Other

Metal detecting, geocaching & letterboxing, rockhounding, gold panning, and more! The Ottawa National Forest allows a variety of other recreation opportunities.

Any collecting of rocks, fossils, and minerals is not permitted in wilderness areas. The collection of these materials cannot be for the purpose of sale, barter or trade.

Geocaching & Letterboxing

Geocaching is a growing exploratory recreational activity on the Ottawa National Forest. Caches are widely established all over the state of Michigan and their respective GPS coordinates placed on the internet. When found, a cache may provide a variety of rewards. Visitors are expected to leave something in exchange for whatever they may take from the cache and often contain a logbook for visitors to sign.

Permits are generally not required to hide a geocache on the Ottawa National Forest, as it is considered a dispersed recreation activity. However, should any form of monetary fee be required to participate in the activity, a permit may be required.

General Guidance for Geocaching on the Ottawa National Forest:

• Geocaching activities are limited to General Forested Areas (GFA’s) and are not permitted in Wilderness Areas (Sylvania, McCormick, and Sturgeon River Gorge), Natural Areas, historic structures, administrative buildings, or developed recreation sites.
• Geocachers should never dig in the forest or place nails in a tree to hide their cache(s).
• Proper care must be given to avoid damage to vegetation, archeological evidence, trail tread, or other fragile resources in the area.
• Proper care must be given to avoid the spread of invasive species (e.g. Garlic Mustard, Purple Loosestrife, etc.). Use any available boot brushes located at trail heads.
• All Geocachers are encouraged to follow the guidelines set forth by the Michigan Geocaching Organization (Mi-GO). This information can be located on their website (see "Land Use Guidelines” under Main Menu).
• The Forest Service emphasizes placement of natural items only. This avoids the appearance of litter in the Forest.

For additional information, please contact an office.

Rocks and Minerals

• Rockhounding

  "Rock hounding" does not require special permission or fee payment when done for personal enjoyment. To make sure special permission or fee payment is not necessary, please contact the Ottawa National Forest Supervisor's Office.

  • Forest visitors are welcome to pick up mineral specimens, rock samples, geodes, or other earth oddities, and to pan for gold using hand tools.
  • Invertebrate fossils, casts and molds can be collected in a recreational sense in accordance with the 36 CFR 291.

• Landscaping Material

  A mineral material permit is required for materials collected for landscaping purposes (gravel for a driveway, decorative stone & etc.). A permit must be obtained before material for those purposes is removed. For more information, please contact an office.

• Gold Panning

  The Ottawa National Forest allows recreational mineral collecting, such as panning for gold or rock collecting without the need for a permit. Gold panning is only allowed with the use of hand tools (pan, small shovel, and hand pick). Occasional recreation panning, for an individual or group, is limited to extremely small areas of stream disturbance: a few scattered areas of less than 1 square foot, totaling less than 40 square feet within a 500-foot segment of a stream, and occurring less than 5 days per year. The activity cannot undercut the banks.

  The Forest does not issue permits for more substantial recreational collecting. Because the Eastern United States is not subject to the 1872 Mining Law, a claim cannot be filed.

  Prohibited: the use of suction dredges, any type of motorized equipment, mercury or any kind of chemical, and sluice type devices.

• Metal Detecting

  Forest Service policy does not prohibit the use of metal detectors for the recreational collecting of rock and mineral samples. However, the activity must not leave open holes in the ground and each hole will be filled back in and returned to as close to a natural condition as possible. There are limitations to a metal detector’s use in National Forests based on laws and regulations designed to protect cultural and natural resources. Some of the rules protecting cultural resources are:

  • Secretary of Agriculture Regulation 36 CFR 261.9 prohibits the excavation and/or disturbance of "any prehistoric, historic, or archaeological resource, structure, site, artifact, or property”
  • The Archeological Resources Protection Act prohibits surface collecting and excavation of artifacts and allows for both civil (fines) and criminal felony penalties for violators.

  While the use of a metal detector is not prohibited, the excavation and removal of artifacts from National Forests System lands is a prohibited act.

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