Gold Panning in North Georgia

[betboy25]

Hello Group,

I am from North Florida and love to take my father up into GA to go gold panning. So far we have stayed in Dahlonega and done our panning with Crisson gold mines and tried a local creek(without any luck). We have been going up there for a couple of years now and are looking to expand our area. Does anyone know places that the public can go and try some panning and maybe use a hi-banker? Sometimes it is hard to tell what is private land and what is public. I heard that Town Creek is decent

I am trying to stay inside the law but also have some good memories with my aging father as well!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

thanks

Lee

 

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[betboy25]

I will mention this and this is for anyone that gets permission to Gold prospect someone's private land. Always make sure to pick up your' trash and any other trash that you might find while prospecting, place it in one of your' 5 gallon buckets and show the land owner what you cleaned up besides your' own trash before you leave each time. This goes a long way in promoting good will with the land owner and may just be the ticket to not only help yourself but also to help others get permission to the land or a neighbor's land. Fill in the holes that you have dug in the creeks and/or streams and clear sluiced/classified piles of material to put the creeks and/or streams back to as close to natural as possible before you leave as well. If you plan on coming back to work certain holes that you started, then I have found that filling these with larger rocks is the ticket which not only accomplishes the things in the previous sentence but also makes it easier for you to access the same holes much easier the next time you visit. There are too many folks that get permission to a land owner's property that never clean up after themselves, leave trash laying all over the place and leave the creeks and/or streams as if a backhoe had come through digging holes and leaving piles of material everywhere. These selfish folks destroy any good will with the land owners and make it impossible for anyone else to ever get permission to prospect on the land owner's land.


Frank

Well said sir.... I have let friends hunt on my property and have found empty coke cans and plastic bags dropped along the road ways after they left. Very disappointing. When I come up next week, I might just try my luck and ask for some panning permission.
Good luck all and thanks for the good conversation!

 

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[huntsman53]

Well said sir.... I have let friends hunt on my property and have found empty coke cans and plastic bags dropped along the road ways after they left. Very disappointing. When I come up next week, I might just try my luck and ask for some panning permission.
Good luck all and thanks for the good conversation!

It is sad that a few disrespectful and uncaring folks can ruin a good thing for many, many others! When I lived in West Virginia, I had permission to hunt well over 5,000 acres of land and at times, more than 10,000 acres because I respected the land owners and their' property. I told the property owners that if they let me hunt, that I would virtually be a caretaker over the property while I was on it, that I would report to them any violations (trespassing, poaching, littering, cut fences or other destruction) that occurred on their' property. That if possible, I would effect repairs to fences and other things that were damaged by others and/or by storms and if I could not effect the repairs, then I would report these to them. That if they also gave me the authority to do so, that I would report violations that occurred on their' property to the proper authorities (Game Warden or Sheriff's Department) as well as them. It takes very little time out of our day to show respect to the land owner, to their' property and to show common courtesy. Heck, the land owner really has very little to gain from granting permission to their' property, other than getting reports of problems (damage, violations or other) on their' property, promoting good will between property owners and the public and may be a little bit of Gold or meat, depending upon what we are asking to do on the property. Just remember that when you are out there and have permission to Gold propsect or hunt on someone's property and are doing so, that you are an Ambassador for all of us in this hobby and/or sport.


Frank

 

[wpsgta1000]

Try calling Blackburn Park and Campground. It's just outside of Dahlonega and is on the site of the original 1800's gold strike. I panned there in the 1990's and found fine gold with the occasional small plinker. I dug buttons, ceramic shards and other relics from the 1800's so I know the area had been worked but after two years of panning the occasional weekend I ended up with a little over an ounce of gold. Enough to have a nice chunky ring made for my wife.

 

[betboy25]

Try calling Blackburn Park and Campground. It's just outside of Dahlonega and is on the site of the original 1800's gold strike. I panned there in the 1990's and found fine gold with the occasional small plinker. I dug buttons, ceramic shards and other relics from the 1800's so I know the area had been worked but after two years of panning the occasional weekend I ended up with a little over an ounce of gold. Enough to have a nice chunky ring made for my wife.

Thank you sir. Will do!

 

[KiddoTheMiner]

Thank you sir. Will do!

if you just want to pan go to the Chattahoochee national forest

 

[allenkeeton]

long time ago i went panning on yahoola creek in dahlonega. got a few tiny flakes and gems for my effort. well worth it if you got nothing better to do.

 

[betboy25]

long time ago i went panning on yahoola creek in dahlonega. got a few tiny flakes and gems for my effort. well worth it if you got nothing better to do.

