Prospecting California - Help

[RookmanGold]

I am a small time prospector from Switzerland and am thinking about doing a bit of prospecting in California next year...trouble is I have no clue about locations. Can anyone recommend some good places? or where to find links to good places?

Clearly that is the "magic question", but I am just interested in finding a few nice flakes from California.... Ideally I would like to sluice / pan and not just pan...

Any starting points or help would be greatly appreciated

 

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[galenrog]

What parts of California do you know you will be visiting? An important question due to the size of the State and large number at gold bearing areas.

Also, what types of vehicles will you have access to? Knowing this will help when giving specific advice on any particular area. For example: I would never suggest anyone check out the Gold Park area north of Joshua Tree National Park unless I knew they had access to rugged, high clearance, four wheel drive vehicles.

What tools and equipment will you have access to? Also an important question. While a pan is useful everywhere, a drywasher is not.

Time for coffee.

 

[RookmanGold]

Thanks for replying...

I will be heading east from San Francisco for a few hours drive into the classic gold rush area, and will do my best to locate a store to hire (if possible) a sluice and pan... my experienceis mostly placer gold in gravel banks down to bedrock. As much as I would love to have a 4 wheel drive and disappear into the desert for a while, I dont think it will happen this trip....

I am more than happy to hike into an area/up a stream for a couple of hours and can bring some gear from Europe if I need to.

Look forward to any advice / locations / thoughts about the above....

 

[Argentium]

Well , clearly when you get into the area that you will be staying in - you'll want to check out the various miner's supply shops (online ?)
the shop owners may have some excellent suggestions too . You may want to become a member of the G.P.A.A or Gold Prospectors,
Association of America - with this membership you'll have access to their member claim areas nationwide , and in California of course !
the Gold Prospectors Forum here on the Treasurenet site will most likely be far more helpful to you now , than this general discussion
forum - since the focus is all about gold prospecting . You'll waste far less time in the field by being well prepared with research and
a solid understanding of the land use regulations specific the to areas you're interested in , before you set foot on these areas .
An understanding of the gold mining history of an area over the last 120 years will serve you very well , as it will help you understand
what kind of gold was retrieved there - flour gold , nuggets , med. flakes , hard rock mining - etc. this will tell you much about the
equipment you'll be most effective with . Happy Hunting , and keep us updated !

 

[RookmanGold]

Thankyou for the leads. I will for sure move over to the gold prospecting area and spend time researching the places you recommended.

Any suggestions of "xyz is a great place where you can enjoy the nature of the place and we had a great time there" around the classic gold rush area would be gratefully received. I guess at the moment I am just wondering which area to home in on...

Thanks again.