MA/VT/NH Panning

[dvdtharaldson]

Hi ,

This is the first time I have posted on this website. I live in Western MA and am planning a trip during the last few days of September to Vermont to try my luck panning. I was going to try Buffalo Brook and Five Corners in the Bridgewater area. Does anybody know how far down you ordinarily have to dig to hit black sands in those areas? Any comments on whether you have to dig deep or just stay on the surface? I was thinking Irene probably deposited alot of flood gold on the surface. Does anybody know if some of the small brooks high up in the mts. north of Bridgewater contain gold? All I ever hear is Buffalo Brook and Five Corners. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you probably could tell I am new to panning for gold.

Thanks,

David

 

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[Stretchmo]

Hello everyone,

I realize there hasn't been any activity on this thread recently, but I just read all 55 pages and would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to it. I've just recently gotten back into prospecting and your stories really helped to rekindle my Gold Fever.

I've spent the last few weekends scouting and test-panning the West Branch of the Westfield River between Huntington and Chester. I came home with some decent color last time so, weather permitting, I'll head back out this weekend and try my luck again. Plus, my new Gold Rat sluice just arrived from Australia and I'm dying to try it out.

Cheers!

 

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[Mass Hole No.59]

Hello to Everyone and thankyou for keeping my thread active. The last time I posted on the thread was a year and a half ago after a winter excursion. I was glad to see people were still interested in reading it.

As for me, I still go out panning and enjoy it when I do. However, most of my time these days is spent on my first obsession, which is hiking. Which is usually with my deepest obsession, which is my wife.

I was able to get out with my two long-standing buddies and personal friends, Western Mass Gold and E.MassAuMan (Thing 1 and Thing 2). Thankyou Dr. Seuss for the monikers. Anyway, while Things 1&2 were busy scratching colors from the bedrock, I did what I often do, disappear into the deep dark woods and set out to find Shangri La. After hiking up stream for a half mile or so, and finally getting past the din of things 1 and 2, I found a quiet place to meditate. Meditating is what you call panning and finding no colors. I eventually went back to the exposed bedrock and scratched out a few colors of my own. Many thanks to Things 1and 2 for putting up with me.

Happy Trails and Best Colors,
David

 

[brianc053]

Hello to Everyone and thankyou for keeping my thread active. The last time I posted on the thread was a year and a half ago after a winter excursion. I was glad to see people were still interested in reading it.

As for me, I still go out panning and enjoy it when I do. However, most of my time these days is spent on my first obsession, which is hiking. Which is usually with my deepest obsession, which is my wife.

I was able to get out with my two long-standing buddies and personal friends, Western Mass Gold and E.MassAuMan (Thing 1 and Thing 2). Thankyou Dr. Seuss for the monikers. Anyway, while Things 1&2 were busy scratching colors from the bedrock, I did what I often do, disappear into the deep dark woods and set out to find Shangri La. After hiking up stream for a half mile or so, and finally getting past the din of things 1 and 2, I found a quiet place to meditate. Meditating is what you call panning and finding no colors. I eventually went back to the exposed bedrock and scratched out a few colors of my own. Many thanks to Things 1and 2 for putting up with me.

Happy Trails and Best Colors,
David

David, thanks for sharing and for reminding me of how beautiful that area in Western Mass is. I miss coming up there to pan and sluice. Maybe I'll have to plan a trip for one of the upcoming weekends.
It's looking like I'll get a chance to head up to NH (the Wild AM) for a dredging trip at the end of July. But - with the motors and all the heavy lifting - it's not the same as the quiet of those little brooks in Western Mass.

- Brian

 

[KevinInColorado]

Some of my favorite memories of my time in MA in 2015 are the times we went digging together. You all were so welcoming!

 

[E.MassAuMan]

Greetings from the "Mass" crew, East, West and Hole #59
We are alive and well and got together at a new spot that David and I first checked out back in the fall in the Couch Brook area. This was our 2nd trip of the spring here and we are trying to find the best places to prospect. Water is very low due to drought like conditions in Massachusetts
Here is David working his MacKirk in minimal water on a large rock/waterfall area

Rafi loves to crevice and this stream is giving up the best gold in the large areas of exposed bedrock. It's small stuff and you work for it


Some of the Gold David got


Good to see and get together with the crew.

We will be back sometime soon hopefully to find the best spots.
A shout out to all

 

[WesternMassGold]

Well,it has finally happened.
Somebody bought the last piece of land on Couch brook rd that was still open for panning.
The new Owner wasted no time putting up "No Trespassing signs".
That means Couch Brook is now 100% posted. No more panning in Couch Brook. A 100 year old tradition has come to an end. Sad!!!!

 

[brianc053]

Well,it has finally happened.
Somebody bought the last piece of land on Couch brook rd that was still open for panning.
The new Owner wasted no time putting up "No Trespassing signs".
That means Couch Brook is now 100% posted. No more panning in Couch Brook. A 100 year old tradition has come to an end. Sad!!!!

Thanks for letting us know WMG. You're right - that is sad, but we still have the memories (and a little gold!). Plus the spot was ruined years ago by whoever went in there with a dredge.

As for the memories, remember this day from July 2015?



And the picker (I'm still a little sorry I found it, knowing how hard you worked all those years to find a picker! Take comfort knowing it's proudly displayed in a case at home with others from around the country.)

