Other

• Geocaching & Letterboxing
• Recreational Mineral, Rock and Fossil Collecting
• Gold Panning
• Paintball and Airsoft Weapons, and
• Metal Detecting

Geocaching & Letterboxing

Geocaching is welcome throughout MOST of the Mark Twain National Forest, but not everywhere. If you are not familiar with this activity, go to www.geocaching.com for more information. 

The forest does require that geocachers provide forest managers with detailed information about proposed geocaches and obtain permission to place a cache before it is placed. There are also some general guidelines to follow when considering placement of a geocache.

If you are Geocaching on the forest, remember that caching comes with etiquette, and one practice is derived from geocachers' love of preserving the environment. CITO -- Cache In, Trash Out -- is where cachers take along a trash bag and clean up the environment as they are looking for a cache, packing the trash out. Respecting the environment, taking care of the resources you encounter, and cleaning up after others can help to preserve the future opportunities on the forest for Geocaching with minimal regulation.

Planning Where to Place Your Cache
Decide what you will place at the cache, and what information you will provide other geocachers about the site. 

• Follow the guidelines provided at www.geocaching.com for placement of a cache.
• Select your proposed location carefully
  • Avoid proposals to place a cache in a sensitive area, such as wet areas, near fragile plant populations,
  • Avoid placing in highly erosive soils,
  • Avoid placing in or adjacent to caves or historical sites, or similar areas, since these are likely to be disapproved.
  • Avoid locations where searchers will be likely to endanger themselves or the nearby resources, even if they are searching after dark.
  • Be sure the cache is really on National Forest lands, not on private land located within the National Forest Boundary.
• Consider the management objectives of the area and the other activities planned for that location when placing a geocache – since Wilderness is supposed to be primitive, where humans and their belongings do not remain, physical caches will not be approved there. If there is evidence of an upcoming timber sale in the immediate area, the cache and geocachers may be at risk in that area.

Obtaining Permission

• Prepare a request, provide the information about the proposed geocaching site, including location and a brief description of the setting and the resources found there, and how to get to the site. Consider taking a couple of digital photos of the area.
  • Draft your write-up prior to seeking permission to actually place the cache, so that the approving official will see the info you intend to provide. In your write-up, consider including information about the national forest, and/or about the individual area where the cache will be located (especially if it is a historical site), as well as providing encouragement to other geocachers to take care of the resources, keep motor vehicles on the designated routes, pay the day use fees if parking in a developed site, etc.
• Contact a forest officer at the district where you would like to place the cache. Provide the information that will be necessary for evaluating your request, including a copy of your draft write-up, your contact information, and possibly photos or a description of the area.
• If you have not heard back from the forest within 15 days of your request, follow up with another e-mail or phone call.
• Geocaches placed on the forest need to be maintained. If you see ANY indication of resource damage or the beginning of a trail that might be caused by persons searching for your cache, archive it immediately, and remove it as soon as practical.

Placing Your Cache

• Make sure that your geocache will be readily identifiable as a geocache – ie, mark it or label it on the outside “GEOCACHE”. Unmarked containers may be misidentified, and may cause undue trouble and expense before they are removed and/or destroyed.

Rocks and Minerals

Recreational Mineral, Rock and Fossil Collecting

Recreational collecting is the occasional surficial removal of small (reasonable) amounts of samples (hand-size) of rocks or minerals for personal use only. Samples are not to be sold, bartered or collected for commercial purposes. For a printable brochure Click Here.

Things To Remember:

• Collection of reasonable amounts of rocks, minerals or common fossils is allowed for personal use only and is not to be sold or bartered for commercial purposes.
• Collection is from surface only.
• No undue or unnecessary degradation of the land is allowed during the removal of rocks, minerals or fossils.
• Gold panning is limited to the use of gold pans and restricted to active stream beds and unvegetated gravel bars.
• Collection and removal cannot be aided with motorized equipment or sluice boxes.
• Collecting from wilderness areas, caves and historical or archeological areas is not allowed.
• Do not excavate, remove, disturb or deface historical or archeological resources.
• Mark Twain National Forests lands are not contiguous, so be careful not to trespass on private lands.
• Remove all litter.
• When in doubt, contact the appropriate District Office.

Gold Panning

• You should be aware that we know of no instances when gold was found in any stream flowing through Mark Twain National Forest.
• Unlike professional gold seekers, recreational gold panners benefit mostly from the adventure. The entire family can share in the fun of panning for gold.
• Prospecting tools are limited to gold pans and gardening trowels. Even these simple tools can blemish streambeds and gravel bars. Please don’t allow your actions to damage the natural beauty of the National Forest.
• The use of dredging equipment or sluice boxes is NOT allowed on Mark Twain National Forest.
• Panning is allowed only in active stream channels or along gravel bars without vegetation growing on them. Fish and the aquatic insects they feed on have difficulty living in heavily silted streambeds. Disturbing streambeds and gravel bars can destroy valuable fish eggs buried within the protection of gravel spawning beds.
• Mark Twain National Forest has no public domain lands; therefore, claims CANNOT be staked.
• OHVs/UTVs are restricted to existing roads.
• Pack out what you pack in. Be sure to remove all litter.
• Do not dig in, excavate, disturb, destroy, or remove archaeological, paleontological, or historical objects from national forest lands.
• Mark Twain National Forest lands have mixed ownership, including areas along streams and creeks. Please do not trespass on private land. It is your responsibility to know where you are.

Miscellaneous

Paintball and Airsoft Weapons

Are allowed in the Mark Twain National Forest as long as the guidelines for firearms is followed:

• Are not allowed within developed recreational areas, caves, or other areas where discharging of firearms is prohibited.
• Firearms may not be used within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area and on National Forest System roads or water body whereby any person or property is exposed to injury or damage as a result of such discharge.
• We discourage the use of non-biodegradable ammunition, and use along trails, trail beds, boat launches, and other concentrated use areas.
• Games and other organized activities would be subject to the same special use permit requirements as other recreational events (need a permit for total of 75 or more, or charging a fee to participate).
• It is prohibited to construct any type of “course” and/or leaving any type of trash or type of litter behind.

Metal Detecting

• Unless otherwise posted, metal detecting is permitted in developed recreation areas.
• It is permissible to collect modern coins or other modern items FROM THE SURFACE.
• NO NEW GROUND DISTURBANCE IS PERMITTED.
• Archaeological remains on federal land, known or unknown, are PROTECTED UNDER LAW. If you were to discover such remains, you should leave them undisturbed, stop metal detecting in that area, and notify the local Forest Service office.
• Legal citation:
• Property, 36 CFR 261.9: “The following are prohibited: (g) digging in, excavating, disturbing, injuring, destroying, or in any way damaging any prehistoric, historic or archaeological resources, structure, site, artifact, or property.  (h) Removing any prehistoric, historic, or archaeological resources, structure, site, artifact, property.”

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