New To Metal Detecting

Colleen131 · Jun 6, 2026

Hi All,
My father gave me his older but still working metal detector. I’m very eager to start hunting for cool stuff. I have practiced in my yard and on a few local trails with it and am getting more and more comfortable using it. My question is where to use it. Is anyone familiar with any spots I can go in the Northeast or Northern Central Pennsylvania area, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland County areas?

Terry Soloman · Jun 6, 2026

A Few Sites to Get You Started:
1) Old Schools
2) City/Town Parks
3) Circus/Fair Sites
4) Old Churches
5) Old Homestead Sites
6) Swimming Holes and Areas
7) Picnic Groves
8) Athletic Fields
9) Scout Camps
10) Rodeo Arenas
11) Campgrounds
12) Ghost Towns
13) Beaches
14) Old Taverns
15) Roadside Rest Stops
16) Sidewalk Grassy Strips
17) Amusement Parks
18) Rural Mailboxes
19) Reunion Areas
20) Revival sites
21) Fort Sites
22) Winter Sledding Areas
23) Lookout/Overlook Sites
24) Church Supper Groves
25) Fishing Spots
26) Fishing Camps
27) Resorts
28) Old Barns and Outbuildings
29) Battle Sites
30) Band Shells
31) Racetracks
32) Rural Boundary Walls
33) Roadside Fruit and Vegetable Stands
34) Under Seaside Boardwalks
35) Flea Market Areas
36) Ski Slopes
37) Drive Ins
38) Canal Paths
39) Vacant Lots
40) Motels
41) College Campuses
42) Farmer Market Areas
43) Town Squares
44) Urban Yards and Backyards
45) Disaster Sites
46) Areas Around Skating Ponds
47) Hunting Lodges and Camps
48) Mining Camps
49) Railroad Grades, Stations and Junctions
50) Hiking Trails
51) Waterfalls
52) Rural Dance Sites
53) Lover's Lanes
54) Areas Adjacent to Historical Markers
55) Old Gas Stations and General Stores
56) Fence Posts
57) Chicken Houses
58) Bridges and Fords
59) Flower Beds
60) Playgrounds
61) Old Garbage Dumps
62) Cloth Lines
63) Military Camp and Cantonment Sites
64) Wells and Outhouses
65) Abandoned Houses and Structures
66) Areas where Old Trails Cross County or State Boundaries
67) Piles of Scraped Soil at Construction Sites
68) Old Stone Quarries
69) Areas Around Old Abandoned Cemeteries in the Forest
70) Junctions of Abandoned Roads (crossroads)

guest · Jun 6, 2026

Colleen131 said:
Hi All,
My father gave me his older but still working metal detector. I’m very eager to start hunting for cool stuff. I have practiced in my yard and on a few local trails with it and am getting more and more comfortable using it. My question is where to use it. Is anyone familiar with any spots I can go in the Northeast or Northern Central Pennsylvania area, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland County areas?

Welcome aboard. Good to have ya here, @Colleen131 .

Hey Terry (@Terry Soloman ), don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction? 😉🤭 But I agree. 😎

Almy · Jun 6, 2026

I hope you find at least one exciting site with lots of relics soon! Mine first site was on our own farm property. I had cultivated the site for several years and never thought about the bits of pottery and brick I saw in the soil as I worked it. But when I got a metal detector, and spoke with a local old-timer asking for sites he knew, he said there was once a house on our front field. Then I remembered the bits I had seen and started metal detecting there. I found old iron farming and digging tools, ox shoes and finally some copper coins from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Talk about exciting! Maybe you have some place near you!