Conan Ranch Hwy 49

[mytimetoshine]

*Cronan Ranch*

Made my first trip to Cronan Ranch this morning and I have to say its a spectacular place! Very impressed! About 2 miles, little less from parking lot to water. Surprisingly, there are a ton of Porti- potty down by the river: ) There is an amazing amount or river access from this location. More then I ever dreamed possible. The hike in and out is majestic. Green rolling hills and sweeping canyons. Even with the current drought the foliage was lush green. There are several species of wild flowers and i counted 5 different butterflies. Enough space to make it absolutely silent in some spots on the trail, makes you worry about Lion as I kept looking over my shoulder. Did a little prospecting and walking up and down the sand bars. Tons of space, bedrock , low water. I didnt bring a sluice with me. Just a gold pan , collapsible shovel and pick etc as i didn't know what to expect. So many good areas to set up a BGT or any sluice for that matter. I was blown away with the beauty and potential mining area. Took a couple test pans and didn't get really anything. Tons of black sand and a few fly poops, but some pans, not even fly poop.

As i was headed back I found a small creek that had about a 4 foot water fall going into the main river next to a tree. Looked good so i took a pan under the water fall and nothing.. took a pan from the tree root material and got 2 flakes. I was about to head back up the trail when i saw a promising area. Sort of a low spot in between some larger boulders. The top gravel material looked dark, very dark almost like black sand concentrating on beach sand. Took a pan and got 3 nice flakes. Did a another and chipped away at some bedrock that was loose and crumbling and got 4-5 flake in a pan. Looks like a decent size area with good gold. Now to got back with a sluice!

Now the only problem is, Does anyone know if it is OK to prospect this area? I have been to the "ranches" next to this one which are much smaller and just like this one there is absolutely no signs saying you cannot prospect. But there arnt any that say you can either... My last 3 trips i have only seen 1 other prospector and i dint talk to them. Does anyone know if its OK to set up a sluice here Im sure its fine. I never see any enforcement anywhere anyways.. but I did get a dirty look from a hiker and a kayaker... so IDK?..

 

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[medic7a]

http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/folsom.Par.7388.File.dat/CronanRanch_Complete.pdf

 

[medic7a]

Here are the rules for cronan ranch.

 

[Hoser John]

OMG-NC gets the land for free-as usual--then sells the land to the BLM instead of what the contributors wanted---such a scam--take from the rich and sell to the insipid BLM. That bs plan scam made me sell my 2 sf claims as insanity abounds from Folsom BLM-John

 

[Goldwasher]

OMG-NC gets the land for free-as usual--then sells the land to the BLM instead of what the contributors wanted---such a scam--take from the rich and sell to the insipid BLM. That bs plan scam made me sell my 2 sf claims as insanity abounds from Folsom BLM-John

What did you even say?....NC= Nevada County/ this is El Dorado. Fact is the area is managed well. Its one of the nicer public access areas. It's use is actually minimal.
Hunting has some restrictions but, I prefer them It's nice to have an area with big Bucks that don't have Rifle hunting pressure. Getting a tag in this zone is easy and I don't want every flatlander with a rifle tromping all over that area. It' is nice to have a challenging stalking hunt on that type of land with a bow, muzzleloader or slug gun.

 

[Goldwasher]

To actually answer Mytimetoshines question. You can Pan ,sluice, snipe and dig. It is just closed to mineral entry. The BLM even has a provision for special dredge permits on a case by case basis that gets you a spot for two weeks. Of course not right now but, its in the management plan, and hasn't been removed. We are lucky this area was sold and turned into public access. Otherwise as mention miles of the S. fork would not be legally accessed. This land was privately owned and then sold to the BLM for Public us be it with a special management plan that still allows prospecting, hunting, biking, hiking, and horseback riding.....with easy access and FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE.....
WE SURE GOT SCAMMED

 

[Goldwasher]

Hopefully mentioning this little gem of a spot doesn't increase the amount of diggers to much that's my only concern....mainly cause I'm greedy about these local access points

 

[goldenmojo]

Not too many people are going to hike 2 miles for 3 flakes.

