Newbie in Southern Maryland

[m15trap]

Located in SOMD and looking to go panning. Im military and new to the area. I am aware of all the laws about no panning in State Parks.. Etc. It seems like most of the gold are in these areas from all my research. Are there Any locations I can go and not worry about being confronted by anyone? I am also up for meeting new people and learning what i can. Does anyone live in the area who plans on making any trips soon?

 

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[63bkpkr]

m15trap,
It is good to ask questions as well it is good to do your research. You indicated that you know there is gold in some of the parks, where else has it been found and by comparing the parks and where else it has been found you might be able to slueth out other possible places where it could be. Search for clubs in your area, check with metal detecting stores for club locations.

There is a wealth of information here on Tnet in historical posts/threads as well on the internet in general. On the internet search, type in How to Pan for Gold and variations of that and see what comes up. There used to be a truly wonderful internet post by an Oregon fellow about learning to pan and how to read a river.

I feel that right now your best bet, with winter coming, is to do your research and be prepared for spring. Be prepared for a lot of work with little payback other than being "out there" and enjoying being there. The adventure is a big part of possibly finding anything...........63bkpkr


The pictures below are of two different trips, 2010 & 2011.
2010 is the silver half dollar with those nice flat nuggets and smaller fines. 2011 is the dime with lead bird shot and gold pieces. I started the 2010 finds by moving rocks, then detecting, panning and then sluicing. 2011 was all metal detecting and then moving the rocks the detector indicated were on top of the gold. I first started out with panning as it is the 'perfect' sampling method and as it is so inexpensive. I have a batpan, batpan.com, and I truly believe in it. Also, it might be worth you while to research simple home made suction devices for sucking up samples from deeper in streams and crevices. Currently there is one I think in the panning section but it is about suction sampling. "YUP" - Crevice Suction Tools