See BLM Mining Claims, Public Land & Mineral Data on One Simple Map

What Is Staked Maps?

Staked Maps is a U.S. prospecting and mining claim research application that combines federal BLM mining claim records, Alaska state claim records where applicable, surface management information, historical claims and USGS mineral occurrence data in one interactive map. It's built for recreational and serious gold prospectors, people researching existing claims before staking their own, and rockhounds looking for documented collecting sites. Instead of working directly with BLM's raw case-recordation system or a separate state GIS portal for each layer, you can find your area, review recorded claim activity and land status, and open individual claim details from a phone or desktop — at home or in the field.

How Staked Maps Turns BLM Records Into Useful Claim Maps

BLM's Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS) — which replaced the legacy LR2000 mining claim system in 2021 — is the authoritative federal record and does include its own mapping tools. But researching a prospecting area usually means working across claim records, PLSS information, land management data, historical records and other datasets spread across separate systems. Staked Maps brings those sources into one prospecting-focused map and interprets each claim's recorded legal description — something like "NE¼ NW¼ Sec. 12, T5N R3W" — into a practical research polygon, always linking back to the official MLRS record.

The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) the BLM still uses today divides the West into a grid of townships and ranges, each split into one-mile-square sections (640 acres). A legal description narrows that down with "aliquot parts" — NE, NW, SE, SW — where each added code quarters the area again: a quarter section is nominally 160 acres and a quarter-quarter (e.g. "NE NW") is nominally 40 acres. These successive divisions identify an increasingly specific portion of the section, but they're a legal subdivision, not necessarily the physical footprint of the claim itself. A lode claim is typically limited to roughly 20.66 acres (1,500 by 600 feet) and a placer claim to 20 acres per locator. Our parsing engine walks that code out from the real origin point of your specific meridian and computes the resulting rectangle mathematically as the recorded area associated with the claim. It's a close, genuinely useful approximation, not a survey-grade boundary, and BLM's own source description isn't always precise either. For boundary-sensitive decisions, review the official BLM record, recorded county location documents and maps where applicable, and on-the-ground claim monuments. If an exact legal boundary must be established, professional surveying or legal guidance may be necessary.

See Where the Information Comes From

Staked Maps isn't crowd-sourced guesswork. Every layer traces back to an authoritative government dataset, not a generic scrape.

For legal filings, always confirm current status directly with your BLM state office of record; Staked Maps is a research and navigation tool, not a substitute for the official record.

Before You Prospect: Check More Than One Layer

A claim polygon alone doesn't answer every question. Staked Maps helps you organize the research — it isn't a substitute for it.

1. 1.Check recorded mining claim activity for the area, both active and historical.
2. 2.Review surface management information to see which agency manages the surface. Surface management doesn't by itself establish mineral ownership or whether prospecting is permitted.
3. 3.Open the claim record and history for full legal description and status.
4. 4.Review applicable local rules or restrictions with your BLM state office.
5. 5.Verify current official records and on-the-ground claim markings when it matters.

No single map layer can determine every legal access or prospecting question — Staked Maps helps you research recorded claims, land information and other relevant data, but you should verify current regulations, official records and field conditions yourself.

What the Current Mining-Claim Data Shows

Every BLM claim parses down to a real legal type: lode, placer, or mill/tunnel site. Every Rockhound Hotspot traces back to a real USGS record.

States with the most current (not-closed) claim records right now: Nevada (278,969), Arizona (65,619), Wyoming (49,395), Utah (43,423), Idaho (41,368).

The current/not-closed total (above) also includes 16,023 mill/tunnel-site claims and 40,299 Alaska state-recorded claims, tracked separately under Alaska's own system rather than BLM's federal lode/placer/mill-tunnel classification. Together with Lode and Placer, that fully accounts for the current/not-closed total.

BLM data last synchronized October 1, 2026

30-Day Claim Activity Tracking

Tracking began September 10, 2026. The first complete 30-day activity report will be available after October 10, 2026.

Mining Claim Maps by State

Alaska (AK), Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Idaho (ID), Montana (MT), Nevada (NV), New Mexico (NM), Oregon (OR), South Dakota (SD), Utah (UT), Washington (WA), Wyoming (WY).

Rockhound Hotspots and the offline basemap layers (elevation contours, trails, water) extend beyond these 13 to all 50 states nationwide.

Built for the Creek Bed, Not the Desk

Staked Maps was born out of backcountry frustration with the government's clunky public databases on a mobile browser, standing in remote canyons with no connection. Standard mapping apps cater broadly to hikers or hunters, leaving miners and rockhounds with flat, outdated mine points.

Staked Maps is operated by Phi McRee Designs LLC. Read the full story on the About page →

Product data and research methodology maintained by Staked Maps.