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Gold Districts in Sierra County
Gibsonville
Gibsonville is a placer mining district and it comprises of the areas of Whiskey Diggings, Bunker Hill and Hepsidam. Gibsonville was first worked on during the gold rush days. for those interested in visiting Gibsonville, take the Quincy La Porte Road south off of Highway 7089 before getting to Quincy in Plumas County.
Pike
Pike is a placer and node gold mining district. Some rich Tertiary gravel has been located here in the past and the placer deposits here were first worked on during the gold rush. The Alaska Mine produced more than one million dollars worth in gold. For those interested in visiting Pike, take the Pike City Road south from Camptonville on Highway 49.
Poker Flat
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is a story by Bret Harte and is what made this district become well known. In the past the Poker Flat area has been very productive. It reached up to $700,000 one month alone. Hydraulic mining was done in this area in