Am I posting this in the right place? I cannot believe there are no threads about east fork. If you don't trust me I have belonged to this forum since 2008, got away from it when all the trouble happened, I was moondog 2000 back then .lost all my posting history in the changover.

Mike,
No issues with trust or anything along those lines. I read you post this morning and I unfortunately do not have an answer for your question. There seems to be a great deal of confusion when it comes to the East Fork and what is and is not open at this time. I would suggest calling the USFS to have them outline the area in and what is allowed in an email.
This is the current listing from the USFS Angeles National Forest https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/angeles/home/?cid=stelprdb5356908

Back in 2008 I stopped by the ranger station to buy a map and asked about prospecting east fork. They told me to go away ,Prospecting was not allowed at San Gabrial east fork. I drove up anyway and there must have been over 500 people at nugget alley, sluicing, dredging, panning. I drove up to heaton flat and you could see prospectors in the canyon everywhere.
many times a ranger drove by me checking adventure passes and waved at me. I would be carrying my sluice so there was no guesing what I was doing. Rumor has it the rangers are using people to help bust prospectors in the canyon now that its a national monument.

Unfortunately prospecting anywhere in the National Monument is no longer permitted. You can be cited and your gear can be confiscated. This sucks since I went there all the time to prospect!

So is it officially a monument now? I see with the link Kevin posted, no mining is allowed.

All I could find was the USFS completed their proposal in May this year, but saw nothing about it being officially opened yet. It's a shame they could withdraw the area from prospecting prior to making it a monument. I was also hoping our current administration would stop this from becoming a monument. I had some fun on the two trips I took up there.

I agree - it is a shame. In addition President Trump was only an eyelash away from changing it back to a National Forest. THey are policing the area on occasion and worse than that they are making it next to impossible for folks to rebuild after a heavy rain season. Camp Williams is not being allowed to rebuild their campground even though they have a patented deed to the property!

Hearing about Camp Williams is a shame. I had a good trip there with my son when he was younger.

I was unsure if Camp Williams was a patented claim or not. Apparently in addition to homesteading, patented claims, the government also granted a few camps in the old days. I was looking through some old digitized federal registers and came across some camps that were granted using the PLSS system. I see a few "camps" in AZ, but I wonder if those are those deed granted camps or not.