Free Panning/Sluicing Areas, Colorado |
Free Panning/Sluicing Areas, Colorado |
Jul 26 2007, 12:22 PM
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Master Mucker! Group: Admin Posts: 4,149 Joined: 7-October 03 From: Colorado Member No.: 3 |
Hello everyone,
Many folks inquire about free places to pan or sluice, so we thought we would post some free areas around Colorado that anyone can go to anytime they wish. These are places where you are either "allowed", or given permission to pan/sluice on private (patented) land or it's public land withdrawn from mineral entry (unclaimable) which we can all still prospect with our pans and sluices. All 3 are historically known as gold bearing areas and chances are very good you WILL FIND GOLD at all of them. *Added March 2014-These areas DO NOT INCLUDE ANY CITY PARKS EAST OF TUNNEL #1 ON CLEAR CREEK OR ANY CITY PARKS ON THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER. CLEAR CREEK - WEST OF GOLDEN JEFFERSON COUNTY OPEN SPACE First we will talk about the Clear Creek/Hwy 6 area just west of Golden begining just above tunnel #1. This area is all private land which has been donated or traded to Jefferson County open space and they "allow" panning and sluicing on the open space......they do not want motors on open space. The only place not included in the open space is a private claim on BLM land the extends 1 mile upstream from Elk creek on Clear creek.......Steer clear of this private claim unless you have permission to be there. WARNING-This area is all very steep and parking is limited. Traffic can also be very heavy at times, use extreme caution when in this area!! FAIRPLAY'S TOWN BEACH - PARK COUNTY - $10.00 FEE Second is a wonderful spot up a bit higher in elevation but the scenery is just awesome on the ride.........The Fairplay Beach. Town of Fairplay website Click on "forms and permits". You will need to aquire the $5 permit from the town office on front street or use the online printable form and send it in prior to your adventure. Once you have this permit you must have it with you while you pan/sluice at the beach. Again this is privately owned by the town of Fairplay and they "allow" panning and sluicing here. Follow their rules and you will not have any problems. Gold here historically was just amazing and the beach is very close to what the old timers used to call the "GOLD SLIDE". ARKANSAS RIVER RECREATIONAL AREA-CHAFFEE COUNTYiNCLUDING CACHE CREEK AND POINT BAR Third we will be heading further south and across the divide to the arkansas river area. There is alot of public land here that is withdrawn from mineral entry. This area is also a "recreational area" which has addtional rules for some activities. Panning or sluicing fortunately is not one of those....no permits needed here. Even though this area has been withdrawn there are still a few claims to watch out for as well as many private parcels. To know where these many private parcels are and claims in this area, you will need to have some info/maps to help you out on the sites to assure yourself of being on the open areas you are looking for. A good map to start with would be the BLM series of "Surface/Mineral Management Status-Gunnison map" from there you can then progress to more detailed maps and pinpointing. There are many areas intertwined along the river heading upstream (northerly) from Hwy 24 along the next 10 miles of river or so. Then further on down south on hwy 285 from the Hwy 24 intersection, at Helca Junction (11 miles or so), there is a large stretch of public land on the river extending approximately 1.5 miles downstream from the campground and approximately 4.5 miles upstream. Again use the above mentioned map to get started and pinpoint with more detailed info from there. If you are interested in finding out how those "details" are obtained........You may wish to check over the CP club memberships at www.coloradoprospector.com and click "membership" to the left in green. Our main goal is to learn as a collective so we all know as much as we can......We would love to have your families participation too. Thank you to all CP club members as their participation has brought you these free panning and sluicing areas to explore!! Enjoy your adventures! The CP club This post has been edited by CP: Jul 6 2017, 07:40 AM
Reason for edit: FAIRPLAY BEACH NO LONGER FREE - 2010 / fee increase 2017
-------------------- CP-Owner/Administrator
www.ColoradoProspector.com IF YOU USE IT, THE GROUND PRODUCED IT! MINERS MAKE "IT" HAPPEN!! |
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May 11 2012, 05:24 PM
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Diggin' In! Group: Members Posts: 3 Joined: 30-April 12 Member No.: 42,807 |
When poking around looking for areas, I found this on the County Clerk's website:
http://map.co.clear-creek.co.us/imf/sites/...up_blocked=true I like it...I like it a lot. Chris Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place. - John Bender |
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May 16 2012, 01:02 PM
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Moderator Group: Members Posts: 4,459 Joined: 25-August 09 From: way on up thar Member No.: 6,983 |
When poking around looking for areas, I found this on the County Clerk's website: http://map.co.clear-creek.co.us/imf/sites/...up_blocked=true Hi blue_heron, Thanks for posting the map info! Upon review it is a fair map.... but only in a very general sense. No truly accurate land status information can be derived from it for prospecting purposes.... a visit to the County Recorder or BLM Lakewood Public Records is still required to obtain accurate information such as legal claim border descriptions and actual claim boundary mapping (which is physically paper-filed and kept within public records per each claim). Your linked map gives a good idea for which claim files to request from the County or BLM HQ if researching land status... and that's not such a bad thing. I do not know what your intended personal use for this map is, but just so others here know: you cannot not use this map SOLELY to determine an area open to prospecting, maybe a starting point for further research... but that's about it. Much like geocom ( ... and folks, this is the primary reason (as stated by BLM) that geocom was an epic fail in the mining realm WARNING ABOUT ACCURACY This map is a visual representation only. This map IS NOT SURVEY ACCURATE. In particular, lot or parcel corners and boundaries are representational only, errors in registration alone can be quite large and variable, and their locations on the ground can only be determined by survey. All data layers that appear on this map are subject to being inaccurate, out-of-date or otherwise unreliable. The information on this web site and pages within is not intended to provide specific information which can be used for legal, construction, survey, or real estate transaction purposes and should not be relied upon for any such uses. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THIS WEBSITE AND ALL OF THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINS ARE PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. -------------------- /l ,[____], l---L-OlllllllO- ()_) ()_)--o-)_) BLACK SANDS MATTER! Very Happy CP Lifetime Member CP CORE TEAM Referral Code CE213 |
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