Gold panning streams in north georgia?

[88junior]

I am looking to try out gold panning I live in Murray Co. GA. And was curious if anyone on here knew a place that I could give a try that is close to where I live. Thanks

 

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[russau]

VERY NICE specimend!!!

 

[pensacolakid]

Almost all the creeks in north georgia have gold in them. Especially around the dalonega and cleveland areas. The gold belt runs from alabama thru northwest and north central georgia into north carolina and virginia. gpaa (gold prospectors association ) has a gold camp just outside of cleveland, ga.

 

[billohio6248]

I am going to try Chattahoochee National forest on sunday. I can both metal detect and pan. At least I am positive it is legal there. I have been up to Cleveland and Dahlonega and will go again but so far only a few flakes

 

[pensacolakid]

Be aware, all the national forrest and tva properties require permits to metal detect or gold pan. I know for sure the tva properties do. They can take your equipment , your money, your freedom and the car you came in, so be careful. You can go the tva (tennessee valley association) website and download a free application for a metal detecting permit from them. But it is only good for camping areas, beach areas, and public access areas near boat ramps and such. Still there is some good hunting in some of these areas. As for the gold panning. LDMA (lost dutchmans mining association) and GPAA (gold prospecting association of america) have a gold camp in cleveland, ga. and in both south and north carolina. To use the camp you must be a LDMA member or a guest of one. You will find flake gold and a picker every now and then, but it fun. There is a pay for use gold camp next door to the one in georgia. Several more are scattered around north georgia. You also have tammys consolidated mine in delonaga, ga. pay for use.

 

[rebel003]

here is a link for some Ga Gold info.
http://www.gold-pro.biz/mining documents/GOLD LOCATIONS IN GEORGIA.pdf

good luck!

 

[TheNewCatfish]

Be warned. Parts of the Chatahoochee National Forest are no place to "cut your teeth" bushwhacking. The going can get very rough very quickly once you stray off the blacktop and park trails. Straight up and down climbing through brush so thick you need a machette. I wouldn't be surprised to hear alot of people have been found dead within two or three miles of rescue. Good Luck. Do your homework. Talk to the locals before you go in too deep. I spent three weeks there and didn't find any gold. Just alot of darn difficult terrain.

 

[Number9]

Hey, TheNewCatfish...

You just have to be crazy! he..he..he..

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

This is my neck of the woods. I thought it was illegal to metal detect in GA state parks?

 

[TerryC]

This is my neck of the woods. I thought it was illegal to metal detect in GA state parks?

Senior Hombre, I am learning Spanish using a R_____Stone CD. May I ask, does the portion of your name... Plata_Flaco mean little (thin) silver, or lean plate? Please help me out... Tnx. TTC

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

The moniker translates to "Skinny Silver Man". You should learn to speak Mexican instead of Spanish - it's much more practical.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

Be warned. Parts of the Chatahoochee National Forest are no place to "cut your teeth" bushwhacking. The going can get very rough very quickly once you stray off the blacktop and park trails. Straight up and down climbing through brush so thick you need a machette. I wouldn't be surprised to hear alot of people have been found dead within two or three miles of rescue. Good Luck. Do your homework. Talk to the locals before you go in too deep. I spent three weeks there and didn't find any gold. Just alot of darn difficult terrain.

Sorry you didn't find more gold. I agree with your assessment of the terrain in these parts, but it's not so bad if you have been raised here and grown accustomed to spending time in the woods. I heard or read something once many years ago that the NE GA mountains are about as close to a tropical rainforest that you will find in America in terms of elevation, rainfall, heat, and humidity.

 

[Number9]

The area does have a lot of gold, it's like beauty... you got'a known where to look!

The Chattooga begins in southern Jackson County, North Carolina, then flows southwestward between northwestern Oconee County, South Carolina, and eastern Rabun County, Georgia. The river was used as a setting for the fictional Cahulawassee River in the book and film Deliverance.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

The area does have a lot of gold, it's like beauty... you got'a known where to look!

The Chattooga begins in southern Jackson County, North Carolina, then flows southwestward between northwestern Oconee County, South Carolina, and eastern Rabun County, Georgia. The river was used as a setting for the fictional Cahulawassee River in the book and film Deliverance.

Wouldn't trade living here for anywhere else, but it's more of a place to raise kids or retire. Not so great if you are a "Captain of Industry" type. lol

And I think Deliverance is one of the best movies ever. The "squeal like a pig" part overshadows the rest of the gripping and tense film. The banjo boy also works in a restaurant here. He's pretty cool and not as retarded as his character in the film.

 

[Number9]

Is Billy still doing dishes in Clayton?

My favorite part of the movie...

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

Is Billy still doing dishes in Clayton?

The last time I saw him he was.

 

[TerryC]

The moniker translates to "Skinny Silver Man". You should learn to speak Mexican instead of Spanish - it's much more practical.

Hombre, Muchas gracias, mi amigo. Number9...a little trivia... The Horace Greely quote,"Go west, young man, go west", is a reference to NC gold. My 2 cents... TTC

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

The moniker translates to "Skinny Silver Man". You should learn to speak Mexican instead of Spanish - it's much more practical.

