Colorado -- Prospecting in Downtown Denver

Hey Gold Adventurers...

Here's a bit of a repost from a Trip Report I originally filed back in May of 2011.  With the old Forum gone, it was lost.....but, since it's kind of a cool location, it's worth reposting...  

That old saying sure is true -- "Gold's where you find it, and never where you don't".  Ha.  

Who thought you could have fun, find some fine flood gold right in Downtown Denver?  Why drive miles and miles into the hills when you can hit Clear Creek, at a little city park, below the Hwy 36/270 overpass?

No powered ops/motorized ops as I understand it, but pans & sluices are O.K.

Here's my experimental Wolf Trap "shorty" 3 riffle bar sluice setup:





A view up the creek at the overpass:



More pics of my sluicing operation:



My first dig spot, in a gravel bar, working the top 8 inches or so:



A couple spots further up the creek I sampled with my pan:




A couple shots of some of the gold I sluiced and panned:




A couple more up stream pics:




My final gold take for the day:



So, pretty cool that there's literally gold in downtown Denver, washed down from the Idaho Springs & Central City areas up in the hills...

Hopefully, you'll get out on an adventure soon, post a Trip Report for all to enjoy!

Randy  "C-17A"  

You did well "Grasshopper"!

I was down there a few weeks ago. I would love to take the highbanker there. I found a piece of iron ore almost the size of a baseball. I'll post a pic later.

NFREYTAG,

Well, I have always been told it was non-powered ops only there................BUT, if you look at many of Mike & Red's Gold Cube videos.........they're in this exact same spot, usinf a battery powered Cube.

Guess nobody's hassled them with battery/bilge pump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta_IN4rHPCM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NmDO8HMghc

Maybe e-mail Mike Pung at www.goldcube.net and see what Mike says as to Cubing there at that spot?

Randy "C-17A"

The strange thing is that I have worked several places on Clear Creek further upstream and the gold you found is coarser and larger than what I found. I guess I will have to try that place instead of the others.

Dave,

Yep.... Pretty surprising, really. I have worked the Ark here all around BV and the flakes here are usually way smaller than what I got working that big, long grave bar on Clear Creek just downstream, from the Hwy 36 overpass, as you saw in my Trip Report above...

There's a video Red Wilcox did a while back, in the middle of like February, way up river, where he was using his Gold-n-Sand hand dredge & bucket to suck material from behind a big rock in the middle of the creek...........with the water so low, slow, cold. He was in his wet suit... When he panned it out I was surprised how much and how big the gold flakes!

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGkC8SFj00

Sure, it's a sales pitch for his hand dredge and Cube, but I like it...

I think he did much better hand dredging behind that big rock than the folks did diggin' material and Gold Cubing along the bank...

I'd like to go back to that spot, BUT driving 2+45 each way, over Kenosha Pass too, is more than I want to do....

Randy "C-17A"

Especially since you can get the yella 15 minutes from your house. Gotta find lots of yella to pay for 6 hours of gas for the SUV.

Stay warm Springs coming! Along with all that snow melt.

Dickb

Didkb,

Ha.  Stay warm?  Where's idiot/criminal Al Gore when I need him???  Just 25 days now until the earth "cooks" in his infamous 10 year prediction of the Global Warming hoax of our lifetimes:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2006/01/27/algore_we_have_ten_years_left_before_earth_cooks

We've had an extremely cold week here in pot smokin' "High" Kolorado.  Quite the past cold week as to lows.  Highs in the teens usually, if that:

26 Dec --   9 below
27 Dec -- 14 below
28 Dec --   4 below
29 Dec --   4 below
30 Dec --   1 below
31 Dec --   3 below
1 Jan --    16 below

Here's pics of the low temp for 3 of the mornings.....  Brrr....  9 below, 14 below and a new record for my house....16 below zero!






So, the way things are............with 10 inches of snow on the ground and below zero lows......I'll be waiting a good while to go gold prospecting again...  

