Metal Detecting in Arkansas: Places, Rules & Permits

50-State Metal Detecting Map

Arkansas Metal Detecting Map

Filter, inspect and navigate the current Arkansas records with real map layers and permission-aware location details. Written rules always control permission.

14,825verified records

50states

298verified pins

14,825navigable

Map ≠ detecting permission. A marker or temporary search match is navigation context only. Written manager rules, posted restrictions, permits, protected-resource law, ownership and exact designated zones always control.

State County / equivalent Place type Permit Search

State bubbles, verified pins and clusters are clickable · drag, zoom or change map layers

● Allowed / conditional● Permit● Prohibited● Restricted● ReviewBasemaps: OpenStreetMap / USGS · overlays: BLM

Arkansas metal detecting status at a glance

Arkansas does not have one universal public-land answer. The controlling result depends on the exact managing agency, legal scope, recovery method and any designated-zone requirement.

369Total researched locations

369Actionable decision pages

100%Actionable coverage

0Research holds

Arkansas coverage complete: every record in the researched state inventory has a public actionable decision. This does not mean every site is allowed and it does not turn confirmation-required or zone-confirmation pages into trip-ready places.

138Manager/site confirmation required — public hunting/recreation access is not detector or recovery permission

111Manager/site confirmation required — public park access does not establish detector, digging or recovery permission

52Authorization required — written Director permission required for search/recovery activity

28Manager/site confirmation required — access permit does not establish detector/digging/recovery permission

11Project/site confirmation required — current detector policy must be verified

10Search/recovery restricted — refuge-specific modern lost-item detector permission not established

7Prohibited — NPS metal detector possession/use prohibited

4Manager/site confirmation required — recreation access is not detector/recovery permission

3Authorization required — signed USACE metal-detector permit required

2Ownership confirmation required — NPS ban applies only on NPS-administered parcels

1Prohibited — battery-operated metal detecting/search equipment prohibited in diamond search area

1Prohibited/closed — item-removal permits suspended; lakebed digging/removal not allowed

1Authorization required — Blue Mountain Metal Detector Use Permit required

Arkansas metal detecting: quick answers

Is metal detecting legal in Arkansas?

There is no single statewide yes/no answer for every public place. This database currently contains 369 verified Arkansas records, and each result depends on the managing agency, exact legal scope, recovery method, protected-resource rules and any permit or designated-zone requirement.

Do you need a permit to metal detect in Arkansas?

56 current Arkansas records have a permit/authorization signal. Other records may be prohibited, confirmation-gated, zone-restricted or governed by a different rule, so public access alone is never treated as permission.

Does every record have map access?

Yes. Independently verified coordinates appear as pins; records without verified coordinates use safe on-demand address/name navigation, and sensitive records use a broader agency/locality reference. None of these map modes represents a permission boundary.

How current is the Arkansas metal detecting database?

The newest verification date represented in the current Arkansas verified inventory is 2026-08-29. Every location page also shows its own verification date, evidence grade and official source.

Arkansas structured dataset

Use the state-filtered JSON inventory for machine-readable legal status, managing authority, permit/recovery fields, verification evidence and safe map-reference metadata.

Open Arkansas JSON dataset

Explore Arkansas by agency, system and local area

Use the map explorer above to browse the complete state inventory without loading every location page into one response.