recreational gold panning

[spooner]

I just bought a gold pan and I got the fever. I know the place to go would be southern oregon but i just wont to go somewhere close to the central coast any one know of any palce i might fined a flake or too may bee an hour drive from newport.

[mikebraun]

Fred meyer jewlers

[Hell-B]

At the Sportsman Show they always have a gold panning club represented. Looks like fun.

[cptdarel]

join GPAA thay have claims across the country, free to use once you join, and you get a map book of all the places, that have been known to produce. I've belonged for years.

http://www.goldprospectors.org/

[Abalone]

Gold is where you find it. Read up a little on Placer mining and learn how to ID potential areas. Prospecting would be a lot of fun if I weren't already overloaded with hobbies. There are some really good Pay to Pan places in Northern Californy.........

Locally, the Mollolla river drainage, side creeks etc.

Look up Ogle mine.

[sliverpicker]

They used to get gold on the beach at the mouth of the Rogue River, thus it's called Gold Beach.

Quartzville Creek up above Green Peter Res has a public gold panning area.

My kids and I found a little color on the McCauly(sp?) Fork up behind Sumpter several years ago. There's a public gold area over there also.

[D.B.Cooper]

My Uncle used to do it in Idaho. After a season of frustration he forked over for a sluice box..and then a dredge...then he quit.



It was fun to go visit him at his claim and try though. Got alot of garnets and a couple sapphires.

[gottafish]

I panned a bit in some creeks in the Starkey unit durning bow season. and found some fine stuff make sure you have a snuffer bottle for that stuff. I have actually done this quiet a bit but I have only found powder/fine stuff. no nuggets . I bet if you took all I have and put it together I mite get 20 bucks LOL Not enough to pay for GPAA membership. FYI the claims guide is worth the cost of admission and the burnt river area is pretty good.

http://www.goldprospectors.org/

My kids realy liked it.

[scottishsetter]

Graves Creek where it goes into the Rogue. But stay to public land and wash onto the ground not the stream. It's named Graves creek for a reason I would think.
Someone told me once that No. Fork of the John Day has more placer than any other river in Oregon.
Largest nugget in Oregon was found upslope of Susanville.
The US Bank in Baker has a great gold display/education case shows what gold bearing ore looks like.Good luck

[Abalone]

I went to one of the Gold Club meetings once and watched them sift through trailings they had mined out of some creek around here. Twenty guys spent the weekend digging and sifting to come up with a Five Gallon Bucket of Black sand. And when they sifted it to it's finite amount they got enough Gold to buy a cup of Coffee. Sure was fun to watch though. I'd like to sell them some shovels.......

If you want to really get into some good Gold go to Alaska.

There was a place above the Dalles right on the river bank that mined Gold out of a side Creek. It was submerged after they built Bonniville. I have often wondered about using Hooka at that site ????

[ryser]

D.B.Cooper Hey where in Idaho did your uncle have his claim!! I have been up in the sunbeam area and found some color!! I was just curious as I am a transplant from Idaho to Oregon. Ryser

[SILVERSINK]

That spot in Starky wasnt Limber jim creek behind the Tony Vehy Ranch was it?

[mike5097]

Call Don and Carol Rasey at Renegade Mining Company LLC in Scapoose Oregon. 503-543-5524. They sell prospecting and detecting equipment and supplies.

I was at Bi-mart one day, and noticed the T-shrts they were wearing and started peppering them with questions. They were pretty passionate about their business and seemed to be pretty nice folks.

I am sure they could hook you up with some good local areas if they are still in business....

[Fish_N_Russ]

I used to watch the gold prospectors show......it was pretty good until ol Buzzard died

[Cornbread]

Pretty much any stream up in the Siskiyous. I sometimes dredge mine up there with a friend on his Dad's claims in the summer. I think the best we have ever done was about $1,400 in seven days. That was 14 days total but only seven were dredging and we were using an 8 inch dredge and both had full dive gear for working the deeper river we were on. As far as just panning look for areas down there where the bedrock comes up out of the creeks into the bank and look for cracks in it. Pull up weeds from those cracks and pan the dirt from their roots and anything that is below the plant deeper in the crack as well. I have found some pretty good gold doing panning this way.

[hawgcatcher]

I used to do some panning in the creeks that flow into the ocean. Look for the black sand areas and take some for checking the area. It never seems as much but is still fun when you get the fine gold.

Now if you want to see some nice flakes in your pan, go to Felixpaydirt.com on line. You can order bags of concentrate and I can tell you there is a lot there. I ordered some $50 bags and got a whole bunch in one order that was more then I ever got around Oregon. Now figure that with the price of gas, a meal, the doctor's visit after you pull your back muscles and you are ahead and you will get gold. I sit in my patio with a wash tub and get some real nuggets. They are located near Fairbanks Alaska and are not fly by night.

A year ago, I got my bag from Felix and went down to a creek that flows into a lake near my home. I started panning and got color winding up with almost an ounce. The more I panned, the more company I had looking over my shoulder. I never said a word about where that concentrate had come from but simply mumbled answers that were very indirect. I went back the next day to fish and saw three people panning in the creek. I figure that in the spring, I need to pick another close by creek and order another bag.

[Herring Problem]

In your back yard, go up the Siletz and look around the gravel bars for the black soil.

During the eighties I panned and took a little less than an 1/4 ounce of flakes out the river over three years. I had a couple of friends do the river slush box and they got some 1/4 ounce nuggets above the water falls and old hatchery.

Gold is where you find it!

[D.B.Cooper]

Originally Posted by ryser

D.B.Cooper Hey where in Idaho did your uncle have his claim!! I have been up in the sunbeam area and found some color!! I was just curious as I am a transplant from Idaho to Oregon. Ryser

It was way up on the South Fork of The Clearwater. He never got anything worthwhile though.

He passed away about 4-5 years ago.

[Hunt'nFish]

Anyone going to the Gold Show this weekend in Salem at the Fairgrounds?
Just curious. Thought I might take my little ones and kill a day together.
Hunt'nFish

[fishandcrawl]

Originally Posted by Fish_N_Russ

I used to watch the gold prospectors show......it was pretty good until ol Buzzard died