Cape Cod MD Laws

[gutenburg]

I am going to Cape Cod in a week and am hoping to get an M6 before I go. Are there any rules/laws against MDing Cape Cod Beaches? Do I have to get a permit?

 

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[laralucine]

depends on where you are - literally the whole outer cape - the eastern side from "elbow" to "fingertips" - is National Seashore - totally off limits. But on town beaches, may be fine. So check with the particular town you're visiting. Good luck

 

[gutenburg]

How come people say it is best metal detecting on that side? Also I have heard of people detecting on the shore near where the Whydah went down. I am not doubting what you said but maybe people aren't following the rules. I don't know.

 

[laralucine]

exactly. That's the side where the Whydah wrecked. It's illegal, but I'm not saying no one does it, just saying I wouldn't

 

[Ollieboy]

Newbie here,the National seashore is definitely off limits, although I myself have detected along Marconi beach where the whydah was found, went at first light with no problems and it was in the off season as well. Very very clean walked for almost an hour before hearing any signals. I have also heard tales of people picking up silver bars and coins over the years while they were just walking the beach. Their are signs saying no metal detectors as well. I'm going to try it again this week but i will be entering the beach this time south of Marconi, and walking north. Good luck in your hunting. No signs restricting MD'ing at this beach so I'm going to play dumb if challenged.
Ollieboy

 

[gutenburg]

I just talked to the person who is renting us the house for the week. He says he knows of no rules and that there are tons of people who detect on the national seashore. In fact he is going to get a metal detector himself. But I still think you guys are right because when I look up -national seashore metal detecting- on Google I get many laws saying you can't metal detect on national seashores. Maybe they don't enforce the rules very well but I know if I will take the chance.

 

[Brian in MA]

Hi All, fellow Mass. hunter here. (Wayland)... Just to follow up on what Ollieboy said. I have actually seen pictures of a coffee can filled with spanish silver, mostly pieces of eight, that were found on Marconi Beach by a husband & wife who walked the beach every morning (without a metal dectector) . They would literally just pick them up off the sand. Of course, a big storm the night before always seemed to bring more to light. I'm not sure about the laws governing the seacoast beaches but it has been proven that you can find serious treasure without a detector....

Good luck and Happy Hunting !!!

Peanut

 

[John (Ma)]

Be carefully on National land, some areas it's not legal to even have a detector in your vehicle. I have heard this in National forests, in which I would only assume the beaches would be simular.

 

[Ollieboy]

Update went to the beach yesterday, as i said i intended, south of Marconi and walked north. It is I believe a town beach "off season" definitely not posted as far as no metal detectors go. Anyway i spent 4 hours md'ing the area and also spoke to an eye witness to the recent removal of the large mass from the Whydah. They actually walked the beach to show me the exact spot. Anyway in the 4 hours i was there i picked up 3-4 iron washers, 2 bottle caps and a very very interesting screw driver. I haven't taken a photo yet but i will today, hoping that someone can put a date on it for me. I think it may have come from the whydah. What do I know? stay tuned.
Ollieboy

 

[dyardude]

Hi i am also goin to the cape next week. In p'town actually, just wondering about any good beaches to detect up that way. thanks, dan

 

[Amona]

Just to be sure if it is Fed land or not, look this link and click "view map"

http://www.nps.gov/caco

Amona

 

[blacksambellamy]

Do not detect...read my story

Please learn from my lesson.

I detected Marconi beach for years and never had a problem. I located the site of the old Camp Wellfleet military base. I recovered many artifacts from it and my research lead me to some of the 80 year old men and women who served there. I interviewed many of them who were thrilled with my research. In return for their time i mailed them all the artifacts i found and they were thrilled.

Now for the best part. That base was used to fly top secret military drones for target practice. I was given much information about these drones including the location of a possible crash site. After years of research i located it deep in the woods.

I recovered this drone and notified the National Seashore VIA email about my find. Included in that email was my name, phone number and address. I also asked them if the wanted it to put it on display along with all my research. I included the link to my website displaying my research http://www.campwellfleet.com. I was proud of this site and all the work i was doing for the vets. The park police never did see it my way.

