New Hampshire

Yes, on private land with the landowner’s written permission. That is the clearest legal route in New Hampshire, and it is the only thing we do.

Federal land is closed. Access to state land is decided by New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation and the rules are not the same at every property. Private ground, with the owner’s written agreement, avoids all of it.

On federal land, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 makes it an offence to disturb or remove archaeological resources over 100 years old without a permit. The National Park Service prohibits metal detecting outright in national parks.

State park rules are set by the Division and are not uniform across properties. Historic and archaeological sites are treated separately. Ask about the specific park.

We do not publish a summary of individual park rules, because they change and they differ site by site. The authority above is the one that decides, and they will answer directly.

Public land is complicated. Private land with written permission is not.

Ask the landowner and get it in writing, or book ground where the permission already exists. Knowing where to look is only half of it. The right to be standing there is the half that decides whether the day is detecting or trespass.

1. Identify the ground. Old maps, cellar holes, vanished settlements and terrain will all point you at likely land in New Hampshire. None of that grants access to it.
2. Find who owns it. County parcel records name the owner. Knocking on the door still works, and still fails most of the time.
3. Get the agreement in writing. Who may search, which fields, on what dates, what happens to anything found, and who carries the liability.
4. Or skip to the end. Every FieldFinders listing in New Hampshire is land whose owner has already agreed, set their own rate, and approves each request by name. The written search agreement comes with the booking.

New Hampshire is a state of two elevations. The valleys industrialised early and hard, with Manchester becoming one of the largest textile operations on earth, drawing in thousands of workers and everything that comes with them. Above the valleys, the hill farms went the other way, cleared in the 1700s and steadily abandoned through the 1800s. The uplands are full of cellar holes with no road left to them.

1. 1620s onwardFishing and timber settlements on the Piscataqua
2. 1700sHill farms cleared, town commons laid out
3. 1800sAmoskeag and the mill towns, canal and rail
4. 1850 onwardUpland farms abandoned, forest returns

Thin, stony glacial soil over granite, with better depth in the river valleys. Acidic enough that iron suffers badly. Around mill sites the ground is often disturbed and full of modern ferrous, which makes discrimination and patience worth more than power.

Mill tokens, buttons and coinage in the valley towns. Around upland cellar holes, farm hardware, coppers, buckles and the domestic debris of a household that left and never came back.