places to backpack and gold pan/sluice

[american boy]

Me and my dad are trying to find a legal place to backpack up to and spend a few days gold prospecting. We live in southern California but we would be fine with traveling anywhere in California. Preferably not a camp site with a lot of people already gold prospecting.

 

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[419GottaMinute]

Definately google "north fork of the north fork of the american river". The scenery is stunning, there are omething like 20 different trails, and the only traffic you ll have at your campsite is kayakers floating by.
Warning: these trails are pretty extreme. Some of them drop 2000 ft in elevation from the trailhead to the river. Not for the faint of heart.
Also, if you pack it in, pack it out. Pleade dont litter.

 

[american boy]

Is there good gold in it

 

[419GottaMinute]

Quite a bit. All of the trails in the nf of nfar are actually old miners roads. I recomend the ones from euchre bar down to stevens trail. When you get to the bottom of the canyon, you can still see hand stacked cobble walls and huge tailing piles left behind by the old timers.
Another word of warning: when you combine high gold prices with an unstable economy, you get homeless camps along almost any gold bearing river. I live in colfax and help out at the mining shop there, so we see and know these guys as they come in to sell their gold. For the most part they are just people down on their luck and trying to survive; they are not bad people. With that being said, gold has a curious effect on people and they can act unpredictably. Watch your ass any time you camp off the beaten path. Be aware.
Kris

P.s. these trails are rugged enough that they dont see a lot of prospecting. I know people who claim to pull half ounce to an ounce a day out from this section of river. I personally have only been down pickering bar trail, and it took 35 minutes to the bottom and a hour and a half back up with no gear. Have fun and be safe.

 

[Rlg]

If you were going to Wyoming I could help you. There is places there you can stay for weeks and never see a person.
You do have to watch for bears, would rather have the bears myself. Good luck with ur trip, my brother and I are waiting for snow run off and we are head up the mountain as well

 

[sidvail]

419 has it. The Auburn recreational area is awesome. Great trails, great scenery and great gold.

And of course, there's quite a few campgrounds on National Park Service lands in the Sierra Nevada's that allow panning. Pi Pi campground and cache rock area are supposed to be pretty sweet. I'm heading up above Pi Pi come April to spend the summer. They even stock the river with trout

Here's to backpacking and panning. Best combination since.........bacon and eggs? Ham and cheese?

 

[american boy]

Is the Stanislaus river any good