Oregon has thousands of square miles of public land that a person can prospect for a variety of valuable minerals. In Southwestern Oregon there are many gold-bearing rivers where a person can do some panning.
The problem for the casual prospector is that many areas are claimed up. This means that you aren’t allowed to do any prospecting unless you have permission from the claim holder.
However, Oregon has quite a few public areas set aside specifically for gold prospecting. These locations are on public land and cannot be claimed. That means that you can come and do some casual prospecting, and since they are located in known mining areas you know there is gold present.
Today we are going to talk about the Sixes River Recreation Site.
Directions:
The public gold prospecting area is located at the confluence of the Sixes River and the South Fork Sixes River. This is a somewhat isolated site and gets less pressure than other areas since it is quite a ways from the major population centers of Southern Oregon (Grants Pass, Roseburg, etc.)
Getting to the site is about a 30-minute drive from Port Orford. Driving north on Highway 101 for about 5 miles and drive across the Sixes River bridge. You will turn east and follow the road that follows along the river. Go about 11 more miles and you will be there!
River Access
There is a mile of public access to the Sixes River, and a few hundred yards of open area at on the South Fork Sixes River too. The easiest place to park is at the Sixes River Campground. From there, you can walk upstream or downstream and look for a spot to do some panning.
Mining History
Curry County is one part of Oregon that tends to be overlooked by a lot of gold prospectors. The overall gold production here was considerably lower than nearby counties (Josephine, Jackson) and never saw the large population of miners like there was on the Applegate River, Illinois River or Rogue River.
That’s not to say that there hasn’t been much mining here. To the contrary, at one time there were many miners searching the remote mountains in this area and they found considerable gold in the Sixes River dating back to 1856.
Historic placer mining has taken place throughout the area from the mouth of the Sixes River at the Pacific Ocean all the way to the small tributaries that feed the South Fork Sixes River. Noteworthy placers were also found on Rusty Creek and Benson Creek drainages. Hays Creek was also worked extensively.
Interesting to note that many of the early placers were working terrace gravels from 50 to 130 feet above the present river level.
Many good areas to prospect on public land in the Siskiyou National Forest. Just keep in mind that if you venture outside of the Sixes River Recreation Site you will need to do your research to make sure you aren’t on a mining claim.
Gold at the Mouth of the South Fork Sixes River
The location of the Sixes River Recreation Site couldn’t be better. That is because the mouth of the South Fork was historically one of the richest gold mining sites on the river. If you want to do more extensive research about the gold distribution throughout the Sixes River, I would recommend viewing the USGS Bulletin 1312-I. Extensive sampling for gold was done and it provides excellent insight on the area.
One noteworthy diagram that is of particular interest is this one, showing gold concentrations at the mouth of the South Fork Sixes River. This might give you some insight on where to start panning.
Also Read: 12 of the Richest Mines in Oregon
And: Minerals Associated with Natural Gold
Rules & Regulations:
Including specific information about mining regulations is becoming quite a challenge in Oregon because it seems that new restrictions area being placed on us all the time. Information that is relevant at the time of this writing can quickly become obsolete with the signature of a politician.
Equipment like dredges and highbankers which were once commonly used are now very difficult to get permitted. Even the PDF put out by the BLM is outdated with information about suction dredging that is no longer relevant to current law.
Before using anything larger than a gold pan, I would recommend getting in touch Coos Bay District BLM and get the latest information about prospecting limitations at the Sixes River Recreation Site.
Next: Oregon Coast Gold Panning – Finding Gold on the Beach