I’m sitting at my computer, looking out the window at yet another winter storm (we’ve had almost 6 feet of snow this month (12/2016) here in Summit County!) and satisfying my gold fever with a little winter reading. I thought you might like to see some of the best of the web regarding Colorado gold. Here’s some of the more unique things I found:
A fun read about one person’s first adventure digging in Denver: http://bigthink.com/
Note: They talk about dredging in town. This is illegal, don’t do it!
An interesting write up about one of the first successful black prospectors in Summit County. http://www.summitdaily.com/explore-summit/colorado-history-the-story-of-barney-ford/
Here’s a fun google map showing historic gold mines & districts all over the state. These include private land and other areas where you can’t dig but it’s still a cool, interactive way to see where commercial gold mining occurred back in the day: https://www.google.com/
In the mood to do some gold tourism when it’s too cold to dig? Here are some mines and museums to check out across Colorado: http://www.colorado.
And read up on a nice summary history of gold discoveries across Colorado on Wikipedia: https://en.m.
Also, remember there’s no such thing as bad weather, just poorly dressed prospectors (with respect to the US Army who originated this phrase) so you CAN still get out digging in many places. Here’s a few:
- The Arkansas River anywhere downstream from Leadville. The water levels get very low and some gravels freeze but the low water level gives access to areas that aren’t safe in summer. Finding a location is a also little tricky since there are claims to avoid but open spots with good gold are out there.
- Clear Creek in the Clear Creek Canyon Open Space Park…similar story to the Arkansas River but lower elevation so usually a bit warmer, especially in a sunny spot. The high canyon walls are pretty but do mean lots of shade. More here: https://findinggoldincolorado.com/clear-creek-canyon-tips/
- The many waterways of metro-Denver. Find a sunny spot, get warm by digging and enjoy the peace and quiet of having a spot all to yourself. I got out last Wednesday in south metro Denver and had a great time, you can too! More info on exploring in town: https://findinggoldincolorado.com/finding-spots-to-dig-in-town/
- The most amazing spot is the Arapahoe Bar site on Clear Creek. This is just downstream of the Coors Brewery and all the water of the creek runs through a heat exchanger in the plant to cool the freshly brewed beer so the creek is pretty ice free and not soooo chilly on our toes 😉 Also the creek runs east-west in this area so there is plenty of sunshine (no shade until the trees leaf out in spring) and since it is in a gully, you are protected from the wind in most cases. Pretty mild conditions for winter prospecting in
deed! Read my original post about Arapahoe Bar here: https://findinggoldincolorado.com/arapahoe-bar-tips/
deed! Read my original post about Arapahoe Bar here: Finally, for inspiration, here’s another pic of my sluice in the water last week amid snowy banks.
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4 thoughts on “Satisfy your gold fever with a little winter reading and digging”
Good stuff! THink I’m gonna hit the canyon tomorrow, since the weather is so nice. Haven’t scoped out an ice free area yet this year, so not sure where I’ll be working.
Then it’ll be off to another area of the state to do some prospecting with friends to ring in the new year! Here’s to heavy pans in 2017!
Great stuff
Great stuff as always buddy. Casual prospector? You own CO! Hope you have a golden 2017 and drop by anytime.
Thanks Jeff…and will do!