot quote them. Treat each forest as its own case and call the ranger district.
What this means before you buy a detector
- If your nearest public land is a national park, a detector will not be usable there. Check what private land, beaches and local-authority land are open to you before you spend money.
- If you plan to hunt coins and relics on federal land, the 100-year line and the closure of historic sites put old finds largely off the table. Garrett’s owner’s manual makes a related point in its code of ethics: never hunt on private property without permission, and national and state parks, monuments and military zones are off limits.
- If you plan to prospect for gold, the BLM leaflet allows hand tools including metal detectors, but minerals found on mining claims belong to the claim holder, and sluicing, dredging and commercial mining need permits. See our gold detector comparison once you know where you can use one.
FAQ
Can I carry a metal detector through a national park?
The regulation excepts a detector “broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use” in park areas, but the Park Service’s FAQ also says it is illegal to have detectors in vehicles. Those two statements are not easy to reconcile, so ask the park before you enter with one.
Can I metal detect on BLM land?
The BLM Nevada leaflet says yes for the detector, with limits on cultural materials, historic sites and items more than 100 years old. Other states and special areas can differ; contact the field office.
Can I keep old coins I find on public land?
On BLM land in Nevada, the leaflet says coins and artifacts more than 100 years old may not be collected. In a national forest, digging in or removing a historic or archaeological resource is prohibited. The BLM leaflet says artifacts belong on public lands; if you think you have found something old, ask the managing office before you dig further or take it.
What about state parks, beaches and city parks?
We have not verified state or local rules, which vary by state, park and municipality. Garrett’s manual lists state parks as off limits; confirm with the managing authority, in writing if you can.
What are the penalties?
The BLM leaflet says violations of the laws it lists may be punished by fines, imprisonment and forfeiture of equipment and vehicles. The exact penalties depend on the law and the case, and we do not quote figures we could not read in an official source.
How we put this guide together
We read the regulation text for 36 CFR 2.1 and 261.9 on a public legal-information site, the National Park Service archeology FAQ, the BLM Nevada leaflet and Garrett’s owner’s manual. We could not open Forest Service web pages from our tools, so we use only the regulation for that agency. We are not lawyers, and we do not own or field-test detectors; this is a reading guide to public texts, not legal advice. Full method.