Gold panning in Alabama
Where to pan for gold in Alabama, the official public panning areas, and the rules for each kind of land. Our map of Alabama draws on 327 gold records: old mines, prospects, placer claims and lab-tested stream samples.
Gold areas in Alabama
PlacerPro covers Alabama's known gold country:
- Gold belt (Hog Mountain, Arbacoochee, Goldville: Cleburne, Tallapoosa, Clay, Randolph, Coosa)
- Talladega County
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Gold panning rules in Alabama
- Almost all of this land is private. Get the owner's written permission before you pan, dig or detect, and use legal access to reach the water. Old mines are private property and can be dangerous: stay out of shafts.
- Talladega National Forest: we found no current Forest Service page on panning in Alabama's forests. Call the ranger district before you go and ask whether you need a letter or permit: Talladega district (256) 362-2909, Shoal Creek district in Heflin (256) 463-2272. Plan on a pan and hand tools only until they tell you otherwise: the forests next door in Georgia and Tennessee allow no sluices or dredges.
- State parks (such as Cheaha and Wind Creek): state rules ban collecting or removing any geological or mineral object, and a metal detector needs the park manager's permission.
- Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (National Park Service): collecting minerals and using metal detectors are banned.
- Suction dredges, pumps and highbankers: we found no Alabama permit written for hobby dredges. Ask the Alabama Department of Environmental Management before running one, and stay off the banks.
- Talladega National Forest: we found no current Forest Service page on panning in Alabama's forests. Call the ranger district before you go and ask whether you need a letter or permit: Talladega district (256) 362-2909. Plan on a pan and hand tools only until they tell you otherwise: the forests next door in Georgia and Tennessee allow no sluices or dredges.
- State parks: state rules ban collecting or removing any geological or mineral object, and a metal detector needs the park manager's permission.
Common questions
Where can I pan for gold in Alabama for free?
We haven't found an officially designated public panning area in Alabama yet. Panning is usually allowed on open public land (national forest and BLM) that isn't covered by a mining claim, and on private land with the owner's permission.
Do I need a permit to pan for gold in Alabama?
Hand panning usually needs no permit on open public land, but the rules depend on who manages the land and what tools you use. Sluices, highbankers and dredges often need permits. The rules for Alabama are below.
How do I find gold-bearing creeks in Alabama?
Gold washes downstream from where it eroded out of the rock, so the best creeks drain old mining districts and gold-bearing rock. PlacerPro rates every creek in Alabama's gold country from old mine records, USGS lab samples and geologic maps, and shows public land and active claims.
Other states
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- Gold panning in Montana
- Gold panning in Nevada
- Gold panning in New Hampshire
- Gold panning in New Mexico
- Gold panning in North Carolina
- Gold panning in Oregon
- Gold panning in South Carolina
- Gold panning in South Dakota
- Gold panning in Tennessee
- Gold panning in Utah
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- Gold panning in Virginia
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