Gold Panning Next In Oregon

[TheNewCatfish]

I'm currently collecting information preparing for a gold panning adventure somewhere in Oregon beginning in the Spring of 2013. Just spent the last three years panning and exploring in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Results on the gold panning side was a bit of a disappointment. Even in the most widely known and popular places, the gold was extremely fine, or only very few, very small flakes were found. In some cases using equipement like pumps, hoses and highbankers with two men working a 12 hour day barely produced $10 dollars worth of gold. I got lots of breathtaking photos though.

I am an experienced outdoorsman and primitive camper who has backpacked through the Smokey Mountains, Appalachians and Rockies. I've traversed 70 miles of the uninhabited San Franciso River (Class III Rapids) in Arizona on foot. The trip took two and a half months. So the area i'll be visiting in Oregon doesn't necessarily have to be within sight of a McDonald's Restaraunt, or a paved road. Remote isn't a factor. I know land navigation.



My question is this, "If you were making a bucket list and could only visit one panning location in Oregon one last time and that would be it, Where would it be" ? I am particularly intersested in BLM areas dedicated to recreational gold panning where i can make contacts with local panners in the field. Deep water won't do me much good. I'll be travelling light, without heavy equipement. THANKS.

 

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[lgadbois]

Oregon is a beautiful state. You will enjoy your time there.

There are two areas that continue to attract miners. The first area is in South-Eastern Oregon around the town of Sumpter. This area for the most part is easily accessed. There are many active claims, but there is undiscovered gold in Baker County, Oregon.

Southern Oregon has a lot more to choose from. The rugged Rogue River country offers great prospecting opportunities. The discoverer of the great silver strikes of S. Arizona, Ed Schieffelin, moved to Southern Oregon. He built a cabin, lived and died in an area that is known for gold and cinnabar. The "Red Blanket Mine", named for a blanket and tools that were left there, was never located after his death. The entire Rogue River all the way to the ocean is gold bearing, and Oregon's Gold Beach sands were commercially mined for many years.

The mining country around historic Jacksonville still offers opportunities for the prospector. The town has been used for a setting for Western movies. It's a great place to visit with some good places to eat. You don't have to go far to find good panning.

Good luck on your trip!

 

[OregonGold76]

Brice Creek, South East of Cottage Grove. Miles of public access, good gold too!



This gold came from Cedar Creek camp
ground.

Sharps Creek Rec site has some good gold too and is in the same area. I found a 1.6 gram picker there just last year. Here is some more gold from Sharps Creek.

 

[OregonGold76]

This nugget came out of Sharps but I didn't find it, it belongs to a friend of mine.



Here's some more gold from the area :-)

 

[Reptisillious]

Hey New Catfish, I would say island Creek BLM site on Cow Creek. Go upstream 100 or 150 yards from the vaulted toilets then go down. It's a public site and it seems the upstream end has been less picked over. I also have enjoyed Nesika Beach about ten miles North of Gold Beach. When You turn off Hwy 101 at Nesika Beach. Turn right/North and follow for a couple hundred yards to dead end. There is a creek that enters the ocean here. All the sand has good gold. 20-30 small specks per pan. It's beach gold, so it is fine. But plentiful. These are My two favorite places in Oregon. I've been to Quartzville, Bohemia, Rogue, Applegate, Umpqua, Sixes and a few other spots. But these are the ones I find Myself returning to year after year.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Thanks. Some great info. Coincidentally, I use a dime coin in my pictures for perspective, so I can easily see you've found some great color at these locations. I'm not fanatical or greedy about it though. Usually, I prospect about five hours a day and average about one bucket of dirt an hour which I run through a small sluice. For me, it's not so much about "getting the gold" as it is about "escaping" the twenty-first century for awhile. At Cache Creek Colorado, I gave my entire day's panning to a young man whose father brought him there before the boy began phase four cancer treatment. The kid always wanted to pan for gold and was doing his bucket list. That day was probably THE BEST day i've ever had as a prospector.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Not surprised Oregon has some "Lost Mine" stories like the "Red Blanket Mine". Lot's of mines back in the 1800's weren't much bigger than coyote holes, so they were easily concealled. Diggings were collapsed or filled in so they remained a secret. In Big Spring Texas there's a story about an Indian who paid for whatever he bought with gold nuggets. As the legend goes, the Indian claimed he got the gold out of the river that runs beneath Signal Mountain. Eventually the town of Big Spring had to seal all the cave entrances to the mountain with concrete, because so many treasure hunters were trying to access the aquifer under Signal Mountain and get the gold.

 

[TheNewCatfish]

The third picture showing the blue goldpan (minus the six nuggets) is about what i was getting at Rose Creek Arizona out of five or six buckets of dirt. I was plenty satisfied with that amount of gold and remained there for almost three months. Rose Creek is just a stones throw away from famous Lynx Creek off Stoneridge road. But in my opinion, overlooked Rose Creek has way more gold in it than Lynx Creek does. If you go there, concentrate on the dry feeder creeks running into Rose Creek between Stoneridge Road and Faine Park. You're in the right place when you're standing under the elevated water transmission pipe crossing Rose Creek.