You spot a stone. It's beautiful! Then you wonder: is it is okay to collect it?

The answer is that it depends. There are places in the U.S. where it's totally okay—and even encouraged!—to collect rocks, as well as places where you should never collect rocks, for both ethical and legal reasons.

This post is not meant to offer legal advice, as I'm not a lawyer. However, I'm happy to share my experiences as a rockhound who's always looking for interesting places to collect rocks. 

Rule #1: Preserve National Parks

Let's make this one thing super clear: never collect rocks in National Parks. Our National Parks are treasures that everyone should preserve. Not only that, but rock collecting is prohibited in National Parks and you could get in trouble.

There are exceptions, but they're rare. There is a park in California that allows gold panning in specific areas, for example, but it's technically a National Recreation Area and requires a permit. In general, it's best to assume that it's not allowed.

Rule #2: Check First, Wherever You Are

Okay, so we're avoiding national parks. What about National Forests? State and city parks? The strip of land next to the sidewalk?

Unfortunately, there are too many regulations to sum up in one blog post. On public and private lands, it is good practice to check if rock collecting is allowed before picking up a stone. A good tip: search for "rockhounding + location" to find more information about collecting rocks in the area you're traveling to. 

Rule #3: Don't Degrade the Land

Okay, so you found a spot where you're allowed to collect stones. Hooray! Be careful as you collect. Never take a sample if taking that sample will disturb the site or if taking it would lessen the experience of visiting the site for the next person. A good way to judge this is to ask: will someone else miss the presence of this stone? If the answer is yes, then leave it be. 

Good News: You Can Collect on Most BLM Land!

Fortunately, there are places where rock collecting is specifically allowed. Rock collecting is allowed on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, as well as most National Forests! Even better, the BLM manages a massive amount of land—1/12^th of the landmass of the US.

On BLM land, rocks, minerals, petrified wood, invertebrate fossils, and gem stones can be collected. There are limitations, however. There are a small number of properties where collecting is prohibited. Collection is only allowed for personal use. You aren’t allowed collect more than 25 pounds of petrified wood per day. And you can't collect from inside caves, from mining claims, or from archeology sites. Never, ever, ever go into an abandoned mine to collect specimens. 

Where Else Can You Collect?

Beach combing is usually allowed. Collecting is allowed on many road cuts, even in areas that are otherwise protected. On private property, if you are the owner, collect away! On other people’s property, check with the owner. 

Believe it or not, I have also found some interesting samples in my landscape gravel! Riverbed landscaping gravel is mined from existing and former river beds. Sometimes the landscaping rocks are homogenous; sometimes there will be a wide variety of rocks, depending on the upstream geology. 

To Sum It Up

Use your judgment when collecting, but don’t overthink it. You can keep in mind that this planet we are on is almost entirely rock. Other than a very thin layer of topsoil and sand, along with some water, the Earth is rock. In fact, Earth is estimated to be comprised of 5,972,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons of rock. That comes to 746 billion tons of rock per person on this planet right now. That is a lot of rock!