California Gold Region Six

GOLD PROSPECTING AND GOLD PANNING IN THE CALIFORNIA GOLD REGIONS

Note: The immediately following eight paragraphs 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.

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:

Butte      Del Norte      Humboldt      Lassen      Modoc      Plumas      Shasta      Siskiyou      Tehama      Trinity
Gold sites continue to the south on California Gold Map 5.