Nor Cal Camp suggestions....

Reed Lukens

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Only a lot further north... You can camp at the state fair campground in Sac, but if you can go east, Indian Grinding Rocks State Park is nice. Not wanting to go further north of Sac really cuts out the entire Northern Motherlode.
 

eyemustdigtreasure

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Heading back to Sac ... any camping recommendations. preferably no further north, and higher elevation to beat the heat. oh yea water and gold lol.

thanx
Sims campground upper Sacramento River -interstate 5
 

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Sean Au.

Sean Au.

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Only a lot further north... You can camp at the state fair campground in Sac, but if you can go east, Indian Grinding Rocks State Park is nice. Not wanting to go further north of Sac really cuts out the entire Northern Motherlode.
Does the gold get better the more North I go? I I could go lets say 2 hours max North does that put me in better locations , I guess the Yuba ? I found a great spot 30 min from Sac with lots of small placer with old crevices etc. but not anything big. I really enjoy the wilderness river stomp get wet prob poison oak kinda prospecting.
 

tamrock

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I did a lot more weekend camping when I lived in Sacramento. Only place I recall beating the heat this time of year would be along the coast somewhere. Went to Lassen once, but that was pretty dry and toasty during the day, still great places to hike though. Me and a guy I worked with would drive not to far east to pan gold on the weekends along one of the forks of the American River.
 

eyemustdigtreasure

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is the prospecting at Sims creek along hazel creek, or Sac river?
gold can be found in this region, up and down the river, and as far north as Klamath River
 

Reed Lukens

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Does the gold get better the more North I go? I I could go lets say 2 hours max North does that put me in better locations , I guess the Yuba ? I found a great spot 30 min from Sac with lots of small placer with old crevices etc. but not anything big. I really enjoy the wilderness river stomp get wet prob poison oak kinda prospecting.
It gets easier to find. Like mentioned above, you have the American, Yuba, Bear, and Feather Rivers up north of Sac, all within 1-1/2 hours. There's lots of campgrounds on the North Yuba going towards Downieville, Indian Valley Campground, etc. The Bear River outside of Colfax has a good campground, but it burned last year and now has limited days, but there's lots of gold both up and down stream. Mineral Bar on the American, but I think it's just hands and pans now? Roaring Camp outside of Jackson is a favorite spot for a lot of people. Then there are camping spots and pay to play places along the Feather River also. If you've never been to the Bear, it's a great place to start with tools and equipment up to a sluice box allowed.
 

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Sean Au.

Sean Au.

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It gets easier to find. Like mentioned above, you have the American, Yuba, Bear, and Feather Rivers up north of Sac, all within 1-1/2 hours. There's lots of campgrounds on the North Yuba going towards Downieville, Indian Valley Campground, etc. The Bear River outside of Colfax has a good campground, but it burned last year and now has limited days, but there's lots of gold both up and down stream. Mineral Bar on the American, but I think it's just hands and pans now? Roaring Camp outside of Jackson is a favorite spot for a lot of people. Then there are camping spots and pay to play places along the Feather River also. If you've never been to the Bear, it's a great place to start with tools and equipment up to a sluice box allowed.
Wow that's some great options. I think I'm gonna try and swing a day trip then further north. Thanks for the info. I noticed you commented on my last video on the cosumnes, in the clip a lot of material was catching after the first riffle, so this is normal ? I guess the gold would fall between and catch further down the sluice. It just seemed like too much piling at the start. I was using 1/4inch hardware cloth as a classifier before running material.
 

southfork

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It gets easier to find. Like mentioned above, you have the American, Yuba, Bear, and Feather Rivers up north of Sac, all within 1-1/2 hours. There's lots of campgrounds on the North Yuba going towards Downieville, Indian Valley Campground, etc. The Bear River outside of Colfax has a good campground, but it burned last year and now has limited days, but there's lots of gold both up and down stream. Mineral Bar on the American, but I think it's just hands and pans now? Roaring Camp outside of Jackson is a favorite spot for a lot of people. Then there are camping spots and pay to play places along the Feather River also. If you've never been to the Bear, it's a great place to start with tools and equipment up to a sluice box allowed.
I liked the Bear River Campground I had great days sniping and it's first come open ground. Find a hole if empty Vacant or start your own. I never camped an hour or so drive for me and sometimes it looked like a homeless encampment. And that big Bar at the day use area was a good spot to sluice.
 

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arizau

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I just googled the above mentioned campground website.....it is closed to overnight camping for the balance of this calendar year. No reasons given but maybe the homeless prob as mentioned above (?).
 

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Reed Lukens

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I just googled the above mentioned campground website.....it is closed to overnight camping for the balance of this calendar year. No reasons given but maybe the homeless prob as mentioned above (?).
I think it was closed for the fire that went thru last year. Maybe they're doing repairs, I see that it's open Tuesdays & Wednesdays for camping but you can park along the river anytime, now that it's open. They changed the rules, raised the prices and booted the homeless out last year, plus the sheriffs patrol the area quite a bit these days. It's all good :laughing7:

Wow that's some great options. I think I'm gonna try and swing a day trip then further north. Thanks for the info. I noticed you commented on my last video on the cosumnes, in the clip a lot of material was catching after the first riffle, so this is normal ? I guess the gold would fall between and catch further down the sluice. It just seemed like too much piling at the start. I was using 1/4inch hardware cloth as a classifier before running material.

It was running fine, you could have put up a little wing dam if you wanted more water, but most of your gold would have caught in the black Vmat first, so always watch the Vmat. The build up behind the riffles is normal.
 

southfork

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There's a lot of options along the south fork of the American BLM access and private campgrounds in the Coloma Lotus Valley Hands and pans in Coloma State Park right across from where it all started. There are trails from Greenwood Creek all the way to Salmon falls bridge Folsom Lake along the South Fork. Red shack trail below Chili Bar along Hwy49 just north of Placerville. Rock Creek where it crosses Rock Creek Road above chili Bar Hwy 193 Camping at Finnon Lake at Mosquito along rock Creek Road .
 

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Sean Au.

Sean Au.

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I think it was closed for the fire that went thru last year. Maybe they're doing repairs, I see that it's open Tuesdays & Wednesdays for camping but you can park along the river anytime, now that it's open. They changed the rules, raised the prices and booted the homeless out last year, plus the sheriffs patrol the area quite a bit these days. It's all good :laughing7:



It was running fine, you could have put up a little wing dam if you wanted more water, but most of your gold would have caught in the black Vmat first, so always watch the Vmat. The build up behind the riffles is normal.
thanks for the help...! gotta find that pay dirt now!
 

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Sean Au.

Sean Au.

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May 1, 2022
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There's a lot of options along the south fork of the American BLM access and private campgrounds in the Coloma Lotus Valley Hands and pans in Coloma State Park right across from where it all started. There are trails from Greenwood Creek all the way to Salmon falls bridge Folsom Lake along the South Fork. Red shack trail below Chili Bar along Hwy49 just north of Placerville. Rock Creek where it crosses Rock Creek Road above chili Bar Hwy 193 Camping at Finnon Lake at Mosquito along rock Creek Road .
good info. thanks!
 

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