Sierra City Gold Prospecting Trip on California’s Mother Lode

Every year for the past few years I have taken a vacation and prospecting trip to the small town of Sierra City, high up in California’s Sierra Nevada range, to pan for gold on a friend’s mining property. Sierra City is a historic gold rush town of just over 200 people. Known primarily for its rich lode mines, it also had some rich placers. It is now a center for various recreational activities including prospecting, fishing, etc.

The North Fork of the Yuba River flows through the city and is a well-known gold-bearing river that has been heavily dredged, especially in the area both above and below the city of Downieville. It runs for miles through the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Where I am working, little work has been done in the last 10 years, as the claim is virtually surrounded by private property and a trespass permit is required. The place where I prospect is actually a local swimming hole well known to children, but there are nice nuggets in the bedrock and between the rocks on the bottom.

All of Sierra County is an area known for its large, chunky gold nuggets. The geology in much of the county is very favorable for the formation of large amounts of gold. Historically, larger nuggets have been found in Sierra County than in any other county in California, and the region in and around the North Fork has produced the majority of those finds. During the gold rush, miners found a 25-pound nugget in the North Fork of the Yuba River between Sierra City and Downieville. An 11-pounder gun was also found in the Jersey excavations on the hill just above Downieville. Many of the lateral streams flowing into the North Fork of the Yuba have produced dozens of large nuggets and quartz/gold samples containing between 50 and 150 ounces of gold. There is even an unsubstantiated story of a heart-shaped nugget from one of these lateral streams containing over 1800 ounces of gold. Most of the really big nuggets were found in the early days when thousands of miners trekked over the hills, but even in today’s era of smaller-scale operations and weekend prospectors, rich pockets of crystalline gold and gold nuggets continue to be found. several ounces from time to time. time. As an example, some friends of mine found a 7.5 ounce nugget while dredging in September 2004.

Sierra County is also famous for the 16 to 1 hard rock mine whose deep workings continue to produce rich pockets of gold in quartz. During the summer of 2004, the mine yielded a single bag containing nearly a million dollars worth of gold. As at 16 to 1, important and large finds continue to be made periodically in Sierra County.

Sierra City, California is about 1:45 minutes from my home in Reno. This year I moved my trailer to the local campground for an entire month, from mid-July to mid-August. I wasn’t there all the time, but I would come on long weekends and then go home to work. While the deserts are roasting, Sierra City is at 4200 feet and the weather this time of year is usually great with highs in the 90s and lows in the 50s. pleasant; it feels great to be exploring on the water at that time of year. I spend most of my prospecting time dredging. In many ways, small-scale suction dredging was born on the North Fork of the Yuba, as many early dredging pioneers such as Ernie Keene tested their homemade machines here, sometimes with surprising success. Over the years I have made several friends at camp there and many show up year after year, just like me. There is opportunity spotting, high bankrolling, sniping, gold vein prospecting and many other things that the prospector can do. I always wish I had more time when my season ends and I have to go home. It’s a great place to visit and those who discover this hidden gem of the Sierra are often very glad they did.