Sunday, August 21, 2011

Fairplay- Middle Fork of the South Platte River Report







We met up with a most wonderful and fun couple near Fairplay on Saturday along the Middle Fork of the South Platte River for a Goldstrike gold adventure.












This area was dredged by one of the largest dredges ever used in North America and left giant tailings piles as tall as a two story house, twice as wide and miles long, beside the river.






















Working down in the river bed itself for flood gold was not very productive as the material is super compacted and yielded very little gold down to a depth of over two feet, even in the sandbars!

There are very few large boulders (if any) left in the river after the dredge went through, so working behind big boulders is not an option.


However the high bench above the river is a different story altogether. We had to carry the gold bearing material quite a distance to get to the river, but the results were satisfactory considering the possibility of finding a large nugget or two. At the end of the day, we had rounded up a nice catch in the pan and everyone was pleased with the results of the day.



Be careful and respectful of private property, we were able to obtain permission to utilize a spot just in-between prior dredging areas.


We also tested our new Gold N Sand hand dredge and it works beautifully.


No more losing gold off of the shovel, thanks Red !


Special thanks to Johnny Walker and Rocky Mountain Travel !


Contact Goldstrike Gold Experience to book your own Fairplay or other gold adventure at 405-464-3782!

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