Rocky Mountains/Estes Park Area

[Rad]

I will be vacationing in Colorado June 5th thru 12th, staying in Estes Park and visiting the Rockie Mountains. I am interested in panning but would like a recomedation and or referal to an area and business that provides the area to do it. I guess that is the best way to do it, right. Also, would it be a fun thing for my five and six year old to do, they are adventurous. Any other sugestions about the area stuff to do that a visitor might not have knowledge of. Thanks in advance! :shock:

 

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[49er]

I live not to far from Estes Park and the majority of land is either private or National Park land. I would suggest heading over to Idaho Springs which have two mines that have tours along with the opportunity to pan for gold. Not too expensive and alot of fun for the kids. Idaho Springs is located on I-70 (west).

 

[nebraskadad]

Your not gonna be too far from Central City/Blackhawk, I think there are places along the road you can pan.. Not too sure about away from the road you'd have to check with locals..

 

[49er]

Yes there is one place south of Blackhawk that overs gold panning, but the best bet is still Idaho Springs area. Will post more infor tomorrow.

 

[nebraskadad]

I'd head north to the Poudre. and get away from the "front range" snow bird and vacation panners..

 

[dano91]

I love Estes Park! I 'd say go to Blackhawk for sure. Have you ever been to Estes?
Theres lots to do and see give us a shout when you come out and we'll do lunch
Dano

 

[Floater]

49er.just east of idaho springs in the canyon along clear crek used to be some of the best panning around. have you been inthe canyon lately? I used to work innthe Mine above Idaho springs for a while. They had just put in the new assay office up there and had the crusher and sorter working. we had 20 yard dumpsters set up for sorting and then refining. they would truck out 30 tons of high grade a day and that was in the late 70s. the clasifier caught a lot of the good nuggets and out of every 100 tons before refining they would pull about 8-10 ozs pure and in nugget form.good luck. HH

 

[49er]

Sorry it took so long to post this, but just found the brochure. The mine is "Phoenix Mine" located in Idaho Springs has tours, gold milling, refining, story tellin and gold panning. Cost is $10.00 for adults, kids under 12 $5.00 can be located on www.phonixgoldmine.com. hope this helps

 

[nebraskadad]

49er,
I've been by the place a hundred times.. There are several places along the route from idaho springs, Central City, Blackhawk, lot of mom and pop claims along the way. If you are GPAA check out your claims guide.
phoenix has a lot of good info on their website and links to great info sources!!!

 

[Maka]

How about the Pudre River? Any Gold in there or there abouts?

 

[nebraskadad]

How about the Pudre River? Any Gold in there or there abouts?

There was a claim in the GPAA claim guide at one time out around Columbine on the poudre. I don't recall the details.. Check the claim guide. My guess if you can find out you might be able to do some sniping near by.. I don't recall the history of the area. I think geologically because of the proximity to the Medicine Bow area it may be a good place to have jaunt around.. Check with Leonard he might be able to hook up with you when you are out there.

 

[dano91]

You are gonna have a lot of fun up there in Estes, right now they have an Elk problem. Seems too many have come into town, and it's getting crowded.
You can take most of the small roads up into the mountains and find old mines, small creeks, and maybe good gold panning. Make sure you go on the Steak ride at the horse stable, theres the Tramway to the top of the mountain,
The Stanley hotel where Steven King wrote The Shinning [they will show you the haunted room, and the food there is perfect!]
Best thing to remember is that Beer hit's you at a 3 to 1 ratio at that altitude.

Dano.

 

[warsawdaddy]

It's been 30yrs,but the Poudre certainally has gold.Most have stayed away because the water is so swift,but there are places(used to be) along the hwy(14?) that you can stop and pan.If you don't find gold,there's always a lot of trout in there.