Metal Detecting Regulations Disclaimer:

The metal detecting regulations that are listed below may not necessarily represent the actual reality of what takes place in any particular community or state park, but only represent the actual written metal detecting regulation you would find, when you look deeply enough.

When reading any of the metal detecting regulations keep in mind that the actual practice for any given area may not represent the actual regulation that exist. The regulation may state no metal detecting but in actual practice if may be ok. This is usually true for beaches within a city, county or state parks.

The recommendation is to make inquiries of local metal detector club’s about what regulations are enforced in any specific area before approaching government officials concerning metal detecting questions. Government official will probably provide a response required by a regulation and in actual practice it may be ok to metal detect.

Some parks within any jurisdiction may be historically sensitive (Indian Burial Grounds or Archaeology Areas) and in these cases you should not be metal detecting in those areas, but other areas might be innocuous and no one cares.

Try to keep inquires to government agencies to a minimum and instead seek answers from detectorist that are familiar with the area.