To stake and file a mining claim in Idaho, you post a location notice at one corner of the claim, mark every corner, sign a sworn statement about the ground, record the notice with the county recorder, and file with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). You have 90 days from the day you post the notice to finish all of it. A new lode claim costs $274 in BLM fees, plus the county’s recording fee.
Idaho is strict about the county step, because state law says that missing the 90-day recording deadline counts as abandoning the claim.
Last checked November 9, 2026. This is a plain-words summary of Idaho and federal law, not legal advice. Fees and rules change, so confirm dates and costs with your county recorder or BLM before you rely on them.
You can also download this guide as a printable PDF.
The steps at a glance
| Step | Where | Deadline | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Post your location notice | One corner of the claim | This starts the clock | No fee |
| 2. Mark the boundaries | On the claim | Before you record | Posts or monuments |
| 3. Sign the sworn statement | Notary or recorder | By the time you record | $1 at the recorder |
| 4. Record the notice | County recorder | 90 days after posting | $10 first page, $3 each added page |
| 5. File with BLM | Online in MLRS, or BLM in Boise | 90 days after posting | $274 for a lode claim |
| Keep it each year | BLM | September 1 | $200 per lode claim or per 20 acres of placer |
| Record each year | County recorder | October 30 | $10 first page, $3 each added page |
Start with your map
A filled closed box on your Idaho map means that section has no active claims today, which makes it a good place to start looking. Its pop-up gives you what the paperwork asks for: the county, the township, range and section, and the BLM code.
One example from the November 2026 map is a closed placer box in Lemhi County at T24N R18E Sec 9, Boise Meridian, with the BLM code 08 0240N 0180E 009. A box covers a section of about 640 acres and doesn’t show a claim’s exact edges, so the map tells you where to look and your own checks tell you whether you can stake there.
Check the ground first
- Look it up in BLM’s records. Go to reports.blm.gov/reports/MLRS, choose Mining Claims – Geographic Report, enter the BLM code, and tick Active and Filed. Our step-by-step MLRS guide walks through each screen.
- Check that the land is open to mining. BLM’s Master Title Plats, on the GLO Records website, show what’s open. You can’t stake in national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, Indian reservations or military land, and private land is off limits.
- Watch for Idaho state land. Federal mining claims don’t apply there, and mining state minerals takes a lease from the Idaho Department of Lands.
- Walk the ground. A new claim can take up to 90 days to reach BLM’s records, so look for fresh posts and notices before you put up your own.
- Make a discovery. Every claim needs a discovery of a valuable mineral. BLM’s test is whether a sensible person would spend more time and money trying to develop a mine there, and recording a claim and paying the fees won’t make it valid without one.
Lode or placer
A lode claim covers gold in solid rock, like a quartz vein, and can be up to 1,500 feet long and 600 feet wide. A placer claim covers loose gold in sand and gravel, and can be 20 acres per person, up to 160 acres for a group of eight or more. Your notice has to say which type it is, and BLM’s fees differ for big placer claims.
Step 1: Post your location notice
The day you post the notice is your location date, and every deadline counts from it. Post your written notice at one corner of the claim when you make the location. It has to give all of these:
- The name of each locator, plus a mailing address for BLM
- The name of the claim, and whether it’s a lode or placer claim
- The date of location, the county, and the mining district if there is one
- The directions and distances that describe the claim
- The direction and distance from that corner to a natural object or permanent monument, if there’s one, so the notice itself shows where the claim is
- The township, range, section and quarter section, with the Boise Meridian, for BLM
Use a separate notice for each claim, because Idaho law voids a notice that claims more than one location.
Step 2: Mark the boundaries
Mark the boundaries before you record, so the lines are easy to trace on the ground. At each corner or angle, put a substantial monument or a post at least 4 feet tall and 4 inches square or across. Mark each one with the name of the claim, which corner or angle it is, and the direction of the boundary lines.
If a corner can’t go in its true spot, put up a witness monument marked to show where the true corner is. The rules are the same for lode and placer claims. BLM doesn’t allow perforated or uncapped pipe as markers, because of wildlife deaths.
Step 3: Sign the sworn statement
At or before the time you record, one of the locators named in the notice has to sign a sworn statement on the notice or attached to it. Idaho law prints the wording, which swears that:
- You’re a U.S. citizen, or you’ve declared that you intend to become one
- You know the ground the notice describes
- To the best of your knowledge, the ground hasn’t been claimed before, or the old claim was abandoned or forfeited because its owners didn’t follow the law
Sign it in front of a notary, or swear to it at the recorder’s counter, where the oath costs $1. If you’ll record by mail, have it notarized before you send it, as Shoshone County’s recorder asks.
Step 4: Record with the county recorder
Within 90 days after the location, record a copy of your notice and sworn statement with the recorder in the county where the claim sits. Under Idaho law, missing that deadline counts as abandoning the claim. In Idaho, the county clerk is also the county recorder.
