Jonathan,

Weather, usually good in Or, Ca, (be prepared for all conditions) for sure good in Az
Nobody will tell you where the "good gold" is, if they are smart
Read the MG for clues.
Az may be a tough go for sluicing, there are spots few and far between
Or, Ca should have good flowing water
Most claims are close to roads, most require some hiking
Define "relatively safe"
4 day trip, starting where ?
bringing the metal detector, sluice, pans, wheel ?

Be sure to stop, look around and enjoy the surroundings

Get out there

Bill

Hi bill its nice to meet ya.!! Lol.... i dont want anyone to tell me where the gold is but direct me to a claim that is known for good gold thats all. Im coming from michigan and have a rare opp. To visit a claim in cal. I would be coming on mar.21-24. Any ideas or claims to recomend?

The Oregon claims I know are going to be pretty high water in March, especially with the rains we have had.  Those are the Quartzville group and the Cat and Paradise (nasty to get to) down out of Cottage Grove, probably even still snow on the last two..  Best conditions will probably be from the Sacramento area south, but don't know  the claims down there.

 

Contact the chapter contacts listed in the mag or P&S that are in the route you are following to get some pointers and help.  Worth a few phone calls, and you might hit a chapter outing.

I'm in the San Francisco bay area.
I have been to most all the claims from Auburn Ca to Yosemite and have found gold at all of them, maybe not the first time, it's there all ya gotta do is find it
Cant speak for Az or Or
In March, weather will be a moving target ( I hope), we have been getting rain up until the first of February, hope we see alot more but I'm not optimistic, snow in the higher elevations may hinder your back road travels, March is a good time for having moving water, summer not so much
Most back country roads are not maintained during the winter months and may not be passable
The area in and around the Stanislaus river basin has a number of claims, as well as Italian Bar LDMA site with towns not far away
Not knowing your experience or equipments that you may have, I would not recommend a claim, study the MG for answers to questions
Some of the Socal claims have restrictions and hoops to jump through, again pay attention to the MG


Bill

How can I buy a GPAA 2016 mining guide?

Hey Jeff,

I see that you are a lifetime member. You should get the new Mining Guide when it comes out. Not sure when that is though.

Scott

Thinks the last one they sent me was 2014

Jeff-  The most current guide is the 2014 issue and all the new and dropped claims are listed in the Pick & Shovel and the ones from when the guide came out until now are under the learn tab at the top of the page, then in Pick & Shovel.

 

New guides come out on average of every 3 years or so, so we are probably a year or so from a new one, but it all depends on how many claim chainges there are as to if it is worth the cost of doing a new one.

Thinks, three years, that was I was thinking, but I was not positive.