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From foraging to stargazing, there are many activities available on the Allegheny National Forest. 

Geocaching & Letterboxing

Do you miss the days of treasure hunting as a child?  Want to plan an exciting outdoor adventure for your family? Geocaching is a fun and energizing activity for all ages.  

You will need a GPS and a list of cache coordinates for the Allegheny National Forest.  The caches may have notes or small items inside.  The Forest Service does not provide, contribute to, or monitor these caches.  A common courtesy when geocaching is to leave something in the cache for the next person to find.

Allegheny National Forest geocaching policy:

1. Geo-caching is a permissible dispersed recreation activity on most areas of the Allegheny National Forest.
2. No soil disturbance is permitted for any geo-cache placement on the Forest. Caches should be covered with leaves or woody debris if the geo-cacher chooses to screen the cache at the site.
3. We ask all geo-cachers to remove their cache if the site receives a large number of visits by others as evidenced by a well-worn trail or path.
4. We ask that all caches be removed after one year regardless of site activity and moved to a new location or removed from the National Forest.
5. Areas where geo-caching is not permitted include Hickory Creek and Allegheny Islands Wilderness; Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas; Hearts Content Scenic Area and all developed recreation sites.
6. If you place a new cache, you must register it. Provide the exact location of the cache, along with a short description of what it looks like.

Rocks and Minerals

Gold Panning

Casual/Recreational gold panning is allowed on most National Forest System lands, as long as it is done by hand and does not involve undercutting stream banks. No permit is required for casual gold panning. The use of sluices and portable dredges is not considered casual. To operate sluices or portable dredges requires a prospecting permit from the Bureau of Land Management. Because the Eastern United States is not subject to the 1872 Mining Law a claim cannot be filed.

Metal Detecting

Forest Service policy does not prohibit the use of metal detectors. However, there are limitations to their use in special areas with National Forests.

A series of regulations and laws govern the uses and prohibitions related to metal detectors. 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.

The Acts governing metal detector use are summarized below:

• Secretary of Agriculture Regulation 36 CFR 261.9 prohibits the excavation and/or removal of ""any prehistoric, historic, or archaeological resource, structure, site, artifact, or property."" This prohibition is mandated by two laws:
  • the 1906 Antiquities Act and
  • the 1979 Archeological Resources Protection Act.

Legal activities involving the use of a metal detector might include using the device on a beach or in a recreation area to collect contemporary coins, jewelry, and other metal objects less than 50 years old.

The following three activities are legitimate only when the individual using the metal detector is covered under a National Forest Special Use Permit. The issuance of a permit is governed by the 1906 Antiquities Act, the Archeological Resources Protection Act and Secretary of Agriculture Regulations.

1. using metal detectors for mineral prospects,
2. archeological survey, and
3. searching for treasure trove.

In the absence of a Special Use Permit, the 1906 Antiquities Act prohibits not only excavation and removal or objects but also prohibits surface collecting artifacts more than 50 years old. The Archeological Resources Protection Act prohibits surface collecting and excavation of artifacts more than 100 years old with the potential for felony penalties.

Rock-Hounding/Fossil Collecting

In most areas "Rock hounding" does not require special permission or fee payment when done as recreation and is consistent with local management objectives. To make sure special permission or fee payment is not necessary please contact the District Office in the area you wish to "Rockhound" in.

• Forest visitors are welcome to pick up mineral specimens, rock samples, invertebrate fossil casts and molds, geodes, or other earth oddities, and to pan for gold using hand tools.
• Collecting can be done on National Forest System lands where minerals are owned by others, including areas under federal lease, as long as it does not materially interfere with the rights granted to the mineral permittee/lessee.

Miscellaneous

Foraging

The forest abounds with berries, mushrooms and other edible plants. Foraging can be a fun afternoon activity, but do exercise some simple precautions: 

• Make sure you know what you are picking.  There are many fruit bearing plants out there, and some of the fruits are not good to eat.  Same with mushrooms, there are hundreds of species of mushrooms, but only a few that are safe to eat.
• Don't pick on the sides of roads.  Many of these berry species like roadsides, but roads are often sprayed with herbicides to control invasive species and also accumulate toxins from vehicles or salt from winter road melting.  
• Stay aware of wildlife.  Usually bears are very aware of their environment, so it is less likely that you'll surprise a bear than that a bear will surprise you.  Either way, you don't want to get into a discussion with a bear over whose berry patch it is, so keep your eyes open and avoid confrontations.  If you're lucky, you may get a chance to see all the other wildlife that enjoys berries such as foxes, birds of many types, mice, and almost anything that can get to the berries.
• Don't strip an area of all berries.  Leave some for the plants and animals.
• No permits are required if foraging for personal use. Please exercise caution when harvesting.
• Ginseng may not be harvested under any condition.

Stargazing

The lack of light pollution in and around the Allegheny make it an ideal spot for stargazing. The best time to stargaze is the days before, during and soon after a new moon. Bring a constellation chart and see how many constellations you can find. Check out NASAs Sky Events Calendar for meteor showers and other events you may not normally be able to see in an area with more streetlights.

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