area to pan east of San Fransico or west of Reno?

[Ouroboerst]

I live in northern Minnesota, so I am a long ways from any country suitable for gold panning. I have a couple business trips to San Fransico and Reno over the next few weeks and am very excited because I was thinking about taking a couple days to head east into gold country. What I am really looking to do is to find some unclaimed area that I can pan in and likely to find some decent gold and hopefully send back a few 5 gal buckets of gravel back home to be able to pan over the cold winter months to keep me sane. Any suggestions within a few hours from San Fran? Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

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[Oakview2]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...ace-bay-area-ca-pan-gold-free-very-cheap.html

 

[TerryC]

I would get a map from the us gov showing BLM land along Hwy 49, east of The Bay. Hwy 49 was named after the 49'ners. This is Mother Lode country! I live (mostly) in Murpys, CA and always get color at the Day Use Area called Natural bridge, on Perrott's Ferry Rd, near Murphys, CA. Coyote Creek. Some say the area has vandals, but I park up on the road and have never had a problem. Just about any place between Mariposa and Columbia should be good. Good luck! TTC

 

[kuger]

I would get a map from the us gov showing BLM land along Hwy 49, east of The Bay. Hwy 49 was named after the 49'ners. This is Mother Lode country! I live (mostly) in Murpys, CA and always get color at the Day Use Area called Natural bridge, on Perrott's Ferry Rd, near Murphys, CA. Coyote Creek. Some say the area has vandals, but I park up on the road and have never had a problem. Just about any place between Mariposa and Columbia should be good. Good luck! TTC

Vandals hit there a couple weeks ago ....again.Terry count your blessings!

 

[TerryC]

Vandals hit there a couple weeks ago ....again.Terry count your blessings!

I'll have to pay closer attention. Tnx, Kuger. TTC

 

[kuger]

I'll have to pay closer attention. Tnx, Kuger. TTC

seen in the paper they hit there again....keep a eye out Terry!!

 

[cyberfish2]

You can still find "color" in most of our local streams and creeks. Access is often difficult - private property, thorny berry bushes and/or poison oak, steep terrain, and often opressive heat in the Summer. A high frequency gold detector is a big help for the tiny stuff. There is still gold here, but most of the ripe spots have been worked hard for the last 100 years. Some still have claims. I have a quarter ounce of plasser gold I bought from a dredge operator some 15 years ago for $100, so I could show the grandkids what it looked like. My Garrett AT Pro will not pick up the tiny flakes, nor will my pinpointer, but the tiny glass vial full returns a solid 55-65 up to about 3 to 4 inches. It makes you appreciate the hard work the '49'ers had to go thru for the magical yellow powder, as the Indians called it.
Your best bet would probably be to hire a local guide(and claim owner) to take you to a (semi) productive site. If you're really lucky, you may find enough to pay his fee for the day, but at least you will be in the right spot to save up some black sand and gravel for those Minnasota Winters. Besides which, you will likely get gold fever when that first bit of "color" shows up in the pan, and have a lot of fun in the process. And you won't have to worry about getting shot at by the pot growers.