How to Pan for Gold

Well, you may not strike it rich like they did in California, but it sure is fun prospecting for gold. Now, you may think the first major Gold Rush was in California, but it wasn't. In 1828, in the foothills of the Appalachians in the northeast portion of Georgia, there was a town called Dahlonega that had experienced the first Gold rush, 20 years prior to California's. Benjamin Parks, a deer hunter, tripped over a large yellow metal object. It was gold. The word got out and you had about 15,000 miners in one year rushing to Dahlonega. You can still visit a couple of restored gold mines, The Consolidated Gold Mine and Crisson Gold Mine to get some history of the area and to try your hand on panning for gold there.

So, that is a brief history how the gold was discovered. People still do recreational gold panning in the area. You can even pan for gold or gems at other mines. The way that works is you have different qualities of gold nuggets you're going for. The higher the price you pay for a bucket of dirt, the better quality of gold you might find. You can also pan for gems. Now, these could be seeded meaning they place the gold/gems in the buckets, but it is still fun to pan in hopes that you come across one or more.

For the real die hards who want to get out there and really pan for gold, you could join the Gold Prospectors Association of America for a modest yearly subscription. You can go on trips throughout the US and pan with a group of people. What they do is for a small fee, you can pan in an for area that is suppose to be known for good panning. You pool your gold finds together and divide them up at the end of the trip. We're going on one of their trips in April. It will cost $100 for my husband and me. All we have to do is go two half days out of the 3 day trip. Then on the last day we divide any gold everyone finds.

Or, you can pan on your own in an area like Dahlonega.

First, familiarize yourself with the area or nearby areas that are known for gold. Locals or park officials can give you an idea of where to look. Choose an area around a creek or a river. Places where the water slows down like a sandbar or rocks are good areas to look for gold.