Northern virginia hunting buddy

DukeSinatra said:

....There are too many restrictions and laws against detecting.....

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Did you find some specific "no detectors allowed" law/rule at wherever you had in mind ? There's plenty of places to detect, in any state, county, etc....

Tom_in_CA said:

Did you find some specific "no detectors allowed" law/rule at wherever you had in mind ? There's plenty of places to detect, in any state, county, etc....

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Unfortunately, because I live and work in Washington DC, and because of the rich Civil War history in our area (including Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia), treasure hunting laws are extremely strict. City owned properties, federal property and even public properties are off limits. These laws extend out of the DC area and deep into Virginia.

Pasted below is just one example of typical city laws regarding treasure hunting on public property. The laws against treasure hunting / metal detecting are fairly consistent throughout most cities and counties within one hundred miles of Washington DC in any direction. Some are stricter than others, and a few may be more lenient,

City of Manassas
Sec. 78-80. Hunting for relics on public property.
It shall be unlawful for any person, without authority of the city council, to hunt, search out for, attempt to find or seek relics, or to use or be in possession of a metal detector on public grounds or property.
(Code 1978, § 21-37.1)
Cross references: Streets, sidewalks and other public places, ch. 102.

Our only real options are privately owned property.

DukeSinatra, granted , you've found one city with a specific dis-allowance. But this is very rare. Very few cities have dreamed up such a thing. I find it hard to believe all cities around you have something similar to that. Unless you're including damage/deface/alter type verbage ? Or cultural heritage verbage? Or harvest/remove/collect verbage ? Also very few counties ever dreamed up such a thing. And even if you found something, it would only be for their county parks, not "all county land" most-likely.

Let's put it this way: I have no doubt that there are people in your area having no problem finding public land to detect on w/o issue. Sure, not sensitive historic monuments, and sure, not a location with a "specific rule", but .... just sayin'.