WHERE TO LOOK FOR AND FIND GOLD IN CALIFORNIA MOTHER LODE GOLD REGION 5
(Note: This is one of our six California gold maps. Please see left-hand column for the others.)

Big Ten's California Mother Lode Gold Prospecting and Panning Map 5 shows three thousand (3,000) gold mines and gold prospecting and panning locations from official geological records of the State of California and the federal government. The map is done in color. The margin of the map has text that tells where to look for gold in a streambed, how to tell "fools gold" from real gold and gives step-by-step gold panning instructions. Locations for finding gold are shown within 15 miles of each of the below listed places. These gold deposit locations, which show where gold has been found in the past, are clearly marked. A good gift.

Map 5 shows places where to look to find gold near:
Arnold, Auburn, Benton, Bodie, Bridgeport, Carmichael, Carson Hill, Chinese Camp, Citrus Heights, Coarsegold, Columbia, Copperopolis, Coulterville, Downieville, El Dorado, El Portal, Folsom, Grass Valley, Incline, Ione, Jackson, Jacksonville, Jamestown, Lee Vining, Lincoln, Lodi, Magalia, Mammoth Lakes, Mariposa, Marysville, Moccasin, Nevada City, North Highlands, Oroville, Paradise, Placerville, Plymouth, Portola, Quincy, Roseville, Sacramento, San Andreas, Shaver Lake Heights, Sonora, South Lake Tahoe, Sutter Creek, Squabbletown, Tahoe City, Tahoma, Truckee, Tuolumne, Valley Springs, Volcano, Yosemite and Yuba City.

GOLD MINES, PROSPECTING AND PANNING IN CALIFORNIA MOTHER LODE GOLD REGION 5

California Gold Region 5 extends from about 40 miles south of Yosemite National Park, northward to about five miles north of Quincy, in Plumas County. It extends  eastward from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada state line. 

Because of the proliferation of gold deposits here, California Gold Region 5 (and part of California Gold Region 6) is known as the California Mother Lode. There is no fixed definition of the boundaries of the "Mother Lode", and actually no true "mother lode" exists. Some geologists define the boundaries as extending further southeast into California Gold Region 4. In any case, this is a very gold-rich area that has drawn worldwide attention and stimulated migration to California. Discovery of gold in this region at Sutter's Mill in 1848 led to the great California Gold Rush in 1849. Pioneers flocked westward across the U. S. plains in covered wagons and people came from Germany, China and other countries to find gold by prospecting and panning here. 

California's largest true gold nugget weighed 54 pounds troy. It was found in California Gold Region 5 at Magalia, in Butte County. (Butte County's gold mining, prospecting and panning locations are shown on Big Ten's California Gold Prospecting and Panning Maps 5 and 6.)

The dry remains of the ancient rivers of the Tertiary Period are shown on California Mother Lode Gold Prospecting and Panning Map 5. The ancient rivers are discontinuous today, with some parts of them being in the sides of mountains and other parts buried under lava flows from the volcanoes that erupted in the past. These ancient rivers were a major source of gold in the present-day rivers. According to Lindgren, some gravel deposits in the Tertiary  rivers were 250 feet deep, with gold occurring at various levels within the gravels. Remains of the ancient rivers are actively prospected and mined. To read of California's "Ancient Rivers of Gold", please go to the link in the left-hand column of this page.

Many people have long harbored a desire to find California Mother Lode gold. People are now able to fulfill that dream.

To request gold maps please go to REQUESTING GOLD MAPS .