Since the days of the California gold rush in 1849, prospectors, treasure hunters and vacationers have flocked to California to hunt for gold. They use gold pans, sluice boxes, metal detectors, dredges and dry washers in their prospecting efforts. Rockhounding is done in the gold producing areas.

Recreational gold panning is a popular hobby in California. A simple gold pan is effective in detecting and recovering gold from a streambed.

Metal detectors are used to detect nuggets in the dry washes, dry streambeds and desert areas. Inexpensive light weight sluice boxes are often used in flowing streams to increase the amount of material being washed for gold. Dry washers are used to recover gold in arid areas. Experienced prospectors may be seen dredging for California gold. However, if you want to find some gold and have fun doing it, pans will suffice and provide many happy hours of outdoor activity for you and your family.

The great California Gold Rush was of such importance, and has received so much publicity, that many people are not aware that the California Gold Rush was preceded by gold rushes in the Southeastern States. The first documented discovery of gold in the United States was in North Carolina in 1799 and gold mining started there in 1803. A major gold rush took place in Georgia in 1828 and a lesser rush occurred in Alabama in the 1830's. Most of the gold mining districts in the West were located by pioneers, many of whom were experienced gold miners from Alabama and Georgia. 

Gold mining and prospecting sites in California range from the Mexican border to the Oregon state line and eastward to the Arizona and Nevada state lines. Both Northern and Southern California provide ample locations where you may pan for gold.

Knowledge of those places where gold has been found earlier is useful in searching for more gold.

Prior work by geologists of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Division of Mines and Geology is acknowledged. Of special mention is the prior work of William B. Clark and Ralph Loyd of the California Division of Mines and Geology and that of Waldemar P. Lindgren of the U.S. Geological Survey. The excellent California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, by William B. Clark, was drawn upon for details of specific gold districts throughout the state and for text regarding the Klamath Mountains region of Northern California.  Lindgren's work published in the year 1911 as regards the ancient Tertiary Rivers is considered a classic.

Note: The above paragraphs to this point are common to each of the six (6) California gold regions. If you should read about gold in the other California gold regions, just scroll down to the point in the text where the particular region is discussed and continue on from there.

CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 4

California Gold Region 4 embraces Fresno, Bakersfield, Visalia, Porterville, Mohave, Randsburg, Johannesburg, Ridgecrest, China Lake, Trona, Fort Irwin, Independence, Lone Pine and Darwin.

National Forests in California Gold Region 4 include Sequoia, Sierra and Inyo. Some of the mountain ranges there are: Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, Greenhorn, Panamint, El Paso, Piute, Granite, Argus, Slate and Owls Head. 

Other features of interest are: Sequoia National Park Giant Forest (the really big trees), Kings Canyon National Park, Mohave Desert, Owens Valley, Panamint Valley, Indian reservations and the U. S. Naval Weapons Center. 

There are one hundred seventy (170) gold sites within 40 miles of Bakersfield and fifty (50) sites within 40 miles of Fresno. Gold deposits extend across California Gold Region 4 to Death Valley National Monument.

Big Ten's California Gold Map 4 covers California Gold Region 4. It shows 770 gold mines and prospecting sites from official geological records of the State of California and the federal government. Specific gold deposit sites are shown in parts of these counties: 

Fresno      Inyo      Kern      San Bernardino     Tulare

GOLD MINES AND GOLD PROSPECTING IN CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 4

California Gold Region 4 in Southern California is host to important gold deposits; a few of which follow: 

There is a concentration of gold sites five miles south of Mohave and another west of Fort Irwin, about 20 miles from Barstow. Heavy concentrations occur along the Kern River and at Isabella Lake east of the Greenhorn Mountains. California state road 178 parallels the Kern River. More sites exist in Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield.

The numerous gold deposits in the area surrounding Randsburg and Johannesburg and in the El Paso mountains northwest of Randsburg have been of considerable interest to prospectors and miners since the 1880's. Dry placer gold has been found in Red Rock Canyon, Mesquite Canyon, Goler Gulch and Red Bluffs. Gold-bearing sands and gravel occur in benches and in the hillsides above the canyons and on bedrock in the washes and canyons themselves. The gold particles are round and appear to have suffered considerable abrasion. The gold is mostly fine, although nuggets up to several ounces have been found. There are some narrow gold-quartz veins present.

The Rademacher Gold District is about 15 miles north of Randsburg and about 5 miles south of Ridgecrest. Faults and quartz veins exist in this district, which has 25 gold mines.

Many gold sites are in and between the Argus Mountain Range west of Trona and the Slate Mountain Range east of Trona. This area bridges the Inyo County/ San Bernardino County line east of the U.S. Naval Weapons Center. There are trails leading to the gold mines and dry washes here.

North and northeast of Fresno, gold sites are located in California Gold Region 4 near the Millerton Lake State Recreation Area and Pine Flat Lake. There are sites in Sierra National Forest and Sequoia National Forest north and south of the Kings River in Fresno County.

Inyo County has many gold deposits in and around the Owens Valley, north of Lone Pine, and in the vicinity of Darwin, south of state highway 190.

COMMENTS ON GOLD PROSPECTING IN CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 4

In this region you will be prospecting for California gold in an interesting part of the United States, which boasts the giant redwood trees. Time permitting, you may wish to drive through the beautiful twisting mountain road leading down into Kings Canyon and the Kings River in Kings Canyon National Park.

The many existing gold sites in California Gold Region 4 testify to the great interest in prospecting here in the past. Use a gold pan in the streams and a metal detector or dry washer in arid locations.

Gold sites continue on adjoining maps 3 and 5.