Great places to go Metal Detecting!
In this article we give you a great video with 101 great ideas and our own write up for 25 places you can Metal Detect. Many of these are places where you can go Metal Detecting TODAY AND a detailed guide to finding great places to metal detect of your own!
Quick thoughts before we start the Treasure Hunting List!!
Here is a list of places you can go Metal Detecting Now. You can click on this link to read our full article on Places to Go Metal Detecting.
If you want to go Metal Detecting now then here is a list of places on Where can you Metal Detect that are available in nearly every town in the USA!
NOTE: - GET PERMISSION! It is easier to ask up front then have the embarrassment (or legal consequences) of being told to leave later. In the case of Some state and federal parks you can go to jail!
- For privately owned land, houses, farms and fields Be nice and ask the owner kindly. Explain that its a hobby and you won't bother anyone or leave a mess (and don't leave a mess. Don't dig big holes and fill them in any holes when you are done metal detecting.
- For town, city and state owned land and places stop by the Town Hall or Town Administrative building or the police department and get permission. Most state and federal parks have websites which will either tell you the rules OR will at least have a number that you can call and ask someone. Some have a simple form to fill out.
Here is the video on 101 tips on places to go Metal Detecting
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House Yards – A common misconception is they have to be old. That is not true.
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Grassy medians between walkways and parking. People pull their keys out and change falls out. If that grassy strip has been their for 50 years there can be a lot of old coins there!
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Parks – Town Or City parks
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School yards
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Campgrounds
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Playgrounds
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Fairgrounds
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Picnic Areas
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Recreational Vehicle Parks
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Amusement Parks
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Carnival Sites
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Swimming Areas such as Lakes and Rivers
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Seaside Beaches
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Sand, Dirt or Grassy Parking Areas
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Old Home Sites
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Old School Sites
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Abandoned factories. The older the better.
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Children's Summer Camps
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Fishing Camps
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Hunting Camps
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Under Grandstands and Bleachers-
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Under Ski Lifts
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Churchyards – Get permission! Remember that very old churches often have graveyards attached. DO NOT dig there. They may even have the stones laying flat. SO watch for them.
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Old Military Bases
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Old Campgrounds
How to research places to Metal Detect
If you want to find the best treasure, you need to do a little research and find places to metal detect that no one else has.
AND you may want to expand your horizons from hunting loose change and Jewelry to Artifacts like civil war relics, settler relics, etc!
Do some research
Believe it or not this can be fun AND a great way to spend some rainy day time or cold winter time.
Here are 3 great ways to research places to Metal Detect:
1) Talk to some of the "old Folks" in town.
- ask them where the fair grounds USED to be.
- Ask them where people you to get together for picnics.
- Ask them where the old swimming hole was.
- Ask them if there are any abandoned town or housing site.
- Ask them if there are any old army bas e sites
- Ask them if there are any old abandoned scout camps.
2) Go to the Library
- Ask the librarian for books about the town and county from 50 -1 00 years ago! THESE ARE GOLD MINES!
- Read the books and WRITE DOWN places and things that once were that may be no more!
- You could then get a county map or go online and get a map and figure out where they were and go detecting.
- Or ask people if they know where these places were
- OR you could do it the modern way and go on Google Earth and find if there are any visible 'remains' (Foundations, roads, etc can be visible, even if they are now under a foot or more of earth!
3) Go On Line
- Search on your town name
- Search on your county name like "Douglas County History" or Old Douglas County Schools or Old Douglas County Camp
- Take notes! OR print out as much info as you can. The more information the better!
- Then go about trying to locate the places you have found.
Once You come up with a place to go metal detecting now PLAN AND GO!
Access
- Get permission. Be nice. Explain the hobby. Most people will say yes.
Be Prepared for unexpected changes
- If the site is 50 -1 00 years old it may have changed
- Trees or new buildings may be there but remember any open space at all is worth checking because chances are no one else has!!
- If it is an old spot you may want a small long handled trowel or foldable shovel (DON'T march in with a full sized shovel and pick ax over your shoulder you will probably get booted out). Cover up any holes you do eventually dig!
Think like the people who were using the place that you researched!
When you get to the site and identify your search area, don't just stick close to buildings.
- Stone walls for climbing by schools or camps.
- Large very old trees for sitting under near old factories.
- Open fields for playing games on near camps or in old parks. IF the trees have overgrown the area a large area of younger trees will indicate an area that was once field.
Learn Some solid metal detecting techniques
- Pick an area and search it methodically mark a section using any perimeter objects like trees or buildings and search that section entirely before moving on.
- IF it is an old site work slowly as the treasure or relics could be down deep.
- Where a pair of headphones to hear the faint signals.
- Decrease discrimination or go to no discrimination (Yes you will here every target and dig a lot of junk like nails etc but you will find artifacts you never would have known ere their otherwise).
- Where a carpenters type of waist tool belt with large pockets. Put all the trash you find on one side (Don't just throw a piece of junk metal or you will find it again!) and good finds on the other.
- Make a little map and keep it in your carpenters belt. Mark the location of especially good finds. Over time you may create a visual area of where you should be hunting by the increased frequency of finds or how they are clustered.
- Always re-scan a hole after pulling out trash OR treasure. There may be something better lurking beneath but hidden by the signal of the other. I Know a guy whole pulled out a jar full half full of silver coins but he almost didn't dig it up because the top half of the jar was old toy metal soldiers and it showed up as junk on his detectors fancy LCD screen!!!
Don't Rush and don't give up
- You may not find any relics straight away.
- You may hit modern pull tabs or junk
- You may initially find nothing
- But it all could be because you are just not in quite the right spot.
- If you check one area and have had enough DO GO BACK ANOTHER DAY and check another area!
You can click on this link to go to our Main web page and see more great Where to Metal Detect Articles like this!
OK thats it for this Article!