Moccasin Creek

 

At the headwaters of Moccasin Creek near Mariposa County, they had a total production over 2 million ounces. The Harvard Mine and the Dutch mines were the most productive properties in district with 450,000 ounces produced to 1928.

 

Along the creek you see huge tailing piles from the old Bucket Line Dredges and stacked boulders when the Chinese worked this area for those valuable gold flakes.

 

The area is claimed up but if you are a member of the GPAA, they have some claims along this creek. Also, at; http://jamestownca.org there's a Gold Prospecting shop in Jamestown and you can pay to prospect their claims which include claims on Moccasin Creek. Or go here: https://www.gold-panning-california.com/ to set up a gold prospecting adventure!

 

I decided to spend a couple of hours exploring and I did a little metal detecting on the tailings and a few samples pans, I didn’t find much but I did find a little bit of gold flakes. It’s a beautiful area (like much of the Mother Lode) and you’ll enjoy the scenery and appreciating the history and hard work of the old 49’ers!