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Unclad Lad | 06-27-2006 01:45 AM
Where is it legal to pan? I've got some vacation time coming up, and I want to do a little panning as work my way through Northern California. What are the rules for panning in National and state Reserves and Parks? I'm not including dredging or sluicing.

Wyldwil | 06-27-2006 12:17 PM
Re: Where is it legal to pan? Quote:
Originally Posted by Elijah (Post 284977) Unclad, Not too sure about California, but information on National Forest lands that are opened to panning should be available from any local forest service office, same goes for state forests. I recently went to Georgia to "prospect" and found places to pan, but didn't have any luck other than a few small flakes. The best bet is to go to a pay to pan location, worked for me in Georgia, and just buy some seeded dirt. It's the surest way to bring home a little gold. I'm a member of the GPAA and there are claims in both California and Georgia as well as all over even here in Ohio. I have been to several of the GPAA claims in the west, but have actually done better right here in Ohio at finding fine to flake gold. No nuggets for me yet here in Ohio, but lots of small nuggets from NC and GA. I did my best clean up for a single day at a place in GA where they charged me $25 for the whole day with my 2" combo. In addition to the gold we also found many gems. We plan another trip later this summer to GA as we are addicted to the habit. Good luck finding lots of gold! -AKA Wildtrapper:wavey:
Feel like posting or PMing me some info on GA or NC places? Wife and I looking for something fun to do in Aug., this sounds really cool!

SilverCollector | 06-27-2006 01:19 PM
Re: Where is it legal to pan? I've done some panning, and it's hard hard work. Might not be so hard if I had actually found something. Water was freezing, and my back hurt bad after 30 or so minutes. This was in the Sierra's while backpacking. Just myself and a couple of friends had an entire mountain stream all to ourselves, with lots of snow runoff feeding the stream. My advice bring a fishing pole. This will break up the monotomy of sifting soil and gravel. Good Luck! :wink:

goldminer | 06-27-2006 05:50 PM
Re: Where is it legal to pan? Many of the National Forests have a "recreational gold prospecting & panning" program. Access them individually on the net and search for this program. Any that I have visited that had these programs permitted creek work only, no digging in the banks, no significant physical damage, dig a hole - fill it up, and not motorized equipment = gold pan, hand sluice, and shovel. Good hunting! It's the "great chase"....let the kid come out and play in the dirt, the mud, and the water, and hunt "Easter eggs" all at the same time.

Unclad Lad | 06-28-2006 04:14 PM
Re: Where is it legal to pan? If someone has staked a claim, is there some sort of marking or indicator at the site, or am I supposed to research any spot I find? Since I don't really have a planned itinerary, I haven't looked at any specific places.

SilverCollector | 06-29-2006 12:04 AM
Re: Where is it legal to pan? Quote:
Originally Posted by Unclad Lad (Post 286416) If someone has staked a claim, is there some sort of marking or indicator at the site, or am I supposed to research any spot I find? Since I don't really have a planned itinerary, I haven't looked at any specific places.
I've been to old abandoned mines that have been reactivated, and there are markings readily in sight. The ones I've seen are rolled papers in a tube, attached to a pole. It sounds like you are doing recreational panning so don't worry about. If you hit a mother load vien (about 0.0000001% chance) get real quite, buy infrared goggles, and pan and pan like there's no tomorrow starting at about 1 AM. :rofl:

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