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Looking For Some S. Ca Gold Prospecting Location Advice


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Hey guys, need a little help here.  My buddies and I would like to try some gold prospecting with our metal detectors and we all live in Los Angeles. We are experienced detectorists but when it comes to prospecting we are novices.  Can you recommend any areas in the Los Angeles area that might be good for guys like us just starting out?  My buddies have Equinox 800's and I had a Garrett Goldmaster.

Thanks for any advice that you can offer.

Bill

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Hey Bill, do you guys belong to any clubs with claims?  Try those first, but the most local mining districts to Los Angeles include Randsburg, El Paso's, Coolgardie (Barstow), Big Bear & Holcomb Valley, Dale (29 Palms) and further out include Cargo Muchacho and Potholes towards Yuma.

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I’ve heard of nuggets being found up the East Fork of the San Gabriel. Some research will tell you specific areas to target. Doing research is half the fun, so I won’t give you any more info than that.

Lots of good history close to town and I used to love exploring the old mines when I lived there.

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Check out the Alamo Creek area, as some friends found some small amounts while panning there a few years ago.

Good luck

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Bill, PM me your email address and I will email you photos of my "Gold Nugget Areas in Southern California" pamphlet as well as my "Goldmaster 24k Controls and Recommended Adjustments" cheat sheet. HH Jim

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14 hours ago, tboykin said:

I’ve heard of nuggets being found up the East Fork of the San Gabriel. Some research will tell you specific areas to target. Doing research is half the fun, so I won’t give you any more info than that.

Lots of good history close to town and I used to love exploring the old mines when I lived there.

A lot of gold has been recovered from the East Fork of the San Gabriel, but unfortunately, much of it has been removed from mineral recovery and it’s now closed to Prospecting- if going there,  along with Lytle Creek and other formerly open gold prospecting areas on the Angeles National Forest, one should check the forest website for information.

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7 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

A lot of gold has been recovered from the East Fork of the San Gabriel, but unfortunately, much of it has been removed from mineral recovery and it’s now closed to Prospecting- if going there,  along with Lytle Creek and other formerly open gold prospecting areas on the Angeles National Forest, one should check the forest website for information.

Sure doesn't seem to have stopped the hobo miners as they little regard for government over reach.  When you've got nothing.......there's nothing to loose.  

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Virginia Dale is a straight shot east on  I 10.  Your about 20 years too late for most places but this one still kicks em out occasionally.  Look for recently left drywash tailing piles,  spread them out and swing over.  Hard to believe some people STILL don't detect over their own piles before taking off.

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28 minutes ago, Hard Prospector said:

Sure doesn't seem to have stopped the hobo miners as they little regard for government over reach.  When you've got nothing.......there's nothing to loose.  

😉Just sayin, it would've been wrong to read about someone being suggested to go somewhere with them not knowing they could get a ticket and lose their prospecting equipment for it.  It's his choice and at least he's free to make a knowledgeable one about it now.  You are right too, the hobo miners there don't care and don't have much to give up for it.

And yup, the Dale is a good area. it's where I detected my first pickers. - that's one of my favorite places to go also.  Lots of drywashing there and if you look at it on Google Earth, it's amazing how much organized testing has been done across the hillsides - you can see grids across some of them.  Lots of claims there too, so one has to check the maps.

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