Permitted Pursuits

Outdoor Hobby Regulations · Verified from Official Sources

Know Where Your Hobby Is Legal

Site-specific rules and permits for metal detecting, foraging, rockhounding, fossil hunting, and more. Verified from official sources. Updated for 2026.

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Prohibited

Glass Beach

California, Mendocino·Beachcombing

Glass Beach is a former city dump turned tourist landmark — and taking the sea glass home is technically prohibited under California's state park rockhounding rule, even though enforcement is close to nonexistent. Fifty-plus years of visitors pocketing pieces is also why the colorful glass is visibly running out.

  • Removing sea glass, rocks, or any natural material from Glass Beach is prohibited under California's state park rockhounding rule (14 CCR § 4611) — the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast District superintendent has publicly stated the glass 'should not be removed' and doing so 'could' result in a citation
  • Enforcement is minimal in practice — no rangers are posted to check pockets — but the prohibition is the actual rule, not a myth, regardless of what a local business owner or fellow visitor might tell you
Allowed

Huntington State Beach

California, Orange·Metal detecting

Metal detecting is allowed on Huntington State Beach's sandy shore under CDPR rules. The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve immediately north of the state beach is a CDFW preserve where detecting is prohibited. California's pre-contact antiquities law (PRC § 5097.5) applies to all archaeological finds.

  • No permit required on the sandy state beach under CDPR rules
  • Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve (immediately north of the state beach boundary) prohibits all metal detecting — it is a CDFW preserve, not public beach
Allowed

Sebastian Inlet State Park

Florida, Brevard·Metal detecting

Metal detecting is allowed on the ocean beach at Sebastian Inlet State Park without a permit. The park sits at the heart of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet corridor, but the offshore shipwreck sites are protected archaeological preserves — unlicensed recovery from them is a felony.

  • Recreational detecting is permitted on the ocean beach; standard park entrance fee applies ($8/vehicle)
  • Items over 50 years old are state property under Florida Statutes Chapter 267 — must be reported to FL Division of Historical Resources before removal
Prohibited

Cape Hatteras National Seashore

North Carolina, Dare·Metal detecting

Metal detecting is banned outright at Cape Hatteras National Seashore under 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7) — a specific federal subsection targeting detectors, not just the general ban on removing natural objects. The 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' history that draws detectorists here is exactly why the rule is enforced without exception.

  • Metal detecting is banned parkwide under 36 CFR 2.1(a)(7), a subsection written specifically to prohibit metal and mineral detectors, magnetometers, and side-scan sonar — separate from and in addition to the general ban on removing natural or cultural objects under 2.1(a)(1)
  • The only exception in the regulation is for a detector that is broken down and stored so it cannot be used, or one used solely for boat/aircraft navigation — carrying an assembled, ready-to-use detector onto NPS beach sections is itself a citable violation
Allowed

Rockhound State Park

New Mexico, Luna·Rockhounding

Rockhound State Park is the rare state park built for the hobby it's named after: pay the day-use fee, collect up to 15 lb of jasper, agate, and thundereggs per person per day, and take it home. No other collecting rule on this site works quite like that.

  • Up to 15 lb of rocks and minerals per person per day may be collected — no separate rockhounding permit is required beyond paying the standard day-use fee
  • Commercial mineral dealers are prohibited from collecting here for resale; the limit is for personal, non-commercial use only

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Permits, land access rules, and legal site guides organized by outdoor activity

Metal Detecting

Metal Detecting

Where you can legally detect

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Foraging

Foraging

Wild edibles & legal harvest rules

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Rockhounding

Rockhounding

Legal sites for rocks, gems & minerals

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Fossil Hunting

Fossil Hunting

Where fossil collection is allowed

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Recently Added Sites

Latest location guides published in 2026

Allowed

Agate Beach

Oregon, Lincoln·Beachcombing

Loose agates, jasper, and shells are legal to pocket at Agate Beach under Oregon's Beach Bill — up to a gallon a day. Cross into Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area just south, though, and the rule flips entirely: nothing leaves, not even a pebble.

