State & national parks
No collecting - not even a pebble.
Foraging / Rocks & fossils
Rocks, minerals & fossils.
Texas has agate, jasper, petrified wood, and fossils - but again, the land decides. Here's how rockhounding works by where you're standing.
Rockhounding by land type
National forests
Limited surface collecting of some common rocks or plant and invertebrate fossils may be allowed for personal, noncommercial use. Petrified wood may require a free-use permit. Ask the Texas ranger district first.
Roadsides
Do not treat the right-of-way as a rock pile. Get permission from the road authority, park only where legal and safe, and never enter adjoining private land.
Private land
Collect only with the permission of the landowner or person who controls the surface. Ask before digging, and spell out what you may keep.
Petrified wood (the state stone)
Petrified palmwood is the Texas state stone, but that honor is not permission to collect it. Never take it from a state or national park. On private land, ask the landowner. On national-forest land, contact the ranger district because a free-use permit or local restriction may apply.
Fossils get more complicated
Fossils split by type and land. Vertebrate fossils, such as fossil bones and teeth, require a research permit on federal public land. The Forest Service generally allows limited surface collection of common plant and invertebrate fossils for personal, noncommercial use where the land is open, but local closures still apply. State and national parks prohibit collection. On private land, get the landowner's permission before collecting or digging.
Keep going
Official sources
Hobby rock and petrified-wood collecting on forest land comes from the U.S. Forest Service; state parks (TPWD) and national parks allow none. On private land, it's the landowner's call.
- Data vintage:
- Rockhounding rules as reviewed July 2026
- Last reviewed:
- July 10, 2026
- U.S. Forest Service - National Forests in Texas (rockhounding) - Hobby collecting on forest land
- National Forests & Grasslands in Texas (USFS)
- TPWD State Park Rules (no collecting)
Before you act: Amounts and fossil rules vary by land and agency, and vertebrate fossils are tightly protected on public land. When unsure, ask the managing agency before you collect. How to use Texas Porch carefully.
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