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Colorado's San Miguel River on Sunday

Posted by Martin Brown on July 10, 2015 at 2:45am in Newbie section

As a newbie I'm delighted to have found GPS.

I'll be in south-western Colorado til mid-September.  Wanted to do this for quite a while and now, rather suddenly, I'm in gold country!  Time to renew my GPAA membership for sure.  So I've put my E-Trac on Ebay to pay for the Gold Bug Pro that arrived a couple days ago.  For basic prospecting I've got my shovel, gold pans, etc, that I bought way back, and now I'm looking for few likely locations.

I've already discovered that easy access to rivers in Colorado is hard to come by.  I'm next to the San Juan mountains, and the Forest Service is slowly blocking off all the roads - or so it seems to me.  But I've been doing some armchair prospecting, and listening to oldtimers here, and will try the San Miguel river, about 2 1/2 hours northeast of my location (Mancos), on Sunday.  Google Maps Satellite View has provided four likely spots where I think I can just pull off the road and walk down to the river.  I'll be trying the closest one, a bit downstream from Placerville:
38.119448, -108.198657
Take a look...
I figure they named the town Placerville for a reason, right?

Let you know how it goes.

And thanks so much for the welcoming messages from Bill Brewer, John Shaw, Thomas F, William Albertson, Ed Marvin, Ron Harrison, Cecil ccv-NC; Tim G and Preston Harris.  They definitely made me feel welcome.

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Replies

  • Martin Brown July 12, 2015 at 10:35am
    Sunday morning and I'm putting my gear in the car. Wondering if I'll even get to use it. This is the first time I've gone prospecting alone, and to a location I know nothing about. Much of what I read in forums is actually very discouraging -- or scary, so I'm wondering if I really want to do this. But I've promised my wife a day trip in beautiful country, so I can't really get out of it.
  • Dick Steele July 11, 2015 at 12:07pm
    And some of us are packing.
  • Ron Harrison (Wyattearp) July 11, 2015 at 10:51am

    Be very careful, most of the San Miguel from Telluride  to Nucla is all private claims.

  • Nick B July 10, 2015 at 12:04pm

    I have seen the part of the San Miguel you are talking about.  I have mostly fished the river for nice trout.  There is clear evidence of placer mining work from the past.  There are some remnants of high gravel bars that still remain.  These likely contain gold, but would be difficult to dig and process.  A water canon would do the trick.  I doubt you can even put a dredge in the San Miguel.  It's a beautiful place to prospect.  There are a few free camp spots downriver.

    Best of luck.

  • Tim G (Creator) July 10, 2015 at 5:42am

    good luck and keep us posted 

This reply was deleted.