Gold panning in Idaho
Where to pan for gold in Idaho, the official public panning areas, and the rules for each kind of land. Our map of Idaho draws on 33,804 gold records: old mines, prospects, placer claims and lab-tested stream samples.
Gold areas in Idaho
PlacerPro covers Idaho's known gold country:
- Boise Basin and Valley County (Idaho City, Placerville, Yellow Pine, Warren)
- Boundary County
- Canyon County
- Clark County
- Custer, Blaine, Elmore and Camas (Stanley, Yankee Fork, Atlanta, Rocky Bar)
- Gooding County
- Minidoka County
- Nez Perce County
- North (Shoshone, Clearwater, Latah, Bonner, Kootenai: Murray, Pierce, Coeur d'Alene)
- Owyhee County (Silver City, DeLamar, Snake River fine gold)
- Power, Cassia, Jerome, Bannock, Bingham, Bonneville and Butte counties
- Salmon River country (Lemhi and Idaho counties: Leesburg, Elk City, Florence, Warren)
- Washington County
Try the Idaho map free for 7 days
Gold panning rules in Idaho
- National Forest and BLM land: recreational panning with hand tools is generally allowed unless the ground is claimed, withdrawn or posted. Check with the ranger district or BLM field office.
- Active mining claims belong to the claimant: don't prospect on them without permission. BLM maps claims to survey sections, so outlines are approximate; check claim posts on the ground.
- Wilderness: closed to new claims and to motorized or mechanized equipment.
- Idaho state land: endowment trust land is managed for the schools, so prospecting there may need an exploration location or mineral lease from the Idaho Department of Lands. On navigable riverbeds IDL asks for no permit beyond IDWR's, except on segments withdrawn by the Land Board, where even pans and hand tools are banned.
- Idaho powered mining: suction dredges, power sluices and highbankers used below the high-water mark need an IDWR letter permit (nozzle up to 5 inches, motor up to 15 hp). They are allowed only on streams IDWR lists as open, in their season: any stream not on the list is closed. A suction dredge also needs Idaho DEQ's small suction dredge general permit (apply at least 60 days ahead) and Forest Service or BLM approval.
- Hand tools: panning and other non-powered work generally need no IDWR permit, unless you process more than a quarter cubic yard an hour, disturb more than a third of the stream width, or work with more than five people in one spot.
Common questions
Where can I pan for gold in Idaho for free?
We haven't found an officially designated public panning area in Idaho 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 Idaho?
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 Idaho are below.
How do I find gold-bearing creeks in Idaho?
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 Idaho's gold country from old mine records, USGS lab samples and geologic maps, and shows public land and active claims.
Other states
- Gold panning in Alabama
- Gold panning in Alaska
- Gold panning in Arizona
- Gold panning in California
- Gold panning in Colorado
- Gold panning in Georgia
- Gold panning in Maine
- 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
- Gold panning in Vermont
- Gold panning in Virginia
- Gold panning in Washington
- Gold panning in Wyoming