Terms and Conditions

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms are an agreement between you and Rockhounding Inc, a Utah corporation ("we," "us"), operator of Rockhounding.org. By accessing and using Rockhounding.org, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use this service.

2. Use at Your Own Risk

All information provided on this website, including location data, directions, and user-generated content, is provided for informational purposes only. You use this information at your own risk. We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information provided by users or third parties.

3. Land Ownership and Permits

You are solely responsible for:

• Verifying land ownership before entering any location
• Obtaining all necessary permits, licenses, and permissions required by law
• Respecting private property rights and posted restrictions
• Complying with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations
• Understanding mining claims and mineral rights in the area

4. Safety and Liability

Rockhounding activities can be dangerous. We are not liable for any losses, injuries, or damages that may occur as a result of using information from this website. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Physical injuries from rockhounding activities
• Property damage
• Legal consequences from trespassing or violating regulations
• Loss of personal property
• Any other damages arising from your use of this website

5. User-Generated Content

All content submitted by users, including location information, comments, photos, and descriptions, is user-generated and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated. We do not verify the accuracy of user-submitted content. You should independently verify any information before relying on it.

By submitting content (including locations, photos, comments, forum posts, gallery items, and public logbook entries), you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, sublicensable license to host, display, reproduce, and distribute that content to operate and promote the service. You represent that you have the rights to the content you submit. We may remove any content at our discretion.

6. Third-Party and Government Data

Some map layers and data (including public-land surface management and mining-claim records) are provided by third parties and government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, and are displayed as received. Records can be incomplete, generalized (for example, claims mapped to survey blocks rather than staked boundaries), or out of date. This information is not legal advice and is not a substitute for verifying current land status, ownership, and claim records with the responsible agency and county before entering land or collecting.

7. Community Guidelines

Users must follow our community guidelines:

• Be polite and courteous to other users
• No harassment, hate speech, or abusive behavior
• No illegal content or activities
• Respect intellectual property rights
• Share accurate information when possible
• Follow Leave No Trace principles
• Respect landowners and laws

8. Membership

Optional paid membership costs $10 per year and renews automatically each year until canceled. We email you a reminder about one week before each renewal. You can cancel anytime from your account page; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you paid for, and you keep member benefits until then. Membership fees are non-refundable except where required by law. Member benefits (such as ad-free browsing, favorites, the logbook, and map data layers) may change over time. Payments are processed by Stripe.

9. Marketplace Transactions

The Rockhounding.org marketplace lets independent third-party sellers sell to buyers; the contract of sale is between buyer and seller. Marketplace purchases and sales are governed by the Marketplace Terms of Service and the Seller Agreement, which control over this section and describe fees, payment holds, shipping requirements, cancellations, refunds, and dispute resolution. We do not authenticate or guarantee items sold by sellers.

10. Account Termination

We reserve the right to terminate or suspend your account at any time, without prior notice, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms or is harmful to other users, us, or third parties, or for any other reason.

11. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify these terms at any time. We will notify users of any material changes by posting the new Terms on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of the service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

12. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.

13. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, contact us at [email protected].