I live in Exeter, CA. Anyone near by in the valley that can give me some advice on where to gold pan etc. Thank you for the time and patience I'm pretty new at this
Go to the Stanislaus River. There is an area open to the public near the LDMA camp. There are open areas on the Kern River ,American and most of Mother Lode rivers have areas open to the public. There are plenty of prospecting clubs that you can join very cheaply. Pretty fair claims ,and good folks that are willing to help out a newcomer . Good luck