Howdy stevan,
There is raw gold to be found in Washington State. Nuggets, maybe if you put yourself in the right area. Prospecting is like Real Estate - Location, Location, etc.
I lived in the state a few years back, drove out to the obvious "historical Gold Mining region" and found all sorts of claim postings right along the highway. Now I Enjoy hiking into the rough country with a heavy pack so I can 'get away' from the crowd but I never had the chance to do that in that state. There are several folks here that pan/sluice/dredge (?) for gold in the state and they find it.
I will offer to you sound advice to look for a club in the state and see where they have claims that are open for members to work or to look up the historical gold mining areas or locate Clay Diggins here on Tnet and check out his claim locater information. Some of this can be done by going to a metal detecting shop in the state, ask some questions, get some answers as well as to look see what literature they offer about Washington State.
There's lots of backcountry in the state, one needs to be careful when venturing out there as the weather/water/animals/ground conditions/etc. are changeable on short notice - be prepared!
Metal detecting for gold is one of the ways of finding gold but often one finds hot rocks, trash (bullets, nails, cans, wire and the like). Learning to detect gold is something that is acquired over time, often years worth of it, then there is the ground you swing the detector over and often to all the time it is highly mineralized to capped with an iron deposit making detecting tough. Then there is the machine one is using as well as the person using it - both need to be good at doing what you are asking about. Or, this is not a get rich quick proposition! It can be Very Hard work, moving lots of placer deposit laced with large to very large to gigantic boulders and one must be in good to excellent shape to do any or all of this.
Now I am still a young man, I turn 72 the end of April 2016, so I still enjoy myself "out there" "doing that" BUT it ain't for everyone!! Also, "gold is where you find it" so read Lanny's information here on Tnet, look up Steve Hershberg's site (sorry Steve as likely I just slaughtered the spelling of your last name) - these are very knowledgeable men with machine and muscle that give all of us good advice on what to do/not do with what we've got.
Most of all enjoy being out there as without a good swim, or a good fish dinner, or some good relaxation time, or good company or whatever trips your trigger while out there, without that you can throw a lot of money into this Adventure and have nothing to show for it after many years of doing it. Me, I've taken my children in with me as well as my oldest granddaughter and have had wonderful times with all of them. Once upon a time I even had a lady, city girl, that trusted me enough to take her along on one of these adventures and she liked it so much that she chose to share even more of them with me. Good company out there is a wonderful thing!
So I hope this helps...................63bkpkr
