Fellow Coloradans (Or those familiar with Fort Collins Area)

[fuzymunky]

I live in Loveland (10 minutes from Fort Collins) and my son and I love to metal detect together. I was wondering if you would be willing to help an old, disabled veteran out and point us to some areas we could swing his coil at (Due to family issues and a motor vehicle accident, I haven't been able to grab one of my own). In no way looking to get into (or even near) someone else's hunting area. I'd just like to find a few areas where my son and I could spend some quality time together and have some fun pulling a shiney or two out of the ground.

I know there's a "ghost town" (if you call it) named Manhattan near Fort Collins. I've done what I consider to be a substantial amount of research on this area. I've found another ghost town southwest of Loveland, and it's supposedly on Forest Service Land.

I looked into the legalities of MDing on FSL land and have found extremely little information on the subject. I did find one website stating that MDing was allowed on FSL land, with several (but not strict) stipulations.

I guess what sums this up most accurately is that before I joined the military, when I lived in Wisconsin, I knew where I could go and what I could do. But I was a kid then, and family members would just tell me areas to go hunting.

I'm not asking to have my hand held here by any means. Again, I've burned the midnight oil so to speak on several occasions looking for information, regulations, and areas within an acceptable driving distance. I even scouted out the ghost town southwest of Loveland. I read every single posted sign and billboard. Not one of them made mention of MDing being off limits.

Any input you would be willing to possibly provide would be enormously appreciated. Thanks for your time.

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[jmoller99]

No matter where you are located, start by finding a metal detecting club that will help out in finding areas to hunt (and from there you can learn about local regulations).

Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters - Fort Collins metal detecting club

In Colorado, expect any easily accessed ghost town to be well picked over. Many of the settlements on forest service land were burned in the 1960's because hippies were moving into them (or at least that was what I was told by BLM people) - Either way, the goodies to find at these locations are likely still there, if you can only find the sites (in the mountains it takes a very long time for the ground to heal, so ground disturbances, and gooseberry plants in the vicintity are often good clues to site once being populated). Also keep in mind that there are laws against digging up relics over 50 years old on BLM and Forest Service properties (Minerals and rock samples, they generally don't care about) - which is why you will want access to private property that has old settlements on it - usually, a metal detecting club works out how to get this sort of access for its members.

Digging up old relics on BLM property can get all of your Detectors confiscated (and possibly your vehicles). It really is in your best interests to go to a few Detector club meetings to learn more - you may find others that want to join in on your efforts. If you are new to Metal Detecting you can learn a lot from experienced detectorists.