4 Rivers in Utah Where You Can Go Panning for Gold
- Raft River. In Box Elder County, there were some small gold deposits found along the Raft River that got some short-lived interest.
- Colorado River.
- San Juan River.
- Green River.
Contents
Can you legally pan for gold in Utah?
Recreational dredging on any stream requires a permit from the Utah Division of Water Rights. U.S. Forest Service (USFS): Most of the National Forests in Utah are open to prospecting, including gold panning.Recreational dredging on any stream requires a permit from the Utah Division of Water Rights.
Is there gold in Utah streams?
Finding gold is possible in any stream or river that crosses a gold-mineralized area. However, since the known placer deposits have been worked and reworked for over 100 years, the chance of finding large concentrations of gold in Utah’s streams is small.
Where can you pan for gold in Utah?
American Fork Canyon, just a few miles southeast of Salt Lake City in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, permits panning and has yielded gold. People have also panned successfully in the Green River south of Flaming Gorge Reservoir in northeastern Utah.
Where can I metal detect for gold in Utah?
Utah’s Parks
Parks are popular recreational areas that attract lots of people making them the perfect place to go metal detecting. Quite a number of people who come to parks misplace their belongings such as coins, earrings, rings and other forms of valuable jewelry. Some parks have laws against disturbing the ground.
Can you gold prospect on BLM land?
The short answer is yes. The vast majority of federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (USFS) are open to mineral exploration. This means that you can go out and collect gold, gems and minerals. This includes panning, sluicing, digging with basic hand tools and metal detecting.
Has anyone ever found gold in Utah?
Placer gold was discovered in Bingham Canyon the following year. These placers were the largest and most productive ever discovered in Utah, yielding about $1.5 million in gold.
Is there gold in the Virgin River Utah?
No known deposits of metallic or precious metals or minerals occur within the Virgin River WSA.
Where can you find gold in the mountains?
Gold is prevalent throughout this entire mountainous region. You can search for quartz ledges, gold laden rock outcroppings, and gravel beds of ancient streams and glacier moraines. It seems much easier to allow gravity, and the downstream movement of loosened sediment to place the gold on the bottom of the streams.
Where is it legal to prospect for gold?
There are 18 states with open federal land for prospecting; most of it lies within 12 states. Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Alaska. Some public lands are also managed by the state rather than on a federal level.
How do you find gold veins?
These might be directly under your feet, or they may be in nearby hills or cliffs. If your prospecting site is near a gold-rich river or stream, keep in mind that gold is heavy and may have eroded out of the banks or any nearby high places. Look for quartz in the rock veins you’ve found.
Is there gold in the Uinta Mountains?
The gold is never recovered, and a map detailing the precise location of the gold is still buried inside a rusty tin can under a giant rock at the bottom of a canyon. So goes one of the numerous Spanish gold stories from the Uintas. Numerous volumes have been written about Uinta Mountain gold.
Can you metal detect on BLM land in Utah?
Metal detector use is allowed on public lands. Modern money may be collected, but coins and artifacts more than 100 years old may not be collected.
Are diamonds found in Utah?
The dirty diamonds are found all around the lake. A 1970s edition of the Western Gem Hunters Atlas, by H. Cyril Johnson, notes that they can be found at the northern end of Stansbury Island. To get there, take Interstate 80 Exit 84 to Stansbury Island west of Salt Lake City.
Is metal detecting legal in Utah?
Metal detecting is prohibited without a permit. All lost and found articles shall be deposited by the finder at the park area office. Basically, metal detecting doesn’t really work at Utah State Parks. Our laws and rules prohibit the removal of anything from a state park (whether a rock, a stick or a diamond ring).
Where can I pan for gold free?
10 Free Gold Panning Areas in California
- Auburn State Recreation Area.
- Butte Recreation Area.
- Columbia State Historic Park.
- Keyesville Recreational Mining Area.
- Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park.
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.
- Merced River.
- South Yuba River State Park.
Can I make a living panning for gold?
Yes you can but mining is like any other trade when you want to make money. You need to learn the trade in fact best be in the top 20% to have a good living. This is not college but some could be, mostly it is research and finding a good location and knowing how to develop and then extract gold from your mine.
Do you need a license to pan gold?
No permit is required for low-impact gold panning, however respect the rights of existing mining claims.
What are the signs of gold in the ground?
Lighter Colored Rocks: If you notice out-of-place colors in a group of rock formations, it can be a gold indicator. Acidic mineral solutions in gold areas can bleach the rocks to a lighter color. Presence of Quartz: Quartz is a common indicator that gold MAY be nearby.
Where is gold found in rivers?
The first step is finding the right spot in the river where the gold might collect, such as a crook in the bedrock, idle pools, log jams, inside corners of rivers or spaces between boulders. Then start digging, filling your pan with gravel. From there, continuously weed out the bigger rocks and pebbles.
What is the top producing gold mine in Utah?
Today, the most lucrative gold producer is Bingham Canyon, which is a copper mine located just southwest of Salt Lake City. So far it has produced more than 23 million ounces (about 715 tons) of gold, making it one of the largest gold producers in the United States.