State law sets the fee at $10 for the first page and $3 for each added page, and the recorder can wait to record until it’s paid. Keep each page no bigger than 8.5 by 14 inches, typed or clearly written. Some recorders, like Shoshone County’s, take only original signed papers or certified copies.
A notice counts as recorded on the day it reaches the recorder’s office, not the day you mail it. Call the office before you mail anything, since offices move and hours change. Then send the fee with your notice, and mail it well before day 90.
Step 5: File with BLM
BLM needs its own filing by the 90th day, and it advises recording with the county first. Send BLM a copy of the recorded notice, a map of the claim and the fees. You can file online in MLRS at mlrs.blm.gov with a login.gov account, or by mail or in person at BLM’s Idaho State Office in Boise.
Idaho doesn’t ask for a map with the county copy, but federal rules require one for BLM. Draw the claim on a USGS topographic map, or make a sketch tied to a natural object or permanent monument, showing its boundaries within the quarter section closely enough for BLM to find it. You don’t need a surveyor, and one map can show several claims.
| Claim | Fees | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Lode | $25 + $49 + $200 | $274 |
| Placer, up to 20 acres | $25 + $49 + $200 | $274 |
| Placer, 21 to 40 acres | $25 + $49 + $400 | $474 |
The three fees are the processing fee, the location fee and the first maintenance fee, for claims located on or after September 1, 2026. Each added 20 acres of placer, or part of 20 acres, adds $200.
A claim that isn’t recorded with BLM and the county by the 90th day is abandoned and void under federal law, even if the ground is good. BLM says it refunds the location and maintenance fees in that case, after the appeal period.
Re-staking a closed claim
Re-staking a closed claim means making a brand-new claim, and none of the old owner’s rights carry over. Idaho’s law says an abandoned claim is located the same way as a new one, with new posts or monuments, so all five steps apply and you shouldn’t rely on the old markers. Idaho doesn’t require any digging for it.
Your sworn statement covers the old claim too, since you swear that any earlier claim on the ground was abandoned or forfeited. Check the old claim’s status in BLM’s records before you sign.
Keeping your claim each year
On or before September 1 each year, pay BLM $200 per lode claim, or $200 for each 20 acres of a placer claim, or the claim is forfeited. If you stake before September 1 but file with BLM after it, you’ll owe two maintenance fees at once, one for each year, unless you qualify for the small miner waiver and file it when you record the claim.
If you do the yearly work instead, Idaho’s law says to record a sworn statement of it with the county within 60 days after the work is due, so record it by October 30. If you skip it, the law treats that as first-glance evidence that the work wasn’t done. The law isn’t clear for people who pay the BLM fee, so to be safe, record a sworn statement that you paid by October 30 too, and ask the recorder what it needs.
With 10 or fewer claims nationwide, you can do at least $100 of work on each claim instead of paying. File the free waiver form with BLM by September 1, on paper since it can’t be filed online, then file a sworn statement of the work with BLM by December 30 at $15 per claim. The county statement is still due by October 30.
A claim doesn’t give you a free hand on the surface. Work beyond casual use can need a notice or a plan of operations, so talk to the local BLM field office or Forest Service ranger district first.
Dredging or other small mining in a stream needs a permit from the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and a suction dredge also needs coverage from Idaho DEQ. A placer or dredge operation can also need a permit and bond from the Idaho Department of Lands, so ask before you start.
Idaho county recorders
A claim is recorded in the county where the ground is, and in Idaho the county clerk is also the recorder. Call before you mail anything, since offices move and hours change. A star marks an office we couldn’t fully confirm on the county’s own website, so check its phone number first.
