Eureka
Sign up freeSoon

Forks of Butte Creek Recreation Area (BLM)

Butte Creek's canyon above the town of the Dogtown Nugget

Managed by
Bureau of Land Management, Redding Field Office
Permit
None for gold panning or metal detecting
Allowed
Gold pan, metal detector, hand tools; a sluice if no new sediment reaches the water
Not allowed
High-banking, pumps and any motorized equipment
Panning sites
Numbered 5 to 26 along the creek
Season
June to October
Roads
Dirt roads past Lake De Sabla; a truck, SUV or 4WD is the safer choice

Public area set aside for recreational collecting

Native material: you search the natural ground on site.

Season: June to October. Doe Mill Road and Ditch Grade Road are unmaintained dirt roads in winter.

explorebuttecounty.com ↗

Make a weekend of it

468 gold spots on open public land with no claim on record, within 50 miles.

There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.

Open the gold map around Magalia →

Prospecting and collecting rules in California →

About Forks of Butte Creek Recreation Area (BLM)

Just north of Magalia, the old Dogtown, the Bureau of Land Management looks after a forested stretch of Butte Creek's canyon as the Forks of Butte Creek Recreation Area. Explore Butte County, the county's visitor guide, points gold panners here, and the rules are easy to remember: panning and metal detecting need no permit, and sluicing is fine as long as no new sediment gets into the water.

Gold is what made Magalia's name. On April 12, 1859, at the Willard Claim, a hydraulic mine in the Feather River Canyon northeast of town, miners found a 54-pound nugget, at the time the largest in the world. The Dogtown Nugget made the town famous, and in 1861 Dogtown became Magalia.

The area is withdrawn from the mining law, and for that reason the BLM's Redding office is strict about machines here: no high-banking, no pumps and no motorized equipment of any kind, only hand tools. The rest of its casual use guidelines apply as on other public land: obey posted signs, leave plants and their roots alone, fill every hole you dig on land or in the water, keep sediment out of the creek and pack out everything you bring. Dredging is illegal everywhere in California.

Panners choose a numbered site along the creek. Sites 5 to 11 are near former campsites and easy to reach; 12 to 18b sit off the Butte Creek Trail south of Doe Mill Road; 19 to 26 take a longer, steeper hike but give more solitude. The Butte Creek Trail links the Doe Mill Bridge parking area with the main campground, 2.4 miles out and back, and is open from June to October. For a different stretch of the creek, the Indian Springs Trail near Lake De Sabla drops nearly 900 feet in 1.5 miles, from a clearing of serpentine, California's state rock, down into the canyon.

From Highway 99 in Chico, take the Skyway (exit 383) up the hill toward Paradise to Lake De Sabla, about 21 miles. Half a mile past the lake turn left on Powelton Road, bear left on Doe Mill Road, then right on Ditch Grade Road for about 1.5 miles to the campground; Doe Mill Bridge is about a mile farther along Doe Mill Road. Both are dirt roads left unmaintained in winter. Open fires need a California campfire permit, and on hot days the cascades and swimming holes of Butte Creek are where people cool off between pans, with rainbow trout in the same water. Several trails in the area follow PG&E flumes and canals, with narrow walkways and swift water: the BLM map says to stay out of the canals.

Clubs and places nearby

Where to buy gear nearby

Access

From Highway 99 in Chico, take the Skyway (exit 383) up toward Paradise; Lake De Sabla is about 21 miles up the hill. Half a mile past the lake turn left on Powelton Road, bear left on Doe Mill Road, then right on Ditch Grade Road for about 1.5 miles to the primitive camping area. For Doe Mill Bridge and the Butte Creek Trail, stay on Doe Mill Road for about a mile past Ditch Grade Road. These are dirt roads: a truck, SUV or other 4WD vehicle is the safe choice. Stay off the PG&E flumes and canals in the area.

Technique

Gold pan, metal detector and hand tools only. A sluice box is fine as long as no new sediment gets into the water. No high-banking, pumps or other motorized equipment. Do not remove or disturb plants or their roots, fill every hole you dig, on land or in the water, and pack out what you pack in.

Sources