You might try calling Fish and Game for that question.

So fish and game were dumbfounded by my question lol. State parks rep said that " well I know there is a weight limit on how many rocks or shells you can take from the beaches" and in the end no one provided a good answer of if its illegal or not. So I said screw it and brought my gold cube down to the beach lol. I think i ran it a little too fast because it was obvious i was loosing that fine gold. Slowed it down a bit and boom. A 2 gallon bucket produced about 50-100 little specs of beach gold. Sooooo in conclusion I will just do it responsibly till told otherwise.

Typical CA lol. I think you'll be OK too, as long as you're not dredging. That is cool that you got some gold, congrats sir.

Way to go. Keep up the prospecting. I could see something like the reg for Cape Disappointment popping up sometime, you cannot draw the water from the beach with a pump but bucketing to a working spot out of the surf line is acceptable.
Keep us all informed.

Regards,

Kevin

Just wondering if your in Northern Cal or southern Cal. I surf at San onofre and I notice a lot of quartz cobble with red streaks in it. A lot of streams flow on the beach when it rains and there is a lot of black sand.This summer I have 2 weeks there and I think i'll take a small pan and try my luck. Do you have any tips like how deep I need to dig, high or low water line. Thanks Mike

Mike,

I am in NorCal up in Humboldt county but I was stationed down there and lived right next to the San Onfre beach across from the Carl's JR lol. I have tried digging those sands before for some gold and have gotten black sand but never saw any beach gold. There is rumors that the beaches in La Jolla have beach gold though, but hey maybe I just was not as good with a pan 5 years ago, I would give it a shot and see if you can find anything because of the false bedrock that lines the shores there near San Clemente.

As far as tips go for doing a test pan of the beaches....

Classify to -50 at least so that you are not sitting there picking out rocks and getting the oils from your hand in your pan making that gold float right out.

Pan very slowly, making sure that you are giving that gold a good chance to sink a bit before going to work the light material off top.

The most important part to me is making sure you are using a conditioned pan or bring a little jet dry, one little dab on your finger is all you need.

What I have noticed from learning to look for beach gold in California is that there is not obvious black sand deposits like in WA or OR, so just try to find some black sand streaks and see if anything comes out of it, if it does then follow it up the bank and out of the surf and dig down a few feet and see if you can find any black sand deposits. Most of the beach gold I have been finding so far has just been right on the surface. I havent even dug down yet!! If your curious about what I have found up here you can check out my Instagram @doctorofdevils.

Kevin,

Oh I will never stop going at the gold any way I can. The beach gold up here is surprisingly good on some beaches and non existent on others. It all depends on the currents and tides. So far its nothing to do back flips over but hopefully I find that sweet spot.... (im getting very close!! my maps are starting to show a pattern!!!!)

I will hopefully be doing a couple videos on the locations and what I am finding but its hard to set aside 5+ hours to edit a video lol.

I also have plans to do some videos and start some threads on the GPAA claims up in Trinity and Siskiyou counties. Been finding some interesting things on some of them and cant wait for the river to get about 6 feet lower to get back into a honey hole I found.

Heavy pans to everyone!

I remember seeing Tom Massie get gold on an Oregon beach from a creek that flowed to the ocean I think. I love the search for gold. I'll test pan every creek flowing to the ocean at San Onofre camp ground just like in the mountains. The bluffs look like an old flow of mud back in the day.If I don't find anything no big deal, At least I got to pan all day which makes me happy then a BBQ and beer at night which makes me happy so all is a good day plus surfing too. I like to detect the beach at trail 4 by the surf camp. I have found lots of coins plus 1 diamond ring and 2 watches. I think I'll use my gold claw so I'll get good with it. In the mountains I like using my pyramid pan because I can process a lot of material , I have done real good with it.I'm glad you brought up oil in the pan as I think suntan lotion on my hands might cause a little problem Mike

many years ago I read I believe in an old mining guide or on one of Toms shows of Gold Fever I clearly remember hearing that some of the beaches in Ventura have gold on them and when some of the concentrates were assayed they came out at over 80% platinum. yes you heard me right. always has stuck in my mind to go and run the gold cube just off the hwy around Sea Cliff and other areas. the Cobble rocks around the break walls in southern cal mostly came from the Quarries of Catalina Island and there is gold and silver there. when you inspect the large chunks of rock there you will see that the break walls all have Mineralized cemented rocks and I am sure with erosion that one may find small concentrations around the inner pools of those rocks on the break wall also. always wanted to try that. maybe this is the year to lay this one rest and get it out of my system
good luck to all looking

What about Santa maria,Ca.?

I honestly do not know if there are any local restrictions on beaches in Cali.