Whitewater canyon gold by Cabazon

[TheSentinel]

Its a huge wash going all the way up into the National Forest. Get off I-10 at Sunset and go north into the hills to Bluff St, some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen up there with the recent snow. Once you take Bluff down into the wash, there are private property signs all over the place, so be careful. I didn't try Banning Canyon Road yet, but that goes up into the National Forest and becomes Forest Service Road 2S01. There is no shortage of interesting looking rocks there.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bannin...ng+Canyon&z=15

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[pegleglooker]

I've been to this area before, the service road is closed. The local sheriffs have a training range further up the wash and there is a locked gate at the corner of Bluff and 2S01. I was told by one of the deputies that I could get permission to go in if I asked a week or two in advance. That canyon is very DEEP and has some stunning beauty to it, I would JUMP at the chance to go deeper. The Mias Canyon road is ALL private property and I was told to leave immediately when I drove over, cranky people.... But the canyon is a true calling card for the city of Banning, that's for sure.....

Thx for the info
PLL

[pegleglooker]

I took the day off and will be headed out to WW today, if you see a black Jeep with a Dezert Magazine tire cover, then stop by and say hello, I will be close by... Hope to see you there !!!! I should be there at about 11AM....

PLL

[TheSentinel]

How did it go? Did you hike past the preserve?

[gldfinder87]

I was just up there on Tuesday, I managed to get about two gallons of dirt to run, and found nothing but black sand, and a little bit of what looked to be flour gold. I would really like to find some good spots up there, I mean for as long as that runoff has been there I would assume there has to be gold somewhere, although it is probably at bedrock!

[TheSentinel]

How far up did you go? Like others have said, you may have to go a ways up or dig way down to find any real color. When I panned some black sands from 2.5 miles north of I-10, there was plenty of pyrite, maybe some mica too, but no gold that I could tell.

[gldfinder87]

Well I panned some dirt right at the bridge just below the preserve, which I know is still on the preserve but I wanted to get as high up as possible to see if I could get any color. If you actually walk around the hatchery you can see where the water comes out at and I am almost positive that there would be little to no gold in that area just because of everything that water runs through.

[TheSentinel]

One of these days, I'll hike up as far as feasible and pan some out.

[jasonsankl]

Just wondering if anyone has found anything in Whitewater canyon yet. Im new to the Prospecting thing and I live in the Beaumont area and am looking for some place near by to do some panning.

[TheSentinel]

Just wondering if anyone has found anything in Whitewater canyon yet. Im new to the Prospecting thing and I live in the Beaumont area and am looking for some place near by to do some panning.

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been on the GPAA forums a bit and forgot this password. No, nothing at Whitewater yet, I called and left a message with the BLM geologist about the area, he seems to be a busy guy. He left a message and mentioned that a majority of the canyon is part of an ACEC (Area of Critical Environmental Concern), some info on that can be found here (from Utah BLM) BLM: Utah: ACEC FAQs . It seems that certain activity is prohibited, but until I get a call back, I'm not sure if digging a couple of feet down or sluicing/panning would violate BLM admin rules for an ACEC area.

Here is a map, shows the entire canyon to be a part of the ACEC.
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medial...ater-Map1A.pdf

Just based off of what I'm reading, though prospecting isn't explicitly named, surface disturbing is mentioned as prohibited in some ACECs, but gas/oil leasing is allowed in some spots. I'm really hoping he calls back and clarifies. He said he'll be out for the next two weeks otherwise.

[treasurechest]

While you are all out there, check this out. See if you see it and if you can photograph it. Christ-Angel-Dove in Palm Springs California

[treasurechest]

and the Witch on the mountain. Panoramio - Photo of San Jacinto Mountain Witch

[digdug44]

I know this thread is a bit old but I've been reading though it for the past few days. I'm a total newbie but the Whitewater area has peaked my interest and a google search led me to this thread. Has anyone been up to where the river canyon seems to start? I measured it to be about 10 miles from the ranger station so it seems to be a bit of a hike. From reading here I see that some of you have ventured a mile or two from the ranger station with negative results. From looking at google earth there seems to be some deep cuts up there and the water level should be pretty low right now.

[treasurechest]

You know what sucks about the hike up whitewater canyon? It's not the miles. It's the trail. It doesn't go straight. It weaves in and out like a snake trying to slither away. You constantly have to jump that river, and it gets old after a while.