I haven't been able to find anything as of yet about the towpath in auglaize county. I believe it's in a state park type situation? I've just been skimming over different Web site's. Haven't seen anything saying I can't metal detect there, but my luck I would get in trouble. I don't have a metal detector as of yet and the ground is pretty cold/frozen, I guess I'll just wait till spring and hope metal detectors are on sale then if I'm still interested. Sorry to have bothered you. Happy hunting
silent-sidney: Your post is fairly typical of when someone (with a skittish/cautious nature) reads of ANYWHERE else in the world, of a "permit". Or reads of a hassle, or scram, or ticket, or law, or booting, etc.... Instantly the person reading does exactly what you have done: They start to worry about their own locale. So they post posts like this, which ...... guess what ?: Fosters MORE of the same self-fulfilling vicious circles worries of others (who read your post, and then rush to wonder, blah blah). See how it just feeds off of itself?
The danger then becomes that ........ sure enough ........ various folks go to their city, or county, or state bureaucracies (ranger kiosks, city halls, etc...) and ask "Can I metal detect?". Seems innocent enough, right? I mean, it doesn't hurt to ask, right? And who better to ask, than the powers-that-be themselves? But then it just spirals more down-hill: Even though there may not be anything specific (no rules specifically saying "no detecting", and no "permits"), yet ..... sometimes that desk-jockey-pencil pusher (who probably envisions geeks with shovels), gives the easy answer: "no". Or your "pressing question" gets bandied back and forth between multiple desks, and sure as heck some archie will chime in morph something about cultural heritage to it. And then guess what? Pretty soon, by virtue of your asking, it's as if NOW it's a "no", whereas ........... truth-be-told, no one ever cared before that !!
Yes I realize you asked your question here, and not grovelling at the desks of bored bureaucrats. But the simple appearance of the word "permit", does exactly as it did to you: Puts it out there as a fear, that starts that snow-ball effect.
Just avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, IMHO, and you'll be fine. I never ask or worry about laws, rules, etc.... , unless posted on a sign. If someone "has an issue", they're welcome to come alert me.
