Is It Illegal To Metal Detect In Public Parks?
By: Michael Moore
Tags: United States, Treasure Hunting, Metal Detectors, Hobby, Metal Detecting

Public parks are in the list of most favorite, most popular, and naturally some of the most accessible places for metal detecting. This is especially true for noobs who only make their first steps in this hobby, and would love to give it a try somewhere other than their own garden.

Yet, many fear that treasure hunting in public places, such as public parks, may be illegal. And they are worried for a good reason — in certain places, such activities are not allowed at all, in others, you need official allowance under certain conditions, etc. So make sure you know all the nuances in the area, before you go out. Sometimes, the decision of the local authorities can be based on what type of objects you target, or what machine you operate. For example, this review is about one of the best devices, and you will have no problem searching with it.

Moreover, the rules may change depending on:

the country

state or region

local laws

personal like or dislike of local authority

Depends on the Country

In some countries, treasure hunting is allowed and free for everybody — that is, in public places. Of course no one will allow you to search on private grounds, even if the country allows the activity overall.

Other countries give only limited allowances — for example, on the seashores only. Other countries still allow search only if you have a locally issued license by the relevant agency. The rest of the countries either take everything found as property of state, or ban treasure hunting altogether.

To learn more about every situation, visit Detect History for detailed info.

Depends on the State/Region

If we are talking about countries that give prerogative of issuing local laws to its separate states, provinces, or territories, the detectorist has to find out about every location separately. This works for the US, Canada, Australia for sure. Other countries may also support the principle of local laws, at least in terms of metal detecting.

Therefore, you may stumble across the situation when one state allows search in public parks, and the other state of the same country does not, and you can’t do anything about it.

Depends on Local Laws

There may be individual cases when specific local laws disallow metal detecting in public places. Even if the state, region, territory, or province have nothing against this activity, you may find out that some locations are closed for detecting. You are most likely to be allowed to search in public parks, because park is an area with access to everybody. However, you are unlikely to take an allowance to search near industrial objects, military objects, near sea or river ports, etc. You may face resistance if searching near kindergartens or schools, as well — even if this is still the territory of a public park.

In other words, you have to know the general laws, but remain aware that there may be nuances. If the public park is a historically important location, you won’t be able to search there.

Depends on Public Owners

While public parks are “everybody’s” place, there are still agencies responsible for every park — these are usually local authorities that clean the park and take care of it, in all terms. Now, more often than not, if the laws allow treasure hunting, you won’t meet much resistance. However, individual and personal dislikes may play a very important role in this aspect. if, for example, the local agency has already had an unpleasant experience with metal detectorists who dug across the green area like an army of mole-rats, they won’t be happy about your request.

In this case, you can object, of course, and use laws as reference, but we strongly advise to cooperate, and play nice. Be polite and try to find common grounds with the agency responsible for the territory. Also, make sure you are careful, and won’t leave the place dug and dirty all over. This is the best strategy you can choose for addressing the authorities with requests about treasure hunting in public parks.

Conclusion

Public parks are one of the most convenient places to start a metal detectorist’s career, yet one has to be aware of the rules, and careful. make sure you know the laws, and have contacts of the agency responsible for the park — just in case anybody has questions about your activities.

Michael Moore, DetectHistory.com