Randy  C-17A  

It's starting to get back in the 40's here in Denver. I think I might go to Clear Creek and run the highbanker or maybe just go back to 70th and Washington with the stream sluice. Both locations are about the same drive from Colorado Springs.

NFREYTAG,

Well..........nice to hear it's warming up some. Was like 32 degrees here in the High country of BV and right now still 18 outside, but dropping. Was 5 for the low this morning, so MUCH better than all the below zero lows.

Good luck on your possible "gold adventure" and plz come back and post all us snow bound prospectors a Trip Report.

Randy C-17A

Well, yes, with gold less than 15 minutes away, why drive to Denver? For me, south Denver is the closest and during the winter quite workable. Still, with traffic, it is about an hour or a bit more to get there. In fact, traffic is the major hassle in driving up to Denver for any reason, not just to do a bit of sluicing.

Hi Dave:

Glad you made it back to the new forum. Hope this year brings you lots of yella in your pan.


dickb

Goldpanner Dave wrote:Well, yes, with gold less than 15 minutes away, why drive to Denver?  For me, south Denver is the closest and during the winter quite workable.  Still, with traffic, it is about an hour or a  bit more to get there.  In fact, traffic is the major hassle in driving up to Denver for any reason, not just to do a bit of sluicing.

Where is there a place to prospect in South Denver?

dickb wrote:Hi Dave:

Glad you made it back to the new forum. Hope this year brings you lots of yella in your pan.


dickb

Thank you!  I hope to get out tomorrow to a creek in Denver and get some nice yellow metal.  I was going to post a picture of what I likely will get, but image is not working in a straight-forward manner, so I probably need to go read to see what else I have to do. I hope you have a great year also in gold recovery and in all other aspects, too.

I had a problem getting setup in the new system, but I think I am OK now. (except I cannot do images)

NFREYTAG wrote:

Goldpanner Dave wrote:Well, yes, with gold less than 15 minutes away, why drive to Denver?  For me, south Denver is the closest and during the winter quite workable.  Still, with traffic, it is about an hour or a  bit more to get there.  In fact, traffic is the major hassle in driving up to Denver for any reason, not just to do a bit of sluicing.

Where is there a place to prospect in South Denver?

Just about any creek in the Denver basin has gold. Where I am going tomorrow is my friend's honey hole; since it is his secret, I can't divulge the location.

I have worked the Big Bend area of the South Platte River (up near the 78th Ave and Steele St; there is parking there); Broadway and 70th, the Arapahoe Bar gold panning area (both on Clear Creek), Grant-Frontier Park (just south of where W. Evans crosses the South Platte River) and a few other places. I know of others that I haven't actually worked, but these are several places I have plus the place Randy worked near where US 36 crosses Clear Creek.

HTH.

BTW, where are you in Colorado Springs?

I understand you can't give up your friends spot. I just moved to north Colorado Springs(East Woodmen and Austin Bluffs Pkwy) from Littleton because of the crazy housing market. When I saw you mention prospecting south of Denver my ears perked up because the drive to north Denver and Clear Creek is not so great. I already commute to Denver daily . I have a few good spots on Clear Creek. Always looking to meet some new prospectors and find some new closer ground to work.

NFREYTAG wrote:I understand you can't give up your friends spot. I just moved to north Colorado Springs(East Woodmen and Austin Bluffs Pkwy) from Littleton because of the crazy housing market. When I saw you mention prospecting south of Denver my ears perked up because the drive to north Denver and Clear Creek is not so great. I already commute to Denver daily . I have a few good spots on Clear Creek. Always looking to meet some new prospectors and find some new closer ground to work.

I know about where you are. I am closer to Lexington and Union. And yes, the drive to Denver proper is a pain. Like I said, almost all of the creeks in the Denver basin contain gold. Some are in areas that allow no panning, none that I know allow gasoline motors though some allow battery powered stuff. Most places (if not a no panning area) are OK for sluices.

To avoid classifying, I use a Bazooka Gold Trap sluice. I have a 30" Sniper and a 48" Miner. The Miner is too big for most places, though Big Bend area I mentioned before will usually handle it and Arapahoe Bar will also.