I think they have pretty much shut down panning in Yahoola creek. I tried last time and was run off by the park ranger guy. He said that the city commissioners ended it because people would not abide by the no digging into the side wall embankment causing erosion so they just ended all gold panning activities.

 

[betboy25]

Try calling Blackburn Park and Campground. It's just outside of Dahlonega and is on the site of the original 1800's gold strike. I panned there in the 1990's and found fine gold with the occasional small plinker. I dug buttons, ceramic shards and other relics from the 1800's so I know the area had been worked but after two years of panning the occasional weekend I ended up with a little over an ounce of gold. Enough to have a nice chunky ring made for my wife.

I tried calling this place but cannot seem to get a number that is active. Did they close up shop?

 

[allenkeeton]

I think they have pretty much shut down panning in Yahoola creek. I tried last time and was run off by the park ranger guy. He said that the city commissioners ended it because people would not abide by the no digging into the side wall embankment causing erosion so they just ended all gold panning activities.

i just went under the bridge. can't remember the name of the road though. it was on the creek right before it fed into the river.

 

[betboy25]

i just went under the bridge. can't remember the name of the road though. it was on the creek right before it fed into the river.

I can't find a phone number that works. All say they have been disconnected... What road is it on?

 

[betboy25]

Well I just got back from my North GA gold prospecting trip. I did some quartz rock mining and found some good gold. I went by Gold and Gems(I think that was the name) in Cleveland where they dump the dirt near that creek bed. I found that place interesting in that people were practically fighting over the gems that the place puts into the dirt. Tiny little gems too that are a dime a dozen at the store. They had a rule saying that you cant dig through the dirt where they dump it but must take it down to the river and pan. I think most were digging in the dirt itself skimming off the top. The gold that was in the dirt was all flour gold and really wasnt worth messing with unless you have a black sand/flour gold separator... we didnt stay there long. We ended up like we always do back at Crisson Gold mine.... had good luck there but of course you pay pretty hefty for it. Interesting side note while there.... a lady(who was with her husband) swipped my sniffer bottle with gold in it down by the panning area. With the help of the mine owners I was able to get it back when we confronted her with it in the lobby of the store. She never admitted what she did... she swore up and down it was her bottle... Friggin Theif. Her husband later appologized to me....

Later on when i get a chance I will post a pic of my gold.

Good Luck Hunting!

Lee

 

[betboy25]

This reminds me of a time that I went to check out some mining equipment in Sonoma or Santa Rosa Ca...I had my young son and daughter with me... While I was doing business with Aldo I believe... My son picked up a baby food jar with a small amount of gold in it...I had no idea... Anyhow... As we headed back to Vacaville... He pulls out this baby food jar...I stopped the car and asked him to give it to me... When I realized what it was I was about to turn around and go back and return it... My wife was already mad at me for spending $500 on a crusher and lost it when I almost turned the car around...I am sorry to say that I did not turn around to return the small amount of his gold but my young son sure got a good spanking when we got home... Anyhow... To this day I sure hope Aldo can forgive my son for what he did...

Ed T

Well at least it was a young boy who did something he probably didnt completely understand. This was a 50s+ year old lady that knows better and even after getting busted still wouldnt back off.... Her husband had some class though when he sided with me and said that the bottle wasnt hers.... As we talked with the mine owner I got to hold my bottle a few times inspecting it with each time ending with her snatching it away from me. On the third time holding it, I ended up just walking out of the lobby and back down to the panning area while the mine owner talked to her about it telling her that he didnt plan on turning her in. At the point I didnt care, I just wanted to get back to panning with my bottle in tow.

 

[betboy25]

Maybe god put it into my son's heart to do such a thing... After all... On an earlier visit Aldo was kind enough to run some of my ore through his rod mill... Although there was not much of anything left when it came out of his rod mill... go figure... hmm... What could have happened They sure did talk a lot about Pt on my later visits though... lol...I wonder why

Ed T

What is Pt?

 

[KevinInColorado]

The snuffer bottle dispute brings a easy tip to mind: put a return address sticker on your bottle (and cell phone, etc) with a piece of scotch or packing tape over it to protect it. Then we all know whose it is!

 

[Duckwalk]

I keep mine on a retractable keychain on my hip

 

[digginintn]

If you are wanting to pan, dredge or use a highbanker near Dahlonega GA, check out WEGM. Week End Gold Miners club. We have over 650 acres leased for prospecting. We also have 3 commons each year that are open to the public at NO CHARGE. The next common is this coming weekend, july 12-13.
You are welcome to join us!