"Panning For Gold in Fairplay" Fairplay by painterdave

Panning for gold is a relaxing way to spend a day. With your plastic gold pan, you can dig up some gravel, and work your way down to the black sand where the gold will be. It's just you and the sound of the river, the wind in the trees and the blue sky.
Roll up your pants cuffs, find a good spot to sit down and have some fun.

You have to know where this type of gold can be found. Not all steams and rivers have this type of placer gold. Fairplay is a good place, and you can follow the Arkansas River down to Salida. You will see where the old prospectors piled the rocks up on the stream banks so that they could get down to the hard rockbed.
Be sure and bring a small bottle, to put your nuggets and flour gold in. The end of a wooden matchstick can help you pick up the small nuggets.
You need a hat, the sun here is intense, at this altitude.
Other placer areas are Breckenridge and Aspen, also northeast of Gunnison.

• Pros:The town of "Southpark" television show
• Cons:watch for lightning when it rains
• In a nutshell:How to get away from the city