Eugene, I would look for the local chapters in North Carolina. I hear the Matthews NC chapter is very active. I live down in Florida and it is about a 9-10 hour drive for me to the North Carolina Gold Belt and I think it is well worth it. I have found good gold there every time I go. So much so I joined the LDMA so I would have a place to stay and prospect. Come spring if you still don't have any one interested in going out with you, contact me, I will make the drive.

Thanks Tim. We will see In the spring. Who knows.

Going to the lucky strike in Marion this Sunday. Going solo. Me,my sluice box, 15" gold pan and a few other necessary tools. 5 hours to get there. All day 8am - dark. Going to get some gold. Hope I can take a 5gallon bucket of dirt home as well. A little something to pan when the mood strikes.

You should have some good luck at the Lucky Strike. I rented one of their highbankers and got a load of dirt from there in June. Brought home a little over a gram of gold and some nice gems from a gem bag I bought my wife. Have fun and good hunting.

Thanks Tim. I'm just using my sluice and pan. I won't get much gold but the enjoyment is what its all about for me. I'm just so excited to finally do some prospecting.

The whole truth wasn't told. Lucky strike in Marion is a joke. A bad joke. Nothing more than a dirty rundown camper park. The only area to pan or sluice is a dammed up creek that runs directly behind the campers. A small portion of the creek doesn't have campers hanging on the edge but is narrow and deeper. Too deep to work.
Let's not forget to mention the rude, attitude problem old man at the office. I asked about the area to be used and how far it goes. I then asked which area he would recommend to start. The ornery man replied, " in the river". I wasn't expecting nice people. I was okay with it and walked away.
He should have replied, "you're wasting your time. The only way to get gold here is to purchase a load of dirt from us and use one of our high bankers or your own."
I started at the front of the river. Maybe a few feet before the allowed area. I dug a pretty deep hole. I screened my dirt and ran it through my sluice. After running about 5 gallons I did a clean out. I did 3 pans worth of concentrates. Not even a flake. No dust. Nothing. I finished the cleanup at home. Nothing.
I left the lucky strike out the back entrance. A little ways down the road a river flowed. It was wide and shallow for the most part. It had areas on the shoulder of the road to park. Well, I was so excited. Lol. I obviously wasn't the only one to ever have the thought for sure. The opened up areas with easy access had trash around it. I still figured it was my best chance. I screened and panned for hours with nothing to show for it.
No doubt, this whole area has been worked to death. I decided to drive farther down the road. What do I find. Thermal city. The same river runs through it with the same rundown camper scenario.
The end result of my prospecting trip is that I learned the truth. Its not a place to take your family. Use a high banker and buy their dirt if you want to see gold. Don't expect friendly people.
Their web site talks about crevicing and dredging. Lol. You can't fit a dredge set up in it and their is nothing to try crevicing on. Lies. Its all lies.

Sorry you had such a bad experience Eugene. My experiences have been complete oppisites. I have found gold at Lucky Strike and Thermal City. I also had a great time at the Vein Mountain LDMA outing in October. So much so that I joined the LDMA. I have pictures posted of my gold take for 2014 on this forum. Almost every bit of it came from in and around Marion, NC.

I'm not discouraged. But, I will never go there again. I'm sure there is better places with better people. I'm gonna check south Carolina. Check every review possible. This will never happen again. I just wish everyone could know the truth. I wonder how many families wasted time there. I feel bad for them. I'm glad I didn't take my son. I'd still be apologizing.

Well I have heard good things about Coker Creek, not been there so can not give first hand information. If you know any LDMA members, Loud Mine, Occonnee and Vein Mountain are all close. Like I said I did ok on Vein Mountain dirt. I did not play in the creek though so can not tell you how that is, I do know the in and out is easy. I hear mixed reviews on Alabama Gold Camp. Good Hunting and hope to run into you on a claim somewhere.

Hey Eugene, As you are a GPAA member, I strongly suggest that you touch base with the local chapters, 3 in NC and 1 in SC (Look in the chapters section of the GPAA site to get the info on location and contacts), as they might have their own places or claims they go to prospect, or can point you to places to go.

 

Like my friend Tim said, the GPAA has a claim at Coker Creek, TN that you can go to 24/7, 365 days a year, camping is available for free (no hook ups) and there is a place right down the road from there called Doc Rogers Field, that you can go to prospect, even though it's in the Nat Forest, the Rangers of the Tellico Plains area allow sluicing and dredging,but you need their permit that is free and can be gotten right there at a store in Coker Creek. (Remember on Nat Forest land you can only use pan and shovel and classifiers, no sluices or dredging, and cannot take anything but your black sands and concentrates out with you [ no buckets of unpanned material ], and you must stay within the water line. The Tellico Plains District is one of the few that allow dredging/sluicing/highbanking because of the work between the rangers and the GPAA chapter there. Always fill in your holes when you're done.)

 

As far as pay to play in SC, I have researched for a yr and not found any places in SC to go, at least none that advertise or have a website, there may be some that you can find just driving around in the slate belt in the western half of the state which is where the gold is in SC.

 

Speaking of Nat Forests, I have heard there is some gold in Uwharrie Nat for, Nantahalla Nat for and Pisgah Nat for in NC, and you might want to check Sumter nat for in SC. If you draw a line from Athens, GA to Charlotte, NC, west of that line is your best chances to find some color. Just a note, the National Forests on the east coast are all acquirred lands ( purchased land or land taken over from unclaimed estates, etc.), so there is still alot of private property in those areas. Just have to be careful about being on private land.

Anyway, that's my opinion, for what it's worth. Take advantage of your GPAA membership and hook up with a chapter, and "mine" them for info. Paul

 

Thanks Tim and Paul. I will check out a local chapter. Many benefits in doing so. Who knows. Maybe I'll get a little color in my pan the next time out. The idea of making a friend or two who share my passion for prospecting should be incentive enough really. I don't know anyone around where I live that is even remotely interested in prospecting.
Once again, thank you both.

I went to a chapter meeting. It wasn't a regular meeting. They were at a restaurant for this one. Christmas meeting if you will. Anyways, I missed the first 30-40 minutes and that was what I wanted and why I traveled 2 and a half hours to get there. The next meeting will be at their normal spot and I'll be able to better talk to everyone. They gave away gold at the meeting. I got a nice display case with 4 beautiful pieces of gold. Everyone got one. It was nice. Well I'm waiting for word on the next outing. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Just a reminder that while the Uwharrie National Forest here in NC is a great place to prospect, sluice, shovel and panning only- no dredges, highbankers, metal detectors or any other electric or gas powered equipment is allowed....IT IS NOT A GPAA CLAIM as had been posted in the past.