Hombre, Muchas gracias, mi amigo. Number9...a little trivia... The Horace Greely quote,"Go west, young man, go west", is a reference to NC gold. My 2 cents... TTC

Thanks for the tip.

I have actually wanted to try out panning here before, but all my life growing up in this area (15 miles SW of Duke's Creek and The Dahlonega Mint, and 20 miles NE of the Templeton Reid Mint) I was always told the Gold was pretty much mined out here. If you look at a placer map of GA, I live right on top of "Gold Belt" that runs through the state. I saw a guy on here find a nugget near the foothills of the Appalachians near the Alabama line and it just blew my mind.

Would I really need to go to North Carolina if I supposedly live on top of the stuff? I am very familiar with the far-west corner of the state - Highlands and Cashiers area - AKA: Jackson and Macon Counties.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear alot of people have been found dead within two or three miles of rescue.

People die all the time up there in Tallulah Gorge. For those of you who don't know, this gorge is known as "The Grand Canyon of The East". It's massive with big cliffs. Tourists usually just start trotting down there, slip - then it's time for some major hurtin'.

It's where parts of 'Deliverance' were filmed lol!

Before they dammed it up, the amount of water flowing through this place literally SHOOK THE EARTH.

The Tallulah Gorge is a gorge that is formed by the Tallulah River cutting through the Tallulah Dome rock formation. The gorge is approximately 2 miles (3 km) long and features rocky cliffs up to 1,000 feet (300 m) high. Through it, a series of falls known as Tallulah Falls, drop a total of 150 metres (490 ft) in one mile (1.6 km). Tallulah Falls is actually composed of six separate falls: l'Eau d'Or 46 ft (14 m), Tempesta 76 ft (23 m), Hurricane the tallest at 96 feet (29 m), Oceana 50 ft (15 m), the smooth "sliding rock" at Bridal Veil 17 ft (5.2 m) and Lovers Leap 16 ft (4.9 m). The Tallulah Gorge is located next to the town of Tallulah Falls, Georgia. Tallulah Gorge State Park protects much of the gorge and its waterfalls. The gorge is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia.

Just above the falls is Tallulah Falls Lake, created in 1913 by a hydroelectric dam built by Georgia Railway and Power (now Georgia Power) in order to run Atlanta's streetcars. The dam still collects and redirects most of the water via a 6,666-foot (2,032 m) tunnel sluice or penstock (pipe) around the falls to an electricity generation station downstream that is 608 feet (185 m) lower than the lake, except for a few days each year. The days when water is released are very popular for recreation, such as kayaking and whitewater rafting.

Since the early 19th century, Tallulah Gorge and its waterfalls have been a tourist attraction. In 1882, Tallulah Falls Railway was built, increasing the accessibility of the area to tourists from Atlanta and south Georgia, and the gorge became North Georgia's first tourist attraction. Resort hotels and bars sprung up to serve the tourist trade, which, after the addition of the railway, swelled to as many as 2,000 people on Sunday alone. In 1883, tightrope walker Professor Bachman crossed the gorge as part of publicity stunt for one hotel. On July 18, 1970, Karl Wallenda became the second man to trot across the gorge on a tightrope.

In the 1910s, Georgia Railway and Power began building dams on the river. The town of Burton, Georgia was purchased and flooded as Lake Burton in 1919. Many area residents opposed the dams, including the widow of Confederate general James Longstreet, Helen Dortch Longstreet, who led a campaign in 1911 to have Tallulah Gorge protected by the state. The Georgia Assembly was unable to raise the $1 million required to purchase the gorge. Although her campaign was not successful, it was one of the first conservation movements in Georgia. When the dam was completed in 1913, the roar of the Tallulah Falls (the roar could be heard for miles from the gorge) was quieted, and tourism dwindled. It was not until 1993 that the Tallulah Gorge State Park was created by Georgia governor Zell Miller in cooperation with Georgia Power.

Although tourism promoters in the late 19th century described the word Tallulah as meaning "loud waters" in Cherokee, it actually has no meaning in that language. The most likely source of the word is from the Cherokee Indians who inhabited the area. The word word tallulah actually means "the terrible" or from the Choctaw Indians, it means "leaping water."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallulah_Gorge

 

[Number9]

"I was always told the Gold was pretty much mined out here."

Sure, the old miners did remove large amounts of gold... but they didn't get it all for several reasons.
The methods they used wasn't the most efficient, many long-tom sluice wasn't cleaned out for a day or two.
You can bet they didn't recover much flour gold!
Most of the Southern Appalachian Mountains didn't have the cover they do today and erosion control wasn't even a thought.
Don't you know a lot of gold was washed into the creeks over the years after they dug around?
The larger mining companies didn't work the areas that didn't have enough water supply to run their equipment...
and like today, they thought moving the largest amount of material, to gain the highest percentage of gold, in the shortest time possible, was the only way to mine gold. And most of the gold in the material wasn't recovered.