Calif Highway 49
The California Gold rush of 1849 can still be experienced
all along California’s famous “Route 49.”
It’s a great place to launch a series of family adventures along the Sierra Nevada mountains; hunting for, and finding Gold! The 49′er worked the gold from the Sierra foothills – something over 3+ billion dollars worth! Evidence of their lives, lore and adventures can still be found along this route through the same gold fields they worked in 1849.
Nearby, National parks like Yosemite and Sequoia serve as a backdrop for your historic gold rush adventures. This mother lode region is truly the heart and soul of the “Golden State.”
We have a collection of recommendations regarding places to stay and great prospecting along the highway. Good food and many stories about interesting and dynamic Gold Rush characters like Grizzly Adams, Bret Harte and Mark Twain…
PJ back in '49
“The Mother Lode” along highway 49 was so named because it was such a rich band of quartz lode gold. That lode gold ore fed the gold placers along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada as far back as the tertiary period (way before the gold rush of ’49).The Mother lode placer deposits were (and are) legendary for the quality of nuggets and blue/gray quartz gold leads known as the “great blue lead.”
Let’s look at some of the towns along this route. These are places that were world famous back in 1849. They drew the hard working and hard living prospectors and a huge infrastructure to support them. Names like “Levi Strauss & Co.” were forged in this crucible. There is always the story behind the story that you can only find after visiting these places. That’s a big part of the Gold prospecting adventure of today.
California Highway 49:
Beginning just below Oakhurst just north of Fresno and south of Yosemite National Park,
California route 49 runs along the Mother Lode region of California,The route goes through such historic gold mining communities as
- Oakhurst,
- Mariposa,
- Jamestown,
- Sonora, Columbia,
- Angels Camp,
- San Andreas,
- Jackson,
- Placerville,
- Auburn,
- Grass Valley, and
- Nevada City.
Turning eastward toward the Sierra Nevada, California Route 49 climbs up the Sierra Nevada, passing through Downieville en route to its end point at California Highway 70 in the town of Vinton.
California Route 49 - The Mother Lode & Sierra Region
There’s a great set of adventures for you all along this unique highway (including finding gold).
Good Prospecting!
Jess
PS. Here’s a Wikipedia article with more detailed info: on California’s Historic Gold Rush – Route 49
About Prospector Jess
Great advice but I do have a question.
Many areas, BLM & FS, have public campsites that post “Hobby Gold Panning” yet some of these same sites have claims on them, lode and placer. I don’t worry about the load claims but what about the placer claims?
Who trumps who in these areas?
I am not too worried about the major rivers as most of the claim holders are dredgers and can’t currently dredge
Legitimate claim holder trumps, the problem is in proof of a correct claim. Even if you can’t dredge, claim holder can legally take your equipment. Not too likely for a pan, but a high banker…
In fact some of the court lawsuits on dredging are based on the fact that California overrode 1872 federal law with the dredge ban. This should get interesting as many of the largest mining companies and the USA depends on the mining law of 1872 to make raw resources for manufacturing things like copper wire and steel…
Every time I see a article about prospecting along the 49 highway I hope to see this… Almost all gold bearing areas along this route are claimed or are on some ones property. Be aware of this.. make sure not to trespass or claim jump. You can be arrested or worse . I had some bad experiences in my rookie days following advise of articles such as these. I still run into people after 30 years of prospecting who think they can just go up into gold country and start prospecting anywhere a article suggests there is gold. Yes some public areas are set aside but unless you are a member of a prospecting club or a claim owner you wont find much but a rich history.
Robert,
Right you are, so
1. Join a club like the GPAA
2. Get your research on claim owners done early
3. Make sure you try to contact and work an access profit sharing deal (in writing)
4. Do Not Claim Jump or Trespass (you lose your gear, may end in jail or worse as gold fever can make people very possessive and aggressive)
I’m putting this claim thing together into one of our gold claim module video series…
hi jess,just joined your site seem to be very knowledgble so maybe you can help me.i just got back from a weekend to the san gabriel river,beautiful place if the local residents werent such nasty pigs and park rangers dont seem to exist.the smell and the garbage was terrible.so we only stayed 2 hours and headed to big bear.i am a member of the gpaa but still a greenhorn when it comes to digging in the right place.i have gone to gpaa claims and found some fine gold but working 300 pounds of sand for quarter gram is not fun.i was hoping you could tell me of a good place to go considering i am in las vegas.i havent bought the high end of equipment but i have several sluices a cheap metal det. my family and i really enjoy getting out but its hard to keep there interests when we dont find alot.i do research on history and where gold has been found,but i really could use an experienced prospector to point me in the right direction and what equip to take.also what is your opinion of the falcon metal det.?any help and advice would be appreciated,thanks,TIM
Welcome Tim,
Sorry your San Gabriel outing was spoiled. It is a pretty good area, but very popular with the locals. Unfortunately for prospectors many of those locals do make a mess. Often the GPAA members are the ones cleaning up…
The GPAA is a great start, make sure you connect with a local chapter too.
I agree with you about wanting to be more efficient when you look for gold. That’s why we created http://hunting4gold.com.
There are many prospects out in the desert, the San Fernando GPAA often goes out to Dusenberg.
Sounds like a start, I still use my gold pan & sluicebox more than anything else (especially the gold dredge for now
)
I agree with you, It’s no fun for the family if you don’t find gold. Perhaps everyone can do a bit more research to learn where to start finding gold and how to more efficiently mine gold when you locate it. Stay tuned for more Q & A’s to help with your family – prospecting team’s efforts.
How are you researching? What do you know about paystreak formation? For more on paystreaks go here: http://hunting4gold.com/blog/where-does-gold-go-in-a-storm/
I’m not that familiar with the Falcon detector, what do you think of it?… For me, Garrett, Whites, Fisher and Minelab are my main metal detector focus.
any help and advice would be appreciated,thanks,TIM
Will do, Prospector Jess