EISPIRATEN

Thought I'd make my own thread for all my gold prospecting adventures.

I have gone back to my canyon about 5 times this last week to try different areas and methods. Finally used the slucebox for the first time and boy is it tricky to setup correctly! I ended up losing a ton of gold because of the setup and flowrate fluctuations. Dug some pits and almost broke my back but I found my largest flake yet!

Honestly, I can't wait to keep exploring the gabes and finding more gold. I dont have any intention to sell the gold that I've found since the experience and memories getting it have been wonderful! I still think there are better spots to prospect in this canyon so I'm gonna buy a pick soon and head up dem hills!

Also as a professional rock climber who's flashed Valhalla at Tahquitz, I really think rock related activities are where it's at for me.

Gold is approaching $5000 per ounce. I'd be selling!

HikeUp wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 10:24 pm Gold is approaching $5000 per ounce. I'd be selling!

I doubt I even have half a gram right now!

Someone has the fever and the only solution is more cowbell?




Nope, more pay dirt.

There's paydirt in the gabes and it's not in east fork. All shade thrown

There is no gold in Ybarra Canyon btw. But there are some massive huecos in some giant granite wall with some beehives and some birds nests!

I don't know much about where to find gold but I would bet that there is gold in Gold Canyon, just got a feeling.

David R wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:46 pm I don't know much about where to find gold but I would bet that there is gold in Gold Canyon, just got a feeling.

Just look for the giant X on the ground marking the spot.

David R wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:46 pm I don't know much about where to find gold but I would bet that there is gold in Gold Canyon, just got a feeling.

Funny enough, I tried to get into gold canyon yesterday but couldn't because of how wide the tujunga river was. Totally impassible. The trail on the south side of the river is washed and sunken down.

HikeUp wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:50 pm

David R wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:46 pm I don't know much about where to find gold but I would bet that there is gold in Gold Canyon, just got a feeling.

Just look for the giant X on the ground marking the spot.

Shoot, we are not looking for 'minas de los padres' are we? This is gold canyon beds ,right?.

AW~ wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 12:35 pm

HikeUp wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:50 pm

David R wrote: Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:46 pm I don't know much about where to find gold but I would bet that there is gold in Gold Canyon, just got a feeling.

Just look for the giant X on the ground marking the spot.

Shoot, we are not looking for 'minas de los padres' are we? This is gold canyon beds ,right?.

The Los Padres Mine is such a vague legend though. I'm thinking about expanding my research at the Huntington to focus on the mining history up around castaic, red rock canyon, and the Gorman area since that used to be mined by the Spaniards

Took my dad and brother gold prospecting at my spot yesterday! Even though I've been pulling out tons of gold and sending them pics, they still believe that I was just excited and was actually pulling out fool's gold. I guaranteed them that we'll pull out at least 5 flakes and they didn't agree.

We got to the spot and set up the sluice. We noticed a few flakes in the mini riffles at the top of the box which got my bro and dad very excited. We dug at this section of the old riverbed where I've been digging under the bottom downstream ends of these big rocks.

When we did the cleanout of the sluice, most of the gold we saw earlier was gone and we were left with 1 tiny spec! There's a lot wrong with the sluice I got off of amazon and I can definitely see why you shouldn't cheap out on gear.

I decided to use the little daylight we had to go back to the trusty gold pan and find something for my family to take home. I got my rock hammer pick under one of the bigger rocks and got a decent quarter bucket of material out. As I was panning and inspecting, a bright gold piece of gold uncovered itself! My brother and dad were like, "oh yeah that's for sure gold."

Here's the spec and some other random pics

From Sunday evening's 1 hour of sluicing. Generally surprised from what we can get from 1 hour of work!

today I decided to venture up canyon to see if the gold flakes get bigger or more plenty. I hopped into a side canyon that intersects with some faults much higher up. To my surprise, there's still running water in this canyon even though it's been over a month since our last storm. I found a nice bend in the canyon and started digging under a bit big boulder. Immediately I found a picker! Since I now found gold and it was a decent size, I expected to find more in this spot. Sadly, I only found specs for the rest of the day. It's a good spot though and there's a lot around it that looks prospectable for next time!

I went higher up in the canyon. Found many quartz veins along the fault but no gold in any of the banks right below all the faults. Big sad

Better luck next time. And keep these coming!

Went panning and sluicing again today. Wanted to hit the OG pit and try the sluice box some more. Water flow is very very very very hard to control in this thing so this might be the last time I'll use it under these conditions. I'm definitely losing gold with it if it's not at perfect flow.

Figured out that my panning technique sucks and that I'm also losing gold that way. I changed up my dig spot and put in a solid hour in gold panning only. Here's the haul and here's the dig spot!