 

[Goldwasher]

Not too many people are going to hike 2 miles for 3 flakes.[/QUO

 

[mytimetoshine]

Thanks Goldwasher! What about metal detecting? And what does "mineral entry" mean?

 

[mytimetoshine]

Not too many people are going to hike 2 miles for 3 flakes.[/QUO

Good. More for me. Being that I love hiking almost as much as prospecting its a win, win. Plus its 2 miles of the easiest terrain your ever gonna find. Literally a flat wide dirt road. I walked it in 25 min. and didn't break a sweat. You could mountain bike it in 5 minutes and you could easily bring a lot of gear. Now compare that to accessing via salmon falls bridge. It takes about 1hr to make 1 mile and you can't carry much with you. Your absolutely exhausted by just the hike in and out that its hard to prospect. Although I've found the best gold there so far, obviously not many are crazy enough to make that hike on a regular basis. Although i like the challenge.

 

[goldenmojo]

MyTime When you hike in there be sure to keep eyes in the back of your head. Desolate brushy area and many cats and bear on those trails. Please send me the precise coordinates or description via PM of the spot that you got your color.

GM

 

[Goldwasher]

it doesn't say no metal detecting!

 

[Hoser John]

NC= Nature Conservency who got the land for free-try reading the regs link first as explaination there is complete. The SF is the county boundry line( in some places) so claims on the SF can easily be in 1 or 2 counties. Dealing with Folsom is a pain and would never have another claim down there. John

 

[Goldwasher]

NC= Nature Conservency who got the land for free-try reading the regs link first as explaination there is complete. The SF is the county boundry line( in some places) so claims on the SF can easily be in 1 or 2 counties. Dealing with Folsom is a pain and would never have another claim down there. John

Got it it was ARC that sold it to BLM did they get it from N.C. Either way Cronan Ranch is a nice spot. And not anti-prospecting.
And Middle fork is county boundary. South forkhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8rFa3u6CYIE/USRkAT652MI/AAAAAAAAHqM/37qmHxmXKCY/s1600/10000acres.jpg turns into Folsom lake before it has a chance to be a boundary line. I guess part of Folsom Lake is a boundary, But you can't make a claim there anyway. So any claim on the South Fork is in El Dorado County. And none really towards the lake because of the the areas withdrawn from Mineral Entry.

 

[Hoser John]

I received a private email with MUCH info from one experienced in that spot. Much more than at first evident. Sorry but personal pm can't post. Gotta work on thisn' for sure-John

 

[mytimetoshine]

I received a private email with MUCH info from one experienced in that spot. Much more than at first evident. Sorry but personal pm can't post. Gotta work on thisn' for sure-John

I plan on it! I'd be out digging right now but already had camping plans with the family. I'm over hear at Collins lake east of Marysville. I love camping and this is a really nice place. All though I have been tempted to break away for a couple hours to drive over to the feeder creek for the lake and see if I can get some color! Brought my gold pan,small pick and collapsible shoverl, as always

Next weekend I'll be on the SFA digging somewhere !

 

[mytimetoshine]

Well i wasn't able to break away from the family and get out and prospect the creek that feeds the lake but i did take a hike past the dam and spillway and got some color. It was a long hike and i had my parents and 6 year old with me so i just took a couple pans, plus the water flow was next to nothing with very skunk water. 1 pan of top layer bank material and one fleck...interesting...

 

[infotraker]

Goldhounds club had a outing there several years ago. Most if not all of the gold found was very close upriver from where the road comes to the river. Very hot hike in the summer. Some of us hiked downriver with very little gold Gould.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks Goldwasher! What about metal detecting? And what does "mineral entry" mean?

If it's the same as it is up here, it means you can't file a claim anywhere on the property.

All the best,

Lanny