Gold panning in Oregon
Where to pan for gold in Oregon, the official public panning areas, and the rules for each kind of land. Our map of Oregon draws on 26,902 gold records: old mines, prospects, placer claims and lab-tested stream samples.
Official public panning areas in Oregon
These places are set aside or managed for recreational panning, from the managing agency's own pages. Rules change: check the source before you go.
Cow Creek Recreational Gold Panning Area (near Island Creek Day Use Area)
What's allowed: A designated segment of lower Cow Creek is open to recreational gold panning; check with BLM Roseburg for current guidelines.
Fee: No fees (byway)
Quartzville Wild and Scenic River corridor (Quartzville Back Country Byway)
What's allowed: Recreational mining is allowed along the BLM portion of the byway; the page states no tool rules.
Fee: No fees for day use
Sharps Creek Recreation Site
What's allowed: Gold panning is a listed activity; the page states no tool or method rules.
Fee: Campground fee (amount on recreation.gov); extra vehicle $5
Sixes River Campground
What's allowed: Within the campground, gold prospecting is limited to non-motorized methods within the wetted perimeter of the river.
Season: Campground open Friday before Memorial Day to September 30
Gold areas in Oregon
PlacerPro covers Oregon's known gold country:
- Blue Mountains (Baker, Grant, Union, Wallowa: Sumpter, Canyon City, Cornucopia)
- Harney, Crook and Wheeler counties
- Lake and Klamath counties
- Malheur County
- Marion, Jefferson and Clackamas counties
- Southwest (Josephine, Jackson, Curry, Coos: Jacksonville, Waldo, Galice, Gold Beach)
- Umatilla County
- Western Cascades (Lane, Linn, Douglas: Bohemia, Blue River, Myrtle Creek)
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Gold panning rules in Oregon
- National Forest and BLM land: recreational panning with hand tools is generally allowed unless the ground is claimed, withdrawn or posted.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.
- Oregon state land: Department of State Lands trust land is open to public recreation that follows its rules, but those rules don't spell out prospecting or taking minerals: ask DSL before you dig there. For state parks and state forests, ask the park or district office.
- Oregon motorized mining: state law (SB 3, 2017) bans motorized in-stream placer mining, including motorized suction dredges, up to the high-water line in rivers with essential salmon habitat (check DSL's habitat map for your creek). Gravity and siphon dredges are not covered by that ban. Any suction dredge needs DEQ's 700-PM permit (register at least 30 days ahead), works only in ODFW's in-water work period, and may also need a DSL removal-fill authorization.
- Hand tools: hand panning needs no DEQ permit. Sluices, rocker boxes and other non-motorized gear need no DEQ registration, but you must follow the 700-PM permit's conditions and keep a copy with you. In salmon habitat, DSL allows prospecting that moves less than 1 cubic yard at a site and no more than 5 cubic yards in a stream per year without a permit, and never where fish eggs are present.
- Wilderness: closed to new claims and to motorized or mechanized equipment.
Common questions
Where can I pan for gold in Oregon for free?
Oregon has 4 official public panning areas listed below, from agency sources. Beyond those, 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 Oregon?
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 Oregon are below.
How do I find gold-bearing creeks in Oregon?
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 Oregon'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 Idaho
- 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 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