2020 Trip planned to the US...advice needed...

[Orcaman]

Hello all, Andrew from South Africa here. Firstly I must share my condolences to all on this day, 9/11.

I have decided to make the US my vacation destination next year, 2020. Too many questions which I can obviously find on Google but would prefer to reach out on a platform such as TreasureNet and try and get some 1st hand information from you all here.

I have detected for many years now with my trusty(old) Fisher 1236-X2, had loads of finds and fun over the years. Clearly everyone here is fascinated with finding gold and I'm no different. I have built sluices, 'worked' some areas around my home town(no success), sniped using what we call a prawn pump here to reach bedrock etc etc. I've spent years going through YouTube videos and consider myself a bit of an armchair expert...

Currently I'm involved in the gemstone mining industry and there are two old and abandoned shafts both still with original headgear on site. The gold 'dried up' and things shut down. I recently started to collect some gravel below the one shaft and will pan this out shortly.

I've told friends for years now that all I want to do is go out, mine, pan and find my own speck, not even a nugget but just a speck of gold and I will be happy! There are many places in South Africa where I could get this right but as I'm a keen paragliding pilot I was thinking that as Colarado has some really good cross country flying that maybe I can combine the two, paragliding and some prospecting and have a great vacation. I'll avoid the day parks that offer panning for everyone...screaming kids etc etc...

As I mentioned before I'm really hoping that some of you could offer some guidance. I'm open to maybe a week or so of camping/prospecting, maybe 7-10 days. I don't want to limit myself to Colarado as the US has so much to offer and I'd be on a relatively short time frame.
Is there anyone out there that could advise on a really great area where one can perhaps camp and prospect? Possibly even cheaper accommodation nearby maybe.

I'm hoping that I will pick up some valuable info from this thread and really looking forward to hearing from you all

Best regards,

Andrew

 

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[mendoAu]

We drive on the other side of the road here in the States. Kinda backwards from your country. I made a total mess out of things when I was in England.....
Just disregard all of the comments about North South East and West. Us miners are an easy lot to get along with, esp. in SW Oregon. Do some serious checking on the weather predictions wherever you go and when. Hope your maiden is broken and you find some gold.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

First, welcome to t-net. This is definitely the site where you will find the most help. A great bunch of people. They really helped me get started in prospecting. Plus I've made some great friendships thru here.
Colorado is probably the best place to start. Awesome gold, scenery and of course people. Definitely start with Kevin's Facebook group. I would also recommend picking up his book, with over 180 free dig sites you can't go wrong. If you need a break from prospecting I would recommend checking out Utah. Not too far and we have 5 awesome national parks, we also have gold just not as good as Colorado, but the Moab area is fantastic, with two parks right there (arches and Canyon lands)
Heavy pans

I’ll PM you about the Colorado book I wrote which Bruce mentions above...and the one for his state of Utah too!

 

[Orcaman]

Driven a fair bit in Europe, Mauritania, Gabon West Africa, Spain... I reckon I'll cope

 

[Orcaman]

Hi mendoAu, I see on your profile pic you get stuck in there! I've done a lot of commercial diving work, wrecks etc. It's a bummer my time and gear will be limited, would love to get involved with some work recovering. Also predominantly airline/hookah but cylinders where appropriate.

Cheers