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The Pickaxe Guide to Gold Panning For Beginners

By: Dan Hodgins

Learn how to gold pan, what equipment to buy, and where to go gold panning as a newbie with this user-friendly guide!

So you have never tried gold panning, but you are interested in trying it out. Great!

Panning for gold is a fantastic hobby that gets you out into nature so you can enjoy some peaceful time by a river or creek. It's a great excuse to get outside and get some exercise.

Getting started as a newbie can be intimidating. Maybe you don't know where you are allowed to go panning, or where the good spots are. Or, perhaps you are concerned about technique and want to capture as much gold as possible while minimizing losses. No matter what your motivations are, this guide was created for you.

The Pickaxe Guide to Gold Panning For Beginners was designed specifically for newbies like you seeking advice on: where to go, what gear to use/buy, and how to use a gold pan.

This learning resource will equip you with the tools you need to have a fun day on the creek or river - whether solo or with family and friends.

First, you'll need to choose your desired location. Lets dive right in.

Step 1: Location - What is the best place to go gold panning near me?

This one is difficult to answer for everyone at once because there are hundreds of states, provinces and territories in various regions across the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

Here is a method you can use to determine where to go gold panning. Note - its best to try doing your own research first before reaching out to others in FB groups or forums.

Internet searches for gold panning + your city name

Here are some search terms to try online (Google, Bing, etc):

  • Where can I go gold panning near [city name here]?
  • Gold panning locations near [city name here]
  • Gold panning clubs [city name here]

You could also use Siri or another voice assistant. Try asking: "where can I go gold panning near [city name here]?"

Using internet and/or voice search, your goal is to find articles, blog posts, videos, guides or even books that detail gold panning locations near your town or city.

FB Groups - For Gold Panning (Your State/Province)

You can join a FB group for your city, state or province, and members are often glad to help. An example of this would be the Gold Prospectors of British Columbia or Canadian Gold Mining FB groups.

Simply create a post stating that you are looking for gold panning locations with X hours of your city name, and ask for peoples advice. Being specific with the number of hours you are willing to drive will help members provide more specific answers in a tighter area.

Local Gold Panning Clubs in Your City or Region

There are also gold panning or placer mining clubs where members pool resources to acquire claims that the whole group can use. You can reach out to them via email or telephone or possibly even a FB group, and they might provide some guidance on where to go (or they might prefer that you join before they give you advice).

An example of such a club would be: WCP Mining Club in British Columbia, Canada -- run by Nicholas Gust of West Coast Placer.

Online Forums - For Gold Panning (Your State/Province)

Additionally, you can join an Internet forum relating to gold panning in your city, state or province. In the United States, Treasurenet.com is a decent gold prospecting forum worth joining if you are really keen on learning gold prospecting.

The same posting advice applies from above. Just join the forum or group, make a post stating that you want to go gold panning near [city name], and you are willing to drive up to N hours.

Posting a specific number of hours will assist members in providing you with more relevant information on locations.

Step 2: Gear

What gold panning kit should you buy? I will make two recommendations here based on my 4+ years of gold prospecting experience since 2018. I use all of the tools in the options below very frequently, and have for many years.

Option #1 (Budget) - Garrett Gold Panning Kit (Industry Leader)

Garrett is an industry leading brand based in America. They make some of the best gold pans in the world according to many hobbyists and professionals (me included). Here is what youll get if you buy their introductory gold panning kit:

This is the exact kit I started with, and I still have (and use) this equipment 4 years later. The only piece I dont have is one of the Super Sluice pans mentioned above that ended up floating down a roaring creek, and I wasnt about to go in after it.

Option #2 (Upgrade) - Garrett + Keene Kit (Assemble Your Own)

When starting out I purchased the kit in the previous section, and it served me well. It has everything a beginner needs to get started with gold panning. Over time, I have come to prefer a more expensive, durable and bigger classifier from Keene Engineering.

Here is my current setup, and the one I would recommend if budget is less of an issue:

Q: What If I Only Have the Budget For a Gold Pan, and Not a Full Kit?

If you cant afford a full kit, just buy a Garrett Super Sluice 15 Inch Gold Pan, some sort of sucker bottle from the dollar store, grab a shovel, scoop or gardening trowel and head to the creek. You'll have to deal with bigger rocks and gravel in your pan, but many prospectors skip a classifier when first testing out a new spot, so youll be in good company. You could also try grabbing some type of sieve or colander from the Dollar Store if budget is an issue.

Definitely get some type of sucker bottle to vacuum up your gold. This is one of the biggest tips I would give to beginners.

Step 3: Method - How do you pan for gold?

Once you have chosen where to go, and what to buy, youll need to know how to pan for gold once you arrive at the river or creek. Here is how to get started with gold panning (for complete beginners).

Choose a Proven Gold-Bearing Area (Ideally, With Gold Rush HIstory

Select a location for gold panning thats on a historically rich river or creek with an established gold rush history. Being in the right place is more than half the battle. See step 1 (location) above for more details if you are stuck.

Decide Where to Dig a Hole

Look for places where the river or creek has significant changes especially sharp bends or curves (also known as inside bends). Gravel bars on inside bends are usually an excellent place to start.

If you cannot find an inside bend or gravel bar, try to find an obstruction such as a boulder or tree that will cause a change in the current. Dig behind and beside a large boulder and you may find gold.

What you want is a major change or obstruction that changes the current, thus dropping gold out on the edge where fast water meets slower, slack water.

Fill Your Gold Pan

Once you have selected your place to dig a hole, dig gravel from the top 6 inches (18cm) and fill your pan either halfway or full depending on how heavy you want it to be.

Video Demo

Since many people learn best by doing or seeing, we have chosen to share 3 of the best gold panning videos for beginners that we have found on YouTube.

3 Great Beginner Gold Panning Videos On YouTube

If you want a summary of the basic technique of gold panning, here it is in text form.

The Pickaxe gold panning technique is actually quite simple. When I have taught people to gold pan in the past, I would give them the following advice about the two main methods for separating gold from gravel and sand:

  • Side to side
  • Up and down

Technique #1 - Side to Side

Submerge the pan, and then shake it side to side underwater, HARD. This should be an aggressive step with lots of splashing.

Technique #2 - Up and Down

Tilt pan forward to 45 degrees, then simply dunk it up and down, in and out of the creek, so the water pushes the top layer of lighter material out of the pan. Optional - you can also stir the contents of the pan with your hand (knead the material to let sink the gold through dense sand).

To recap, just go side to side, then up and down. Thats all there is to it -- gold panning in a nutshell! Now get out there and try The 2 Step - The Pickaxe Gold Panning Technique, that is!

And when you are ready to research or buy gear, kindly click the links from this PDF to help support future efforts like this beginner gold panning guide from Pickaxe. Its at no additional cost to you!

Recommended Products

Gold Panning Products Mentioned in This Guide

Recommended Gold Pan and Classifier Brands

About The Founder

Hi, I'm Dan, the owner of Pickaxe.ca. I live in the Okanagan in BC, Canada and enjoy sharing what I have learned about gold prospecting over the past 5 years. Whether you are interested in improving your research, testing, panning, highbanking, or cleanups, you'll find some valuable information here. If your goal is to get as much gold as possible then you are in good company.