First trip

[puppie96]

Yeah, you know, basically for the casual visitor/tourist, there's no need to get involved in the subtleties. The overall picture is pretty clear; any and all collecting is strictly prohibited in all national parks. There's somewhat more variation with state parks. Most of it is pretty commonsense. On BLM lands, they don't want collecting for profit -- they are trying to keep out commercial operations & if you are a normal touring person without special rockhounding equipment and a lot of dirt all over and inside your van!! they probably aren't going to look twice at you. However, I've heard of people accidentally deviating over the property line and being arrested and their entire collection confiscated.
Things like road cuts, etc., are usually open to collection unless there are safety issues.

[Flashman]

Things could get "interesting" if push came to shove at many of the Provincial parks around the great lakes here. Technically, you can't take a leaf or a twig or a grain of sand in a Provincial park. However, there's only the one "Marine" park, so it could be said that the other parks end at the lake foreshore or at the bounds of the "navigable waterway" of rivers. Hence foreshore finds and river rocks could be fair game... but since you need to carry it back into the park, I don't fancy your luck with anything you can't stick in your pocket.

[puppie96]

Yes, I agree, that is interesting and confusing in the US, as well. I haven't done the research, but I've often heard that the rules about waterways and about the ocean aren't the same as for other places. That said, though, there certainly are parks in Michigan, for example, that don't allow picking up rocks from the lake. Collecting in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is off limits, for example. Many, if not most, of the Michigan state parks seem to allow collecting. Along the ocean, in California collecting isn't allowed on the state beaches, but I've often heard that picking up rocks along the ocean was legal as long as you are below the high tide line. Rivers and creeks are confusing, too. Supposedly if you are in a creek or river and you can access it from a non-private area, you then can legally walk in the creek even though it crosses private property and collect from said creek. This is an issue often in Kentucky, where the creeks are good sites for collecting geodes but it is really hard to gain access to the creeks without trespassing.

All of which suggests a couple of things: first, it's probably a better idea to go on a field trip with a recognized club if you can, and second, when in doubt about the status of the land, always err on the side of caution and don't go there if there's any question that it might be private property or a closed area. If you make a mistake you might get shot or arrested, neither of which make for a great RV trip!