About Capyhound
Capyhound helps rockhounds in the United States answer two questions before a trip: where can I collect, and what am I allowed to keep? The site covers public collecting areas, the agency that manages the land, the collecting rules that apply there, and guides to identifying what you find. An iPhone app with offline maps and rock identification is in the works.
Capyhound is made by an independent iOS developer. It is not affiliated with any government agency.
Where our information comes from
- Rules and limits come from the agencies that manage the land: the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the National Park Service and state agencies, and from the federal regulations they cite.
- Places come from official agency pages and guides first. We use other sources, such as Wikipedia or published guides, only when no official source exists, and we say so.
- Geology and identification come from the US Geological Survey, state geological surveys, universities and museums.
- Maps use OpenStreetMap data through OpenFreeMap. Spot locations come from the official sources listed on each page.
How we check a page
- Every rule, limit, fee, date and number on a page links to its source in the list at the bottom of that page.
- Every page shows the date it was last checked. When sources disagree, we show both and tell you whom to ask.
- We publish a page for a place only when we can confirm at least four things about it, such as its location, land manager, rules and access.
- Rules change. Before a big trip, call the field office named on the page.
What we don’t do
- We don’t publish ratings, reviews or visitor numbers that we can’t back up.
- We don’t list private land or active mining claims as places to collect.
- We don’t take payment for listing a place.
Meet Capy
Capy, our capybara in a hard hat, looks things up so you can go out and dig. You’ll see Capy around the site and in the app, but never on the rules: those stay plain and factual.
Report a mistake
If a page is wrong or out of date, email hello@capyhound.com with the page address and, if you can, a link to the official source. We check every report.
