PROSPECTING THE 49'ER TRAIL
Finding gold and tresure close to where you live is probley one of the best adventures you can plan. Its also easy on your pocket book and the history of your area is right at your finger tips. The best source of information that I have found is at your local libary. Do like I do when I'm looking for a new adventure, Google it or talk to a liberian about your hobbie and watch as they become involved with your quest. They will open up their knowledge base and flood you with stories, micro film, events, and legends. My area luckly is Modesto, Ca so that puts me right in the middle of the Golden Belt. My average drive for prospecting is about an hour and within that hour I may note two or three other sites I need to investigate in the future.
Any creek, river, or old buildings maybe your next tresure strike but to just rush in and guesstamate the area takes up your searching time. So do your homework because in the long run it will pay off three fold.
My latest adventrue came to me due to my daughter's boyfriend comment about an old dredge sitting in a pond by the Don Perdo Dam. Right away I turned on my computer and accessed Goggle Earth and sure enough there it was about 1/2 mile off the road. (Pictures are now in my gallery. He then pinpointed the dredging camp and the Chinese camp. Looking up the history of the surrounding area's I also found were workers were pulling up fist size nuggets out of the bedrock at the Don Perdo Dam. Crap now I had what I needed for a winter adventure. All this information took about 30 minutes but now I have over 50 hours of prospecting fun time to keep me happy!
Another great place to find small gold is on the Mokelumne River off of HWY 49. Turn on Electra Rd and follow the river. This is a GPAA site but there is area's that are free to all.
We have dredged there many times in the summer and have been rewarded with good color. There is a history of the town of Electra and some of the foundations are still present. The Electra power plant is still active in this area.
Picture link ----------
During the winter months you might want to check out the Redhill Mines, off of Hwy 108/120 take Hwy 59 La Grange Rd then turn on Redhill Rd. 4X4 is recomended. The creeks and run off streams will supply you with good placer as well as glory holes that seem to fill up every couple of years. To Goggle Earth this spot ---37 50' 52.38"N 120 28'33.11"W This area is chalked full of history and finding old sites or townships is a breeze.
How about a dredging camp that I wrote about earlier? Take Hwy 132 towards Don Pedro Dam, turn on Lake Rd. There is a dirt road that leads to this site. Some of the buildings are still intact and the surrounding area appears to be untouched. (please leave it that way). This camp was built to service the Tuolumne Dredge,
Picture link ------
This dredge carved its way all the way from Patricksville. Goggle Earth at ...37 38' 47.03N 120 29' 24.87W
PI PI VALLEY LOST DREDGE CLAIM just exploring this area will give you goose bumps. This area was thick with placer gold in its time and even now you can see the old camps and huge trommels left over by the 49er's.
Picture link-------
We did not prospect in the digging area's but I'm sure there is a couple of pockets to be found in the hillside. From the trommel follow the ore car tracks to the diggings. Mosquito repellent is a must have during the eveing hours. To access this site a 4x4 is recomended.
Hwy 88n to PiPi campground turn off 33Mi North of Jackson. Take Omo Ranch Road to the North/South Road 8 miles past campground. Cross the Dogtown Creek bridge, make !st right, take forest road #9N34F to claim. The North/South road also continues on the Immigrant TraIL, hwy 88 and Placerville.
I will add more information to this page soon and if you should visit any of these sites please let me know how you did.
Any creek, river, or old buildings maybe your next tresure strike but to just rush in and guesstamate the area takes up your searching time. So do your homework because in the long run it will pay off three fold.
My latest adventrue came to me due to my daughter's boyfriend comment about an old dredge sitting in a pond by the Don Perdo Dam. Right away I turned on my computer and accessed Goggle Earth and sure enough there it was about 1/2 mile off the road. (Pictures are now in my gallery. He then pinpointed the dredging camp and the Chinese camp. Looking up the history of the surrounding area's I also found were workers were pulling up fist size nuggets out of the bedrock at the Don Perdo Dam. Crap now I had what I needed for a winter adventure. All this information took about 30 minutes but now I have over 50 hours of prospecting fun time to keep me happy!
Another great place to find small gold is on the Mokelumne River off of HWY 49. Turn on Electra Rd and follow the river. This is a GPAA site but there is area's that are free to all.
We have dredged there many times in the summer and have been rewarded with good color. There is a history of the town of Electra and some of the foundations are still present. The Electra power plant is still active in this area.
Picture link ----------
During the winter months you might want to check out the Redhill Mines, off of Hwy 108/120 take Hwy 59 La Grange Rd then turn on Redhill Rd. 4X4 is recomended. The creeks and run off streams will supply you with good placer as well as glory holes that seem to fill up every couple of years. To Goggle Earth this spot ---37 50' 52.38"N 120 28'33.11"W This area is chalked full of history and finding old sites or townships is a breeze.
How about a dredging camp that I wrote about earlier? Take Hwy 132 towards Don Pedro Dam, turn on Lake Rd. There is a dirt road that leads to this site. Some of the buildings are still intact and the surrounding area appears to be untouched. (please leave it that way). This camp was built to service the Tuolumne Dredge,
Picture link ------
This dredge carved its way all the way from Patricksville. Goggle Earth at ...37 38' 47.03N 120 29' 24.87W
PI PI VALLEY LOST DREDGE CLAIM just exploring this area will give you goose bumps. This area was thick with placer gold in its time and even now you can see the old camps and huge trommels left over by the 49er's.
Picture link-------
We did not prospect in the digging area's but I'm sure there is a couple of pockets to be found in the hillside. From the trommel follow the ore car tracks to the diggings. Mosquito repellent is a must have during the eveing hours. To access this site a 4x4 is recomended.
Hwy 88n to PiPi campground turn off 33Mi North of Jackson. Take Omo Ranch Road to the North/South Road 8 miles past campground. Cross the Dogtown Creek bridge, make !st right, take forest road #9N34F to claim. The North/South road also continues on the Immigrant TraIL, hwy 88 and Placerville.
I will add more information to this page soon and if you should visit any of these sites please let me know how you did.
