Is it legal to pick up arrowheads?
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Not on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says arrowheads and other stone tools "may not be removed, damaged, disturbed, excavated, or transferred without a BLM permit" [1], and Forest Service regulations prohibit removing "any prehistoric, historic, or archaeological resource" [2]. National parks forbid it too. The belief that surface arrowheads are legal comes from one clause in the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), which only says that ARPA's own penalties do not apply to them [3][4]. The agency rules still do. On private land, arrowheads belong to the landowner, and state law may protect them. This page explains each rule and what to do when you find one.
Where the "surface arrowheads are legal" idea comes from
ARPA, 16 U.S.C. 470aa and following, makes it a federal crime to "excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface" archaeological resources on public or Indian lands without a permit [3]. Two provisions then carve out surface arrowheads:
- the criminal penalties in section 470ee(d) do not apply to "the removal of arrowheads located on the surface of the ground" (470ee(g)) [3];
- ARPA's civil penalty section says: "No penalty shall be assessed under this section for the removal of arrowheads located on the surface of the ground." (470ff(a)(3)) [4].
Read together, these mean ARPA will not be used to punish someone for picking up a surface arrowhead. They do not say it is allowed, and they say nothing about the regulations each land agency enforces under its own authority. Those regulations do not carve out arrowheads.
What each land manager allows
| Land | Can you pick up an arrowhead or other artifact? | Source |
|---|---|---|
| BLM | No, without a BLM permit. Protected materials include "arrowheads and other stone tools, grinding stones, beads, baskets, pottery." Collecting "prehistoric tools and chips or flaking debris made of precious or semiprecious stones is not allowed." Historic coins and artifacts are also protected | BLM, Can I Keep This?, 2021 [1] |
| National forests | No. Prohibited: "Removing any prehistoric, historic, or archaeological resource, structure, site, artifact, property" (36 CFR 261.9(h)), and digging in or disturbing any such resource (261.9(g)) | 36 CFR 261.9 [2]; FS-1091, June 2017 [5] |
| National parks | No. Park rules prohibit removing cultural and archeological resources | 36 CFR 2.1 [6] |
| Other federal land and Indian lands | ARPA's prohibitions apply on all public and Indian lands; check the managing agency's rules and ask the tribe | 16 U.S.C. 470ee(a) [3] |
| State land | State law; many states protect archaeological sites and burials on state land | See collecting on state land in all fifty states |
| Private land | With the owner's permission, subject to state law, especially on burials | See below |
The BLM line about "chips or flaking debris made of precious or semiprecious stones" matters to rockhounds in particular. A scatter of obsidian, agate or jasper flakes at a knapping site looks like good collecting material, and it is an archaeological site. Leave it.
The penalties
| Violation | Maximum under ARPA | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A knowing violation of 470ee(a), (b) or (c) | Fine of $10,000, one year's imprisonment, or both | 16 U.S.C. 470ee(d) [3] |
| Same, where the commercial or archaeological value plus restoration cost exceeds $500 | Fine of $20,000, two years' imprisonment, or both | 470ee(d) [3] |
| A second or later violation | Fine of $100,000, five years' imprisonment, or both | 470ee(d) [3] |
| Civil penalty | Set by regulation from the resource's archaeological or commercial value and the cost of restoring and repairing the resource and site; capped at twice the restoration and repair cost plus twice the fair market value of resources destroyed or not recovered; may be doubled for a second or later violation | 470ff(a) [4] |
These are ARPA's figures. The surface-arrowhead clause removes them for surface arrowheads only. Violating a BLM, Forest Service or Park Service regulation carries that agency's own penalties, which the surface-arrowhead clause does not touch.
Private land
ARPA's main prohibition covers public and Indian lands [3]. On private land, artifacts belong to the landowner, and you need the owner's permission to look for them or take them. Two things still reach private land:
- State law. States have their own antiquities and burial laws, and many protect human remains and burial goods on private land as well as public land. What counts as a burial, and what you must do if you find one, varies by state. If you find bone, stop and call the county sheriff or the state historic preservation office.
- Interstate sale. ARPA prohibits selling, buying, exchanging or transporting in interstate or foreign commerce any archaeological resource taken "in violation of any provision, rule, regulation, ordinance, or permit in effect under State or local law" [3]. An artifact taken unlawfully under state law becomes a federal problem once it crosses a state line.
If an owner lets you collect, put the permission in writing and include the parcel, the dates and whether you may keep or sell what you find. The points to cover are on collecting on private land.
Buying, selling and framing artifacts
ARPA's trafficking clause makes it a crime to "sell, purchase, exchange, transport, receive, or offer to sell" an archaeological resource removed from public or Indian lands in violation of federal law [3]. The prohibitions took effect on October 31, 1979 (470ee(e)), and the trafficking ban in 470ee(b)(1) does not apply to a resource a person lawfully possessed before that date (470ee(f)) [3]. For a dealer or a buyer of an old collection, the practical test is the record: where each artifact came from, whose land it was, and when it was found.
Arrowheads framed in Riker mounts turn up often in old rock and mineral collections. The Riker mounts page covers the mounts themselves, and buying a collection covers sorting out artifacts, fossils and other restricted material in a collection you are offered. If an artifact has no record and could have come from public land, do not sell it.
When you find an arrowhead or a site
- Leave it where it is. Its position, and what lies near it, are what an archaeologist needs. Moving it destroys that.
- Photograph it in place, with something for scale, and record the location with your phone's GPS.
- Note the land status. Federal, state, tribal or private, as best you can tell.
- Report it. On BLM land, tell the field office; on a national forest, the ranger district; in a park, a ranger. On private land, tell the owner.
- If you see bone, stop. Do not dig further. Call local law enforcement or the state historic preservation office.
If you were collecting rocks when you found it, keep collecting rocks somewhere else. A flake scatter or a tool site is not the place to swing a hammer.
Fossils and meteorites follow their own law
Arrowheads, fossils and meteorites each follow separate law, and none of them follows the mineral rules. For fossils, the companion page is collecting fossils on public land. For the full list of public-land material that may never be sold, see selling material collected on public land.
References
- Bureau of Land Management, Can I Keep This? A guide to collecting on public lands, BLM/MT/GI-11/007, revised 2021. https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2021-10/Can%20I%20Keep%20This%202021%20-%20508%20Final%20Version.pdf
- eCFR, 36 CFR Part 261, Prohibitions, section 261.9 Property, up to date as of October 7, 2026, read October 22, 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/chapter-II/part-261
- Legal Information Institute, 16 U.S.C. 470ee, Prohibited acts and criminal penalties (Archaeological Resources Protection Act), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/470ee
- Legal Information Institute, 16 U.S.C. 470ff, Civil penalties (Archaeological Resources Protection Act), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/470ff
- USDA Forest Service, Rockhounding Guide, FS-1091, June 2017. https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/229394
- Legal Information Institute, 36 CFR 2.1, Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources, current text read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/2.1
