You are hereButte County Gold Districts
Butte County Gold Districts
Magalia
The district of Magalia is located in Butte County. This camp used to be called Dogtown and the name was changed in 1862. A lot of gold was taken from this area at one point and the very well know of Magalia nugget was found in this area in 1859. Magalia used to be one of the most productive placer mining districts in the state of California and there are a number of rich tertiary channels in the area as well. For those interested in getting to Magalia, simply take Highway 191 north off of Highway 70. You will end up in the north of Oroville.
Oroville
The district of Oroville is located in Butte County and this place became know because of the bucket line dredging that started in this area in 1898 and the dredging was done very successfully. The district of Oroville also includes the Cherokee dredge fields.
The area that surrounds Oroville used to be very rich in gold as well and there may still be some good possibilities. The district of Oroville was at one point so rich that a dredging company offered to move the entire town of Oroville at their cost so that they could mine the ground the town is on. For those interested in getting to Oroville simply take Highway 70.
Rich Bar
Rich Bar is part of Plumas County and still produces gold for divers that have portable dredges. The famous Dame Shirley wrote her well know of “Letters From The California Mines” here. At one point during the gold rush Rich Bar was actually the richest placer mining area. The placers in Rich Bar were worked on for the first time in 1850. For those interested in visiting Rich Bar, simply go 3 and a half miles past Belden on Highway 70.
Yankee Hill
The district of Yankee Hill used to be called Rich Gulch and then the name was changed to Spanishtown and finally ended up with Yankee Hill. During the early days of the gold rush placers were found. The 49ers left tailings and these were then worked on by the Chinese who were well known and famous for how thorough they were. Lode mining started up in the 1850’s. For those interested in getting to Yankee Hill, go off Highway 70 around 14 or 15 miles north of Oroville.