 

[WesternMassGold]

Hey good to hear from you.
Dont worry about the picker,i found like 7 in Couch brook over the years.
Unfortunatly gold is getting hard to find in Mass.
probably gonna try to find spots in vermont or New Hampshire

 

[No gold in NY]

Well,it has finally happened.
Somebody bought the last piece of land on Couch brook rd that was still open for panning.
The new Owner wasted no time putting up "No Trespassing signs".
That means Couch Brook is now 100% posted. No more panning in Couch Brook. A 100 year old tradition has come to an end. Sad!!!!

Is it posted all the way to the bridge? One day a passer-by told me it was State land there.

 

[WesternMassGold]

Is it posted all the way to the bridge? One day a passer-by told me it was State land there.

Yup posted everywhere now.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good times while it lasted! Thanks for the memories ����

 

[Foreverteachable]

Hey guys, I am new to gold prospecting. I live in the Dalton area of Western Mass and I was wondering if anyone has found any gold in my area? I did find a great list though. Here it is,

Couch Brook contains some very fine placer gold. Also Keets Brook contains gold. Maxwell Brook has placer gold in it. Gold Mine Brook near Blandford contains placer gold. Also reported an old lode gold mine here.

An undisclosed amount of gold has also been found in the following western mass brooks, PLAINFIELD, Mill Brook

ROWE, Pelham Brook, RUSSELL, Potash Brook, Westfield River SANDISFIELD, Buck River, Clam River, Farmington River

SAVOY, Westfield River (E. Branch) SHEFFIELD, Konkapot River STOCKBRIDGE, Larrywaug Brook, Stockbridge Bowl, Housatonic River TYRINGHAM, Hop Brook, Goose Pond Brook, WASHINGTON, Depot Brook WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Williams River

WILLIAMSTOWN, Hemlock Brook, Green River (W. Branch), Green River WINDSOR, Westfield River (E. Branch), Windsor Pond, Windsor Brook, Westfield Brook WORTHINGTON, Westfield River (Middle Branch), Little River, Bronson Brook, and West Branch Brook.

I did pan Windsor brook and found nothing.

I know this is an Old Post but thank you so much for the information I grew up in that area and had family in New Marlboro.

 

[brianc053]

I know this is an Old Post but thank you so much for the information I grew up in that area and had family in New Marlboro.

Any chance your family has a gold-bearing stream on their property that we could dip our pans in? . (Kidding - but as Kevin said back in 2021: I miss those days of panning in MA. That’s where I met Kevin!)

 

[Foreverteachable]

Any chance your family has a gold-bearing stream on their property that we could dip our pans in? . (Kidding - but as Kevin said back in 2021: I miss those days of panning in MA. That’s where I met Kevin!)

No chance here😁 but I'm willing to dig, classify, and process if we find a stream with gold in it.🙂

 

[Foreverteachable]

Ok new best day of my life. One less nugget to be found on planet earth cuz its mine!!
Had to post em again here sorry!

That is a great day!

 

[Foreverteachable]

I have been going through all the posts and it looks like a great crew with some great memories and gold . I have enjoyed reading your stories and seeing the camaraderie, not to mention all the gold that is relatively close to home. My wife and I will be making a trip to Colorado in August to visit our friend and I will have time to fish and hopefully find some gold. I only hit clear creek in Golden but didn't know what I was doing at the time. I caught some golden colored browns, but no metallic gold. I will be eager to do some panning in the spring (or this weekend) in MA, VT, or NH, so if anyone is interested in getting together, I would enjoy it very much. The only gold I found so far was in Alaska and that sure gave me the bug Have a great week and hope you are well.

 

[Foreverteachable]

I made it to VT on Saturday and was blessed with some gold. Every 2-3 pans of concentrates had a spec of gold in it. I know that may not be a lot, but the that little bit of shiny yellow, the solitude, snow, and sound of the brook, convinced me to stay. I tried different areas of the bedrock, behind boulders, and in trickles coming from the hillside. While classifying some sediment, I noticed a thin but substantial flake stuck in my 1/4" screen. I thought it was a piece of painted metal or mica at first because I wasn't expecting a picker. I tried breaking it and it bent easily. Eureka! I am looking forward to the spring already 😃

 

[brianc053]

I made it to VT on Saturday and was blessed with some gold. Every 2-3 pans of concentrates had a spec of gold in it. I know that may not be a lot, but the that little bit of shiny yellow, the solitude, snow, and sound of the brook, convinced me to stay. I tried different areas of the bedrock, behind boulders, and in trickles coming from the hillside. While classifying some sediment, I noticed a thin but substantial flake stuck in my 1/4" screen. I thought it was a piece of painted metal or mica at first because I wasn't expecting a picker. I tried breaking it and it bent easily. Eureka! I am looking forward to the spring already 😃

Great flake! Congrats!

 

[Foreverteachable]

Great flake! Congrats!

Thanks a bunch Brian!

 

[brianc053]

Thanks a bunch Brian!

When you were reading through this old thread you may have seen the "Mass Picker" mentioned. It was a flake I found when I was sluicing with Kevin and others back in 2015.
I wanted you and other to know that I STILL have the Mass Picker on a shelf in my office, on display with gold I've found in various other places around the country.