A few days later i received an email from the park museum. In that email they attached a photo of the old camp Wellfleet for my collection. They also stated they had no room for the drone i had found but were interested in the photos i got from the vets.

After this all emails stopped.

Months later i returned to detect. After 2 hours in the rain i returned to my vehicle. As i walked up the stairs from the beach 2 rangers jumped out of the bushes yelling my name. They read me my rights and wanted to know the location of the drone. I explained to them i contacted them months ago about my find, they acknowledged this and proceeded to pat me down. They took the 2 pennies i found along with a rock. Removal of anything off the beach is illegal even rocks. Then they confiscated my metal detector and issued me a summons. They stated they would void the summons and return the detector upon the return of the drone.

In short i returned the drone they downgraded the summons to $50 bucks and refused to return the detector.


Take it from me do not detect there. This only happened 8-10 months ago and I'm sure they are watching that beach. I can only imagine what Mel Fisher went through if i went through all of this.

This is no story i have all emails saved ad everything recorded. There are more drones and i have locations, but i will never return. History will be lost forever and there is nothing i can do about it.

see my site http://www.campwellfleet.com


Note: i now have a research boat with side scan sonar and other equipment. Im looking for divers to join me searching Cape Cod bay for wrecks...let me know

 

[Massbaycolonist]

i just got back from a recon of Cape Cod. I asked the ranger at the station about md'ing. She gave me a map, and said, "All the areas shaded in green are off limits to metal detecting." And the green shaded area is practically the whole Cape. At least the Southern side. I guess you can search some town beaches, but you can do that in almost any town and closer to boot. I'm not going back.

I am going to Cape Cod in a week and am hoping to get an M6 before I go. Are there any rules/laws against MDing Cape Cod Beaches? Do I have to get a permit?

 

[blacksambellamy]

At least you were smart and you asked a ranger. Over the years i never asked ...my fault i know. But over the years i have seen Rangers on the beach while detecting and they never stopped me so i thought it was ok.......Anyway the law is the law and if i can get the message out and save someone their detector then my postings were worth it.

 

[skarmajunga]

Damn shame we cant detect at marconi, what a waste.

 

[The Fog]

I can tell you that if you were detecting and rangers were nearby I can assure you they were not Law Enforcement Rangers, they were most likely fee collectors or interpreter rangers. The LE Rangers are told from the jump that metal detectors are off limits within the seashore and a violation of ARPA. That being said I would love to detect there but sadly it's illegal. Years ago my friend found this coin while walking the beach in Truro.

 

[blacksambellamy]

Well if he found the coin on the Ocean side he violated the law by keeping it. Anything that washes up on the beach is park property.

 

[ddbowdoin]

Well if he found the coin on the Ocean side he violated the law by keeping it. Anything that washes up on the beach is park property.

I'm pretty new here and don't want to start a firefire but laws like that are just wrong, in every sense of the word. If someone is respectful of the beaches, makes sure you fill in any areas that you have distrurbed, never enter dunes to avoid any harm to local wildlife, and never liter then who are you harming? Personally, I have an offroad liscence on the NS and I plan on throwing my MD (whenever I purchase my first one) at night since I am able to fish and camp legally...

so I can fish, camp, and legally burn fires but I can't dig for a coin? It's just sad in my opinion, especially since if I ever came across something of historical value I would never sell and I would lend the piece to a local museum to be viewed and shared by the rest of the world

 

[berkshiregold]

I visited Cape Cod last year and spoke to a park ranger at the visitors center in Eastham. He said that if you happened to come across something that COULD be of historical significance while walking on the beach, your not supposed to pick it up. The entire park is off limits to metal detectors, no ifs ands or buts about it! No possible chance of getting permission either! I think it's a matter of not being able to raise revenue for the state. It's all about money that they wouldn't be able to get!

 

[no_fish_bish]

so your all saying the outer side of cape cod is off limits but what about islands and is it only the beach area to the high tide line then water is no longer under that law