| County | Recorder’s office |
|---|---|
| Ada | 200 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702 208-287-6840 |
| Adams | 201 Industrial Ave., Council, ID 83612 Mail: PO Box 48 (208) 253-4561 Option 5 |
| Bannock | 624 East Center, Room 211, Pocatello, ID 83201 Mail: PO Box 4489 208-236-7340 |
| Bear Lake | 30 N Main, Paris, ID 83261 Mail: P.O. Box 190 (208) 945-2155 ext. 5 |
| Benewah | 701 W College Ave, Suite 101, St Maries, ID 83861 208-245-3212 |
| Bingham | 501 N Maple St, Blackfoot, ID 83221 208-782-3160 |
| Blaine * | 206 1st Ave South #100, Hailey, ID 83333-8429 (208) 788-5510 |
| Boise * | Mail: PO Box 1300, Idaho City, ID 83631-1300 (208) 392-4431 |
| Bonner | 1500 Highway 2, Suite 335, Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-265-1490 |
| Bonneville | 605 N Capital Ave, Idaho Falls, ID 83402 (208) 529-1350, ext. 1350 |
| Boundary | 6452 Kootenai St, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805 Mail: PO Box 419 208-267-2242 |
| Butte | 205 W Grand Ave., Arco, ID 83213 Mail: P.O. Box 737 (208) 527-3021, ext # 1 |
| Camas | 501 Soldier Road, Fairfield, ID 83327 Mail: PO Box 430 208-764-2242 |
| Canyon | 1115 Albany St, Caldwell, ID 83605 208-454-7555 |
| Caribou | 159 S Main Room 202, Soda Springs, ID 83276 Mail: PO Box 775 (208) 547-4324 Ext 4 |
| Cassia | 1459 Overland Ave RM 105, Burley, ID 83318 (208) 878-5240 |
| Clark | 224 W Main St., Dubois, ID 83423 Mail: PO Box 205 208-374-5304 |
| Clearwater | 150 Michigan Ave, Orofino, ID 83544 Mail: PO Box 586 208-476-5615 |
| Custer | 801 E Main Ave #385, Challis, ID 83226-0385 Mail: PO Box 385 (208) 879-2360 |
| Elmore | 2280 American Legion Blvd., Mountain Home, ID 83647 (208) 587-2130 Ext. 6500 |
| Franklin | 39 W. Oneida Street, Preston, ID 83263 208-852-1090 |
| Fremont * | 151 W. 1st N. #12, St. Anthony, ID 83445-1548 (208) 624-7332 |
| Gem | 415 E. Main St. Room 202, Emmett, ID 83617 (208) 365-4561 |
| Gooding | 624 Main Street, Gooding, ID 83330 Mail: PO Box 417 208-934-4841 |
| Idaho | 320 West Main Street, Rm 5, Grangeville, ID 83530 (208) 983-2751 |
| Jefferson | 210 Courthouse Way Suite 100, Rigby, ID 83442 208-745-7756 Ext. 1000 |
| Jerome | 300 N Lincoln Ave, Jerome, ID 83338 208-644-2714 |
| Kootenai | 451 Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 Mail: P.O. Box 9000 208-446-1480 |
| Latah | 522 S Adams Street, Ste 101, Moscow, ID 83843 (208) 883-2249 |
| Lemhi | 206 Courthouse Drive, Salmon, ID 83467 (208) 742-1665 |
| Lewis | 510 Oak Street, Room 1, Nezperce, ID 83543 (208) 937-2661 |
| Lincoln * | 111 West B Street Suite C, Shoshone, ID 83352-5364 (208) 886-7641 |
| Madison * | 134 E Main, Rexburg, ID 83440 Mail: PO Box 389 (208) 359-6244 |
| Minidoka | 715 G Street, Rupert, ID 83350 Mail: P.O. Box 368 208-436-7111 |
| Nez Perce | 1230 Main Street, Lewiston, ID 83501 Mail: P.O. Box 896 208-799-3020 |
| Oneida | 10 W Court St, Malad City, ID 83252 (208) 766-4116 |
| Owyhee | 20381 State Highway 78, Murphy, ID 83650 Mail: P.O. Box 128 208-495-2421 |
| Payette | 1130 3rd Ave. N., Payette, ID 83661 (208) 642-6000 |
| Power | 543 Bannock Avenue, American Falls, ID 83211 208-226-7611 |
| Shoshone | 700 Bank Street, Suite 120, Wallace, ID 83873 (208) 752-1264 |
| Teton | 150 Courthouse Drive – Room 208, Driggs, ID 83422 208-776-8111 |
| Twin Falls | 630 Addison Ave W, 2nd floor, Twin Falls, ID 83301 Mail: P.O. Box 126, Twin Falls, ID 83303 208-736-4004 |
| Valley | 700 S. Main Street, Cascade, ID 83611 Mail: PO Box 1350 (208) 382-7100 Option 2 |
| Washington | 256 E Court Street, Weiser, ID 83672 Mail: PO Box 670 208-414-2092 |
Who to ask
- BLM Idaho State Office: Call 208-373-4000, or 208-373-3889 from BLM Idaho’s mining page. The office is at 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 83709, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mountain time, Monday to Friday.
- Idaho Department of Lands: State land leases and the placer and dredge permit, at idl.idaho.gov. Stream permits come from the Idaho Department of Water Resources, at idwr.idaho.gov.
Where these rules come from
- Idaho Code Title 47, Chapter 6: location notices, markers, recording, sworn statements and relocation
- Idaho Code 31-3205, 55-804 and 55-809: county fees, page size and when a notice counts as recorded
- BLM’s Idaho State Office and mining claim fees
- 43 U.S.C. 1744 and 30 U.S.C. 28f: the yearly filing and the maintenance fee
- IDWR’s small mining instructions: stream permits, good through December 31, 2026
Our Idaho gold map shows active and closed claims in every county, so you can see which sections are worth a closer look before you drive out.