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Arizona rockhounding: who owns the ground

Last verified October 19, 2026. Every rule below links to the page that explains it, with sources.

Arizona is the state where the blue squares matter. BLM manages about 12.1 million acres here, but more than 9 million acres, about 13% of the state, is State Trust Land, and the Arizona Senate's own research staff put it plainly: “Although trust land belongs to the state, it is not considered public land.” About 28% of Arizona is Indian trust land. Desert that looks open often isn't.

Arizona land types at a glance

• BLM public land — yes, with a written limit. BLM Arizona's 1998 supplementary rule sets “reasonable” as up to 25 lb a day plus one piece, 250 lb a year, for rocks, mineral specimens, common invertebrate fossils, semiprecious gemstones and petrified wood (63 FR 108). Hand tools, personal use, no sale. Not on active claims or developed sites. Arizona BLM collecting rules
• Arizona State Trust Land — no. Removing rock, minerals or fossils is a class 2 misdemeanor (A.R.S. 37-501). The $15 recreational permit covers hiking and looking, not collecting. State Trust Land and rockhounding
• National forests — small amounts, ask. Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott, Tonto, Coronado and Apache-Sitgreaves. Forest Service guidance: generally up to about 10 lb, surface or small hand tools, no wilderness. Prescott and Tonto put that 10 lb in writing; ask the district for the others.
• Arizona State Parks — no. A.A.C. R12-8-103 bars removing any “archaeological, geological, or historical object.” Parks and monuments
• National parks and NPS monuments — no. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Saguaro, Organ Pipe and the rest (36 CFR 2.1). Petrified Forest and petrified wood
• BLM national monuments — no. BLM Arizona's rockhounding brochure: “Collecting in BLM national monuments is prohibited.” Monument list
• Wildlife refuges and military ranges — mostly no. Kofa NWR allows hand collecting only in the 1.5-square-mile Crystal Hill Area. Cabeza Prieta and Imperial prohibit rockhounding. The Barry M. Goldwater Range East visitor rules ban rock removal; Yuma Proving Ground is closed except to permitted hunters.
• Tribal and private land — permission only. Navajo Nation Parks: “Special permits are required from the Navajo Minerals Department and Natural Heritage Program to collect rocks and/or plants.” Private and patented land needs the owner's OK. Paid dig vs public land

Arizona articles

Arizona BLM collecting rules

The 1998 rule that makes 25/250 law in Arizona, plus claims, meteorites and the traps.

Photo: BLM Arizona, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Arizona State Trust Land

Not public land. Why the recreational permit doesn't let you take a rock.

Photo: BLM Arizona, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Petrified Forest and petrified wood

The $325 minimum fine, where shop wood comes from, and where you can legally collect.

Photo: National Park Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Arizona parks, monuments, refuges

State parks, NPS units, BLM monuments, Kofa's Crystal Hill and the military ranges.

Photo: BLM Arizona, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Check a mining claim on MLRS

BLM reports more than 55,000 mining claims on Arizona public land. Same tool as Utah and Nevada.

Photo: D&RG Railfan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Places the agencies themselves list

• Black Hills Rockhound Area (BLM Safford Field Office): fire agate, no fee or permit, between Safford and Clifton. Details
• Round Mountain Rockhound Area (BLM Safford Field Office), near Duncan. BLM's directions run through New Mexico; ask Safford which state's rules apply where you dig.
• Diamond Point (Tonto National Forest): quartz crystals, a 35-acre site with its own rules: small hand tools, holes no bigger than 4 × 4 × 8 inches, backfill.
• Lynx Creek Gold Pan Day Use Area (Prescott National Forest): recreational panning and metal detecting under posted rules.
• Kofa NWR, Crystal Hill Area: by hand only; no tools or metal detectors.

A listed site is not blanket permission. Check the edges for claims and State Trust sections, and read the site's own rules before you go.

Before any Arizona trip

1. Click the parcel on an official surface-management layer and write down township, range and section.
2. Check the Arizona State Land Department's parcel viewer. A blue section inside BLM country is State Trust Land, and it's closed to collecting.
3. Check overlays: national monument, NCA, wilderness, WSA, refuge or military boundary.
4. Run MLRS for active claims, and look for posts, cairns and notices.
5. Read the field office or ranger district page for closures and fire restrictions. Call if anything is unclear.
6. Weigh what you take and log it: 25 lb plus one piece a day, 250 lb a year on BLM. Hand tools only. Nothing for sale.

Rockhound Kids: a 23-page printable coloring pack for ages 4–10, with obsidian, sunstone, geodes and desert critters of the West. $4.99.

Sources: BLM Arizona (What We Manage; Rockhounding in Arizona brochure; Mining and Minerals), 63 FR 108 (Jan. 2, 1998), 43 CFR 8365.1-5, 43 CFR 3622.4, A.R.S. 37-501, Arizona State Land Department, Arizona Senate issue brief on State Trust Land (2022), A.A.C. R12-8-103, 36 CFR 2.1, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Kofa, Cabeza Prieta, Imperial), Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation, USDA Forest Service (Prescott, Tonto). Details and links on each article.

Informational only — not legal advice. Rules, boundaries and seasons change. Confirm with the managing agency for the exact parcel before you collect. Last verified October 19, 2026.

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