I would love to sluice in Newlin Gulch, but it is rather hard to get to. I don't want to climb down 40 feet to reach the water.

We'll have to see about going out together.

Dave

I use a 9 inch wide by 48 inch long stream sluice with GoldHog matting where the highbanker isn't allowed. I just shovel in the top of the sluice. Whatever doesn't roll out the back of the sluice I toss it. Let me know in advance when you want to meet up. My job keeps me pretty busy during the week. I am free most weekends.

NFREYTAG wrote:I use a 9 inch wide by 48 inch long stream sluice with GoldHog matting where the highbanker isn't allowed. I just shovel in the top of the sluice. Whatever doesn't roll out the back of the sluice I toss it. Let me know in advance when you want to meet up. My job keeps me pretty busy during the week. I am free most weekends.

My job keeps me very busy during the week; I teach at the Air Force Academy as well as tutor chemistry in the evenings. That makes it almost impossible to get out except the occasional Friday that I don't teach. Weekends are rather busy, too, since one of my daughters lives here with her husband and 3 of my grandkids. My wife and I spend a lot of time with family.

I'm a master mechanic at Kuni Lexus of Greenwood Village. I'm at work from 7-5:30 PM 5 days a week. My wife and three young kids keep me busy on the weekends but occasionally I can get away for half a day to find some gold. That is why I need time in advance to plan for trips and get the wifes permission . Taking care of family is a must!

NFREYTAG wrote:I use a 9 inch wide by 48 inch long stream sluice with GoldHog matting where the highbanker isn't allowed. I just shovel in the top of the sluice. Whatever doesn't roll out the back of the sluice I toss it. Let me know in advance when you want to meet up. My job keeps me pretty busy during the week. I am free most weekends.

I like Gold Hog matting and use some for my recycling set up (Washer Mat). However, it usually requires a lot of water and the small creeks don't have that. That is why I am using the 30" Sniper BGT instead of the 48" Miner most of the time up in the Denver area. I also have a Le Trap that works well but you can't really just shovel in with it and a smaller Angus MacKirk for when I cannot use the Sniper.

Goldpanner Dave wrote:

NFREYTAG wrote:I use a 9 inch wide by 48 inch long stream sluice with GoldHog matting where the highbanker isn't allowed. I just shovel in the top of the sluice. Whatever doesn't roll out the back of the sluice I toss it. Let me know in advance when you want to meet up. My job keeps me pretty busy during the week. I am free most weekends.

My job keeps me very busy during the week; I teach at the Air Force Academy as well as tutor chemistry in the evenings.  That makes it almost impossible to get out except the occasional Friday that I don't teach.  Weekends are rather busy, too, since one of my daughters lives here with her husband and 3 of my grandkids.  My wife and I spend a lot of time with family.

The tutoring is also at the Air Force Academy so I basically work there from noonish to 9:30 or 10 pm.

NFREYTAG wrote:I'm a master mechanic at Kuni Lexus of Greenwood Village. I'm at work from 7-5:30 PM 5 days a week.  My wife and three young kids keep me busy on the weekends but occasionally I can get away for half a day to find some gold. That is why I need time in advance to plan for trips and get the wifes  permission . Taking care of family is a must!

Believe me, I understand about getting the wife's permission. I have to do the same thing.

You're right about the water needs of GoldHog mats. I use razorback and downdraft matting in the stream sluice so it does okay with slower water. It would do a lot better if I had a flare on it instead of building a rock dam. I'll let you know next time I'm heading out.

NFREYTAG wrote:You're right about the water needs of GoldHog mats. I use razorback and downdraft matting in the stream sluice so it does okay with slower water. It would do a lot better if I had a flare on it instead of building a rock dam. I'll let you know next time I'm heading out.

That is good to know, We generally build a rock dam to get proper flow in the small creeks and set the BGT's in the dam. Some are only a few inches deep in places to nearly 3 feet in other places (rare). We had about 4" drop last Wednesday but only about 1-2 inches total water depth otherwise.

On Clear Creek you can usually find plenty of water but not the smaller creeks.