The New 49'ers Guest Pass (Klamath, Scott and Salmon River claims)

About The New 49'ers Guest Pass (Klamath, Scott and Salmon River claims)

If you want to pan for gold in far Northern California without owning a claim, The New 49'ers offer a simple way in: a free one-day guest pass for their mining properties, good between May 1 and September 30. The association, based in Happy Camp on the Klamath River, holds about 60 miles of gold-bearing ground along the Klamath, Scott and Salmon Rivers and their tributaries in Siskiyou County, and the gold a guest recovers is the guest's to keep.

The day begins at the office at 27 Davis Road, right next to the Happy Camp post office. Guests register there, sign the same membership agreement that members sign, and get a pass that has to sit on the dashboard of any vehicle driven onto the claims. The office also asks to know where you will be working, both for the records it keeps on the claims and to find people in an emergency. Opening times change with the weather, and the association suggests calling ahead.

Roughly half of the ground lies on the three rivers and half on creeks such as Elk, Indian and Thompson Creek. For people working above the water, the association's own advice is to start on the Main Stem and North Fork of the Salmon River, where it calls both banks consistent in gold, in the exposed moss and in the surface gravels. Creek gold, it warns, is spottier and often sits among boulders. Claim boundaries are drawn on its maps and signed on the ground, the website publishes maps and GPS coordinates of its properties, and most claims sit near roads where, the association says, a four-wheel drive is usually not needed.

On the claims a guest working out of the water may hold a 60-foot circle around the work site while actively mining. Dry digging stops at the high-water line, where the permanent vegetation begins, and every sample hole gets filled back in. Nobody works within 100 feet of an established swimming hole or beach: there are several on the Salmon River and one on the South Fork of Indian Creek. Vehicles stay on existing roads, campfires need a Forest Service permit, and the Forest Service fish weirs on Thompson Creek and Elk Creek are off limits. California's ban on suction dredges and on motorized gear that works stream gravel applies on these claims as it does across the state.

The 2026 season went well by the association's own account: its August newsletter reported the Klamath as low as its writer had ever seen it and much clearer than the year before, which opened new ground for surface mining along both banks of the river.

Clubs and places nearby

• The New 49'ersClub · 0 mi
• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (Tower House, Clear Creek)Free public dig · 88 mi
• Nor-Cal Gold Prospectors (GPAA Redding)Club · 109 mi
• Shasta Gem & Mineral SocietyClub · 109 mi
• Shasta Miners and Prospectors AssociationClub · 109 mi

Where to buy gear nearby

• Chapman's Gem & Mineral Shop & MuseumShop · 97 mi
• The Miner's CacheShop · 101 mi

Access

Start at the office at 27 Davis Road in Happy Camp: guests register, sign the association's membership agreement and receive the guest pass, which goes on the dashboard of any vehicle used on the claims. Maps and GPS coordinates of the properties are on the association's website.

Technique

Follow the association's operation guidelines: work only on its marked properties, claim a 60-foot circle around your work site while you are actively mining, stay at least 100 feet from established swimming holes and beaches, and keep vehicles on existing roads.

Sources

• The New 49'ers: schedule of events and free guest passes
• The New 49'ers: operational guidelines for members and guests
• The New 49'ers: about our gold properties
• The New 49'ers: contact and office address
• The New 49'ers: newsletter, August 2026