New to Arizona. New to Metal Detecting. Itching to go, but where? :(

[mlrosier]

I've only been in Arizona since last March. I live in South Phoenix. I'm new to metal detecting, and I just picked up a Xterra 705 with the standard concentric coil and a 6" concentric coil for $350. Now, I'm looking around for a place to go, but I'm reading all of these posts on forums saying that it's illegal to metal detect pretty much everywhere here. Then others say it's not. South Mountain is literally 5 minutes from my house. Can you metal detect there? Are there any parks close where I can go and I won't get robbed? Any help would be great.

Thank you.

 

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[RustyGold]

Hit up the library and see if you can dig up some history of your local and pay no attention to where you can and cannot detect. Just go for it! Well, as long as it's not a memorial site or private property unless you have permission!
Best of Luck out there!

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Call parks n recreation.
Call the police.
Please, understand your local metal detecting laws/rules/regulations.
You can lawfully metal detect with reward.
GL
Peace ✌

 

[Tom_in_CA]

..... I'm reading all of these posts on forums saying that it's illegal to metal detect pretty much everywhere here. ....

Just curious what "all these posts" are that you're reading that say it's "pretty much illegal everywhere" there. I certainly am not seeing such posts. There's scores of people md'ing in Arizona. And I would assume they're detecting legally, aren't in jail, etc... So do-tell what you're reading , that causes you to believe to the contrary ?

And I respectfully disagree with cincinnati-kid. Well, put it this way: If you DID "call the parks & rec, and call the police", what would you expect their answer to be based on: A) actual laws and rules? or B) whim opinion and mood ?

Most people would assume the answer is based on (A), right ? Ok then: if that's the case, then what's to stop you from simply looking up the laws/rules for oneself ? If you see nothing that says "no md'ing", then presto, it's not prohibited.

I'm sure you can find "skittish" persons who generously cite scary sounding things, or can drum up some fluke story. But it's as Rusty-gold says: Just avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, federal parks, etc.... and you'll be ok.

 

[mlrosier]

There's no reason to be snarky about it. I have been spending my Sunday trying to find a place to go metal detecting in, and I was seeing posts on other forums that said you can't remove anything from the ground here unless it's on private property that you have permission to be on. And I saw that digging in parks is considered vandalism. I looked up the laws in Arizona, and they are muddled. I'm confused on what BLM land is, what you can and can't do. State Parks regulations say you can for recreational and hobby purposes. But I just called South Mountain and they said no, because you can't dig, or disturb an of the ground or rocks. It's so confusing.

 

[Clay Slayer]

There's no reason to be snarky about it. I have been spending my Sunday trying to find a place to go metal detecting in, and I was seeing posts on other forums that said you can't remove anything from the ground here unless it's on private property that you have permission to be on. And I saw that digging in parks is considered vandalism. I looked up the laws in Arizona, and they are muddled. I'm confused on what BLM land is, what you can and can't do. State Parks regulations say you can for recreational and hobby purposes. But I just called South Mountain and they said no, because you can't dig, or disturb an of the ground or rocks. It's so confusing.

Welcome to the forum mlrosier. Don't sweat it...sometimes no matter how you phrase something, it will always to be taken the wrong way by someone. This is a very popular website and you will get PLENTY of great advice from other enthusiasts. HH

 

[Tom_in_CA]

And I saw that digging in parks is considered vandalism.....

If you leave no trace of your activity (leave no marks/holes) then you haven't vandalizED anything, have you ? (I hope that wasn't "snarky". I'm trying to answer your questions.) Same goes for alter vs alterED, etc....

.... And I saw that digging in parks is considered vandalism.....

Who said that ? Trace it back to its origin, and I bet it's the result of someone calling a city hall, or county or state pencil pusher, and getting a "pressing question" like that answered with a "safe answer" type scenario. I mean, it's a bit like asking "can I spit on the sidewalks" type question. Sure, don't throw caution to the wind, but .... on the other hand, you need to look at the origin/context of some of this dire sounding things you can read on forums. Again, hope that's not "snarky", I'm trying to answer your questions.

I looked up the laws in Arizona, and they are muddled. I'm confused on what BLM land is, what you can and can't do....

Anything you could read on the Arizona level , would only apply to state parks (or state land). Not other forms of land within AZ. Eg. city, county, private, fed, etc...

BLM is not forbidden. Perhaps something about cultural heritage (ie.: as long as you don't find stuff over 50 yrs. old). To my knowledge, no one is following around md'rs with a calculator doing the math on coin ages. But if someone is really concerned about this, they can re-insert the coin back in the hole is it's older than 1965 ?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Post-script:

.... you can't remove anything from the ground here....

There is admittedly verbage/text in all laws/rules for all/every speck of public land, forbidding "remove", "take", "harvest", etc... Such text pre-dates metal detectors. And is, of course, so that no one thinks they can take home the park benches, harvest the roses or sod to sell. Cut down the trees for firewood, etc... Were such things ever meant to apply to coins in the ground ? Well, I suppose (technically if you asked enough lawyers). But that would be a little like the following analogy:

If your grade school daughter picks up a seashell on the beach for her gradeschool art project, has she violated the "harvest and collect and remove" laws? Sure. But does anyone really care? Of course not. But if you asked enough bureaucrats, you would probably find one to tell you that she can't do it. Again: not saying to "throw caution to the wind", but just saying, it's possible to over-think such catch-all verbage. People are routinely detecting at such places all over the USA (since the texts exist in some form at every speck of public land).

 

[SusanMN]

If you can connect with Arizona hunters you may get the best info. There are state forums in Tnet. Also, try googling Phoenix metal detecting clubs .

 

[mlrosier]

Post-script:



There is admittedly verbage/text in all laws/rules for all/every speck of public land, forbidding "remove", "take", "harvest", etc... Such text pre-dates metal detectors. And is, of course, so that no one thinks they can take home the park benches, harvest the roses or sod to sell. Cut down the trees for firewood, etc... Were such things ever meant to apply to coins in the ground ? Well, I suppose (technically if you asked enough lawyers). But that would be a little like the following analogy:

If your grade school daughter picks up a seashell on the beach for her gradeschool art project, has she violated the "harvest and collect and remove" laws? Sure. But does anyone really care? Of course not. But if you asked enough bureaucrats, you would probably find one to tell you that she can't do it. Again: not saying to "throw caution to the wind", but just saying, it's possible to over-think such catch-all verbage. People are routinely detecting at such places all over the USA (since the texts exist in some form at every speck of public land).

Thank you Tom. And thank you everyone. I may have just interpreted your response wrong. I apologize. I think I may just throw caution to the wind, and head somewhere after work tomorrow. I'm trying to remember where I was at a year back. I was coming from Saguaro Lake on my motorcycle, and TONS of people were parked along the river. But I can't remember what road it was. Power maybe? Is that public land since people were just kind of pulling off and putting innertubes in water? I was thinking that a place like that would be a great place to hunt around.

 

[AbTexEx]

Welcome to TreasureNet and the valley of the sun



Main thing to watch out for is State Trust Lands in Arizona.
You need a permit just to hike on trails that go across.


Great "tools" to know where you are is Delorme GPS and Google Earth.
We don't leave home without it.


This is near your area of interest.


Purple on left is State Trust.
Top left brown is SRPMIC lands.
Top right is National Forest.
Lower tan is city.
That area under the crosshair is BLM.



Yep it's confusing.


Copy the lat/lon to Google Earth and vice versa.




Here is a KML for Google Earth of that place you saw.
You have to save and open.

View attachment Beat the Heat.kml

Good Luck and "STAY COOL"


AJones