Moab Utah panning?

Duckshot

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Looking for a place to pan during a two day stop in Moab Utah. Any rule and regulation info would be appreciated. Also pay to pan sites information if any nearby. This would be my first time panning west of the Mississippi. Not looking for your hot spots, just a place to start. Thank you in advance for any replies.
 

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arizau

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Figure out what county and the nearby counties and go here...Mineral Location Search These are the recorded occurrences for gold in Utah and are listed by county and some may be close by Moab.

Moab was a uranium mining area back in the day.

Good luck.
 

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KevinInColorado

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The Colorado River upstream of Moab is known for gold. Go on mylandmatters.org first to identify areas of public land without any claims on them...spot an intriguing cobble bar...and go for it!

The road along the river is also a VERY pretty drive btw. Be safe, the Colorado looks deceptively calm sometimes but is quite forceful with some slick banks where there aren't cobbles. One slip and you're swimming for a while!
 

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gunflintguy

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Looking for a place to pan during a two day stop in Moab Utah. Any rule and regulation info would be appreciated. Also pay to pan sites information if any nearby. This would be my first time panning west of the Mississippi. Not looking for your hot spots, just a place to start. Thank you in advance for any replies.

I was in Moab Utah May 2th thru the 6th. I never saw any pay to pan sites but as Kevin says the area was known for Uranium. While I was their the Colorado river was running around 4000 cfs and due to the rain and snow in the mountains since then river is way up. This morning it was 10,000 cfs. Their is a USGS site that lists the Colorado river CFS on a daily basis. The site can be found here:USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09163500 COLORADO RIVER NEAR COLORADO-UTAH STATE LINE
I gave up on getting in when it hit 5000 CFS. The cobble bars were unable to be reached without a kayak or boat.

The road Kevin mentioned is HWY128 and is a must see. It follows the Colorado river for over 30 miles.
 

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Duckshot

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I didn't try any Utah panning. Judging from all the floatsom in The Mighty Colorado the river is quite high. I did take a tour down Hyw 128 as suggested. Good advice K.C. and gunflintguy. We loved the drive and seeing God's landscaping. : )
 

tamrock

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I was in the Moab area last month. 128 is a beautiful drive. You get out that way again do some research on the gold in the Henry mountains over by Hanksville. I do call on a gold mining operation in that area and their still up there, just not buying a lot. I took some pictures off 128 last time I was in that area. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/my-daily-snapshot/463498-colorado-river.html IMO the best times to visit the surrounding Moab region is in the winter. The climate is very often beautiful and you feel like your the only one around. This fella who I've known for many years from Buena Vista Colorado said he worked a pipeline project and in the LaSal area of Utah and he said they were finding color in the trench dug in some of the alluviums just to the south of the LaSal mountains. I do know the area somewhat as I've called on the uranium mines in the area when they were in operation on and off over the years. Word has it the uranium mines may be getting back in to development in 2016. Hope so anyways.
 

hvacker

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Utah can be very remote. I knew a guy in the early 80's that broke a leg in a remote part of Cannon lands and wasn't found for two years. He liked to go it alone. Might not happen today as there are a lot more visitors.
Still it's an amazing place. Just be prepared if you journey far. I've wanted to go back to a place south of Moab called Grand Gulch about thirty miles or so long occupied once by cliff dwellers. Also very remote.
 

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