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 6

California Gold Region 6 was second only to the Mother Lode in California gold production.

California Gold Region 6 includes Susanville, Greenville, Westwood, Shasta, Weed, Red Bluff, Redding, Enterprise, Yreka, Weaverville, French Gulch, Alturas, Happy Camp, Orleans and Crescent City.

Both lode and placer mining have been done in this region, which is adjacent to and south of the Oregon/California state line. California Gold Region 6 has gold deposit sites ranging eastward from Crescent City on the Pacific Ocean to Modoc National Forest northeast of Alturas. The gold sites range southward from the Oregon state line to latitude 40 degrees, north, which is five miles north of Quincy.

Big Ten's California Gold Map 6 covers California Gold Region 6. It shows 1,580 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:

GOLD MINES AND GOLD PROSPECTING IN CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 6

There are many gold districts in this region. The information quoted below is from  California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193 by William B. Clark.

"The Klamath Mountains region in northwestern California is the second-most gold-productive province in California. The principal gold districts are in Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity Counties. Although there are several important lode-gold districts, the placer deposits have been the largest sources of gold. 

The most productive placer deposits in the Klamath Mountains have been those associated with the Klamath  and Trinity Rivers and their tributaries. Gold is found not only in the gravels in the present stream channels, but also in older terrace and bench deposits adjacent to the channels. The terrace and bench deposits often were mined by hydraulicing.

Rising in southern Oregon, the Klamath River flows west across the Klamath Mountains and empties into the Pacific Ocean. The most important tributary streams of the Klamath River are the Shasta, Scott, and Salmon Rivers, and Cottonwood, Horse, Seiad, Thompson, Indian, Clear, Dillon, and Camp Creeks. Important centers of placer mining in the Klamath River system have been at Hornbrook, Yreka, Scott Bar, Hamburg, Somesbar, Orleans, Sawyers, Forks of Salmon, Callahan, and Cecilville.

The Trinity River, which flows into the Klamath River at Weitchpec, drains the southern portion of the Klamath Mountains. The most productive placer deposits of the Trinity River are those located along its main channel. These include the deposits at Carrville, Trinity Center, Minersville, Lewiston, Weaverville, Junction City, and Salyer. The principal tributaries of the Trinity River are Coffee Creek, Stewart's Fork, East Fork, New River, Indian Creek and Hayfork Creek. The La Grange mine, a few miles west of Weaverville, was one of the largest hydraulic mines in California. Other sources of placer gold in the Klamath Mountains have been the Smith River region in Del Norte County and the upper Sacramento River and its tributaries, which include Backbone, Clear, Cottonwood, and Beegum Creeks.

Lode-gold deposits are found throughout the Klamath Mountains. The most productive district has been the French Gulch-Deadwood district of Shasta and Trinity Counties in the southern portion of the province. Other important sources of lode gold have been the Deadwood district of Siskiyou County (there are several Deadwood districts in California). Dillon Creek, Callahan, Oro Fino, Liberty, Sawyers Bar, Harrison Gulch, Whiskeytown, and Buckeye-Old Diggings districts. Considerable amounts of gold have been produced in the Shasta copper-zinc belt and lesser amounts in other copper deposits, such as the Copper Bluff mine at Hoopa. 

The gold nearly always occurs in native form in quartz veins, usually associated with pyrite and smaller amounts of other sulfides. The veins occur in all metamorphic rocks of Jurassic and older ages. A few lode-gold deposits are found in granitic rocks."

COMMENTS ON GOLD PROSPECTING IN  CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 6

The rugged and beautiful countryside of this region of Northern California has always attracted tourists, adventurers and gold prospectors. There are literally hundreds of places where a person may find gold with a pan. 

The California gold sites start 50 miles south of Grants Pass, Oregon and 29 miles south of Medford, Oregon. Some of the gold sites southeast of Susanville are only 65 miles from Reno, Nevada.

California Gold Region 6 has a number of National Forests where panning is done, including: Shasta, Plumas, Trinity, Six Rivers, Siskiyou, Modoc and Klamath.

Large numbers of gold sites occur southwest of Susanville in Plumas County, Lassen County, and Butte County, many of them being in Plumas National Forest. The gold-rich North Fork and East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather River are in this area, as well as Rush Creek and other gold creeks.