Central Valley - Where to hunt?

[Customx_12]

I recently moved to the Central Valley and I'm trying to find some places to go metal detecting. Any tips?

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Whereabouts in the central valley are you ? The valley is hundreds of miles long after all

And what type finds and sites are you wanting to angle for ? Eg.: jewelry ? old coins ? relicky stuff ? gold nuggets ? ghost-townsy type sites ? Etc....

If your answer is "old coins", then be aware, that's like asking a fisherman to "tell me your secret fishing hole". Doh! Unfortunately old coins are a non-replenishing resource. So when an md'r researches to find old country picnic sites, or forgotten stage stop locations, etc.... He's probably going to be "tight-lipped" and work the snot out of it with his buddies.

You just have to hit the history books and study for old country resorts or picnic sites (preferably long-abandoned since before the era of pulltabs and foil), or stage stops (so long as they're not gussied up modern tourist traps, or paved over, or obvious ones already hunted to death, etc.... So if you're new to this, you might have to "cut your teeth" on old yards of old homes. Because they tend to be virgin (as most guys don't care to knock on doors). Try the ones from the post war building boom of the late 1940s/ early 1950s, as they'll be old enough for silver. But if you were distinctly wanting seateds and barbers, .... you've got to pay your dues on research

If you meant "jewelry" or "gold nuggets" or "caches" or something different, then let us know more about your intents and plans.

 

[Customx_12]

I'm in the Hanford/Lemoore area. I was originally in Southern California and used to hit the beaches a fair amount. Also used to go panning and sluicing down there. I'm not picky about what I'm looking for. I just love treasure hunting and finding something that hasn't been found before.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I forgot to say "don't say 'all of the above ' ", as the answer to "what do you want to hunt for ". Haha

Because for each one, there's a different answer. And even within each one, there's sub-category questions like "how ballsy are you willing to be ?", etc...

If you are content with jewelry (like your prior so. CA beach hunting), then any old lake swimming beaches around you will suffice. The Sierra foothills near you have all sorts of swim holes, eh? Find out which ones have high traffic and sand beaches along them.

 

[Customx_12]

Any tips for relics? Or places to go sluicing?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Any tips for relics? Or places to go sluicing?

I'm not into gold-in-natural form (nugget shooting, sluicing, etc...) So I can't comment on that. But in-so-far as "relics", I'm assuming you mean also where coins can be present . And not just "farm junk" ? Thus perhaps you have places like stage stops, ghost towns, cellar holes, etc... where you'll angle for lantern parts, harmonica reeds, pistol balls, gun parts, and all sort of cool age-indicators, right ? And then hopefully a seated or reale or gold coin on a good day hunting such sites, right ?

If so, then I refer you back to my original answer: If anyone had any such site , still giving up 4-star gimmees, they're not likely to tell. They're going to harvest it themselves. You simply have to "one-up" your competition, hit the history books, and hopefully find new sites on your own.

And if you're really serious (and not just sitting around waiting to be told by others where oldies likely lurk), do this: Join all the historical societies and museums in all the towns around you. Volunteer docent time. So you'd do things like man the desk, work in the archives, etc..... Get to know the folks on a first name basis. And you would be surprised what doors that opens up. I work at 2 such museums/societies, and have found great leads. And having the museum badge opens up credibility to get into sites. You flash that when you show up at a private property site, saying 'Hi, I work at such & such, and I'm doing research for an article I'm writing about the site of the supposed stage stop said to exist on the back-40 of your ranch here. Is it possible I can go take some pixs ?" And you regale them with your knowledge and interest in their family stuff. That morphs into md'ing, etc....

Yes I know that takes years of grooming and time. But at a minimum, hit the history books. My favorite is stage stops and immigrant stop/camp spots and defunct country picnic sites/resorts/springs. Of 15 or 20 spots you research and check, perhaps only 1 will pan out. Typically the spots are now under a modern home. Or under a freeway or shopping mall. Or have been hunted to death already (if they were 'no secret to the history books'), or are gussied up modern tourist traps, etc.... But once in awhile you find the gem where all h*ck breaks loose and you score on a plethora of classic finds and signals.

You're also not far from the southern end of the gold rush chain of events. If you can find out where longer-lived tent city zones existed for those, they can be fun. DON'T get lulled into "rushing to the ground zero of remaining evidential foundations" . Those might be nothing but the processing/industrial stuff that remains to be seen. And were just work zones, not "living" zones. You want to go where the camp towns were. And since those were often short-lived little tent city zones, perhaps nothing remains to be seen on the landscape now. And they might be quite a distance from the mine-shaft openings themselves. They typical md'r rushes right to the shaft openings, or the stamp-mills etc... (since those are what we currently see as "remains"). When in reality, it's the places that the miners ate, slept, drank, and played that you want to md.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Also: Be aware, that this is probably the WORST time of year to be rushing out to the mountains to try relic spots you might have researched. Because we are in heavy spring growth right now in CA. So probably anything you arrive at, will be knee-deep in grass. You might have to wait till late fall for the grass heights to be back down.

At this time of year, I do mostly old-town urban demolition site hunting. Because the const./demolition Co's tend to plan their "ground breaking" dates to spring time. Where they're not likely to get rain (no one starts an outdoor project during the "rainy season" after all). But old-town demolition hunting require a bit more ... uh ... "balls". Ie.: you might have to wait till after 5pm when the workers cut out, and uh.... be a little .. uh... discreet.

 

[Customx_12]

Thanks for all the tips! I wasn't expecting people to give up their honey holes and think the research part is a lot of the fun. You've given me some good insight into where to direct my research efforts so thanks again for the help!