Washington State ... where to hunt?

[Willee - Texas]

Are the parks and beaches OK to hunt in Washington State?
Need to make a trip to the Richland - Kennewick area.
Any good beaches to detect around there.
Just enough room for my Troy X2 ...
wish I had room for the Excalibur II and scoop.

William Lee

 

[grumpyolman]

I hunt the water in Washington State. I am mostly on the West side of the Cascade range when detecting. IMHO we wouldn't even be a blip on the radar for places to hunt the water. There's lots of competition with probably a higher percentage of water hunters on a per ca pita basis. The cycle is...the water is never comfortably warm like on the Gulf Coast. In Eastern Washington it gets lots hotter than Western Washington and tons more people go in the water. Generally, they don't spend the time in the water like our friends in Florida experience. It does get seeded every summer to a much lesser degree than the warm water folks. It gets hit pretty hard on the weekdays following a particularly hot week end and at the end of the summer when lifeguards vacate the beaches and everyone is back in school there is another migration to the water by the water hunters. A lot of beaches prohibit detecting when folks are swimming and diving with air is not allowed as long as the guards are there.
Eastern Washington has four seasons. The summer is a real summer and people are active in the water and lose stuff. In Western Washington there are two seasons, dry or wet. We get a few hot days in the 'summer' but not really enough to warm the water so lots of people go in.
There's still stuff there. I found a wheatie on a beach that literally hundreds of people had detected and also a nice sterling ring that was an oldie. But...it's nothing like what the warm water coast detector folks experience. Don't want to be totally discouraging, but if you go to hunt for fun and finding something is a bonus, you won't be disappointed. There are people who find stuff here but it's a drop in the bucket compared to warm water. You'll be in fresh water which is nicer. Good Luck!! Jim

 

[gordygroover]

We people on the wet side of the Cascades see enough water falling out of the skies. To intentionally go someplace locally to immerse ourselves in it just seems strange.

 

[slowmotion]

Hi Willee;
I live on the east side of the cascades where hot is normal for summer time. After weekend is
when the brotherhood of swingers hit the beach and water { at the time }. It's pic a number and
wait your turn. Well, maybe not that bad. But the locals don't lose much and most tourist keep
going west of the cascades. Tri-cities is hot in the summertime. 95 to 105 easy.
Now west, you might not find much, but so much to look at, and if you want water, you got it.
That's it for hear.
Most state parks and stare beaches want you to sign in at the office if you detect.
That's the way I see it.
Willard in Spokane

 

[grumpyolman]

I have a PDF file from the State of Washington explaining the laws of metal detecting in Washington State Parks. It's 1.3 MB so I can't post it here. Get me an email address in a PM and I'll forward it to you. There are few parks that are just 'open' walk in and start detecting. Many of not most require checking in with the Park Ranger and getting permission. When water hunting, so far, none have objected. You'll not be allowed to hunt if there's any hint of Native American artifiacts possibly in the area. As a kid we used to hunt for arrowheads. Do it now you risk jail time.
If you go to the Tri-Cities in the summer you best be prepared for desert type heat and only hunt in the early morining or late evening unless you acclimated to that heat. I used to live there. When I visit during the summer, I hate the heat and stay inside. Not to much different that Vegas heat in the summer. Good hunting...Jim