Wyoming Metal Detecting Laws — Research Overview

An orientation to metal detecting and treasure hunting rules in Wyoming, covering federal land, state land, private property, and who to verify with. This page is general research information, not legal advice. The state-level summaries below are our own category-level orientation and are not sourced to a Wyoming statute, code section, or agency ruling. Rules change and differ by unit — verify with Wyoming State Parks before detecting.

Public and federal land in Wyoming [UNSOURCED SUMMARY — confirm with the managing federal unit]: BLM and most national forests permit detecting outside protected sites. Federal land is also governed nationally by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) and the Antiquities Act, which prohibit disturbing archaeological resources over 100 years old without a permit.

State land in Wyoming [UNSOURCED SUMMARY — confirm with Wyoming State Parks]: Wyoming state parks prohibit detecting.

Permits, permissions, and best practices in Wyoming [UNSOURCED SUMMARY]: Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs are strictly off-limits. Always carry written landowner consent for private ground and photograph the permission document.

Terrain and productive regions in Wyoming: Basin-and-range, alpine, and high prairie. Top areas to research include Hole-in-the-Wall, Wind River range, South Pass.

Documented cases relevant to legal research in Wyoming: Hole-in-the-Wall outlaw caches; South Pass gold caches; Lost Cabin Mine — legal status of any recovered items depends on land ownership at the moment of discovery.

Federal rules that apply in Wyoming regardless of state law: ARPA (16 U.S.C. 470aa-470mm) protects archaeological resources 100 years or older on federal and Native American land; NAGPRA (25 U.S.C. ch. 32) governs Native American remains and cultural items; and the National Park Service prohibits metal detector use in park areas under 36 C.F.R. 2.1. Treasure trove and lost-property doctrine are set by state law and are not summarized here.

Verify with the governing agency in Wyoming: Wyoming State Parks (https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/). Archaeological designations and permitting: the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, listed in the NCSHPO directory at https://ncshpo.org/. Federal land: Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and USDA Forest Service.