  • Under Oregon's Beach Bill (ORS 390.610 et seq.) and OAR 736-021-0090, loose surface material — agates, jasper, petrified wood, shells — may be collected for personal use up to one gallon per person per day and three gallons per person per calendar year
  • Digging into bedrock, cliffs, seawalls, or excavating sand and soil to search for buried material is prohibited under the same rule — only material already loose on the surface qualifies
Allowed

Bandon Beach

Oregon, Coos·Beachcombing

Loose agates, sea glass, and driftwood are legal to collect at Bandon Beach under Oregon's Beach Bill. Face Rock and every other sea stack offshore are permanently off-limits — federal refuge land you can look at but never touch.

  • Loose surface material — agates, jasper, sea glass, shells, driftwood — may be collected for personal use under Oregon's Beach Bill (OAR 736-021-0090): up to one gallon per person per day, three gallons per person per calendar year, no digging
  • Every offshore rock, reef, and sea stack visible from Bandon Beach — including Face Rock itself, Table Rock, Cathedral Rock, Elephant Rock, and the Coquille Point rocks — is part of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and permanently closed to public entry or climbing, regardless of tide
Prohibited

Ruby Beach

Washington, Jefferson·Beachcombing

Beachcombing is prohibited at Ruby Beach — every rock, shell, and piece of driftwood is protected under 36 CFR 2.1 inside Olympic National Park. The one exception most visitors never hear about: you can burn driftwood found on-site in a permitted beach campfire, you just can't carry any of it home.

  • No rocks, shells, driftwood, sea glass, or any other natural object may be removed from Ruby Beach — prohibited under 36 CFR § 2.1(a)(1)
  • Living tide pool organisms (sea stars, anemones, crabs) may not be collected, handled roughly, or removed under the same regulation
Allowed

Six Rivers National Forest

California, Del Norte Humboldt Trinity Siskiyou·Foraging

Personal-use foraging is allowed in Six Rivers National Forest at no charge for incidental amounts — but unlike Oregon forests just across the state line, there is no published gallon-per-day limit. Anything beyond incidental use needs a free-use permit capped at $20 in value per person per year.

  • Incidental personal-use amounts of mushrooms, berries, and most special forest products are free and require no permit
  • Collection beyond incidental amounts requires a free-use permit, capped at $20 in product value per person per calendar year — there is no published pounds- or gallon-per-day figure like neighboring Oregon forests use
Allowed

Apalachicola National Forest

Florida, Liberty·Foraging

Personal-use foraging of common edible plants, berries, and mushrooms is allowed in Apalachicola National Forest for incidental quantities under 36 CFR § 261.10. Targeting huckleberries or berries above casual amounts requires a free USFS Special Forest Products permit. Critical exception: saw palmetto berries require a state FDACS permit regardless of quantity — harvesting without one is a Florida felony. The forest contains the highest concentration of carnivorous plant species in North America; none may be collected under any circumstances.

  • Personal-use foraging of common edibles (berries, mushrooms, nuts, greens) is allowed without a permit for incidental quantities — not for commercial sale (36 CFR § 261.10(a))
  • Targeting huckleberries or edible berries above casual amounts: free USFS Special Forest Products permit required; limit is 1 gallon per day, maximum 3 gallons per year; apply at gp.fs2c.usda.gov
Allowed

Big Cypress National Preserve

Florida, Collier·Foraging

Personal-use foraging of berries, fruits, and mushrooms is allowed in Big Cypress National Preserve under NPS general authority. The same Florida saw palmetto felony that applies elsewhere in the state applies here — do not collect saw palmetto berries without an FDACS commercial license. Cypress dome interiors and wet prairies hold strong chanterelle, persimmon, and muscadine opportunities for those equipped to access them.

  • Personal-use foraging of berries, fruits, nuts, and mushrooms is allowed without a permit for incidental quantities under NPS Management Policies 2006 § 4.4.3
  • CRITICAL: Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) berries require a Florida FDACS commercial dealer license under Fla. Stat. § 581.189 — harvesting without one is a third-degree felony statewide including NPS land