GOLD PROSPECTORS 1, 2 & WARRIOR

I park at Inaja Day Use Area. Free parking. No overnight camping or parking. Strictly enforced per Ranger. I walk east basically straight to the picnic area, about 100 ft, then down stairs toward a picnic table 40 ft away. Before I reach it I look for a trail thru the brush on my left going down. The trail is steep most of the way down with a few rest spots; about 200 ft vertical drop. Includes a scramble over a very large boulder. Avoid side trails as they end soon. I wear sturdy boots. Long pants. Watch for poison oak. I cut it back in several places last fall. About 5 min hike down for me; and 15 min back up with the steep climb and my new found gold hoard. With a 20 lb backpack of detector, 2 classifiers, pan, jug of water & food. Call me a fit 60+ Big John.

On site you immediately see Coleman Creek meets San Diego River. A sand pit where you stand. Coleman Creek is bedrock going left upwards. Topped with rocks & boulders of various size. It's accessible with high banks both sides. I trimmed the brush for easier access upstream for a ways. To your right is the SD River with lots of boulders slight down grade for a good ways downstream. I walk in the stream bed. Before the brush thickens and the creek starts its drop. I haven't ventured beyond the easier parts in either direction.

My first time out on my GPAA membership I selected this claim to try out the creek with a Aussie wondermat sluice and pans, also Equinox 800 with 6” coil for nugget hunting. The directions are correct as other user have submitted, go to the last picnic table to the east and just to the left of it a path is very clearly worn and easy to identify to work their way down to where the two creeks converge. the path down gets quite steep and a section where you have to traverse boulders can be slick, wear good traction boots. Had a great time, beautiful day, lots of flour gold sparkling in the water, no nuggets today, but recovered some shiny stuff. Safety wise, Bang your Walkingstick as you’re going to vibrate the ground so the snakes move away, make sure to prepare your clothing to avoid ticks As the path has lots of greenery that’s going to rub against you as you make your way down: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/avoid/on_people.html Also make sure you have the national forest pass to legally park at the picnic area, you can get the annual pass at Big 5 for $30.
I’ll definitely be going back and exploring other areas of the claim, it was fun finding a little bit of gold and some specimens with gold in bedded in them. I have lots of pictures and short videos of the path down but they’re too big to upload here.

As of 2-18-2020 this claim has no safe parking for your vehicle. The driveway into the parking lot has a sink hole at the entrance . The USFS shows this parking area as open but it is not, I notified the USFS in the Palomar district to update there website to show that it is really closed not open. I hope this helps all members trying to visit this claim.

GPS coordinates for trail head are 33deg 05' 54.02 / 116deg 39' 50.15" elevation 3329ft

On HWY 78 and HWY 79 between Santa Ysabel and Wynola is the Inaja park. Park in the parking lot of the park. Hike down to the picnic tables. When you are at the farthest picnic table going down the hill, turn to the left and you will fin the trail head. it is not much more than a game trail. It is a fairly easy trail with only a few spots that require a little effort to make the larger step down. The hike down takes about 10 min coming back up takes 15. The trail takes you down to the claim where the 2 creeks join at the North East courier of the claim.

Just check the first few minutes of my video. I show you exactly what it looks like and point you to the trail. Easy peasy.
https://youtu.be/kzjM0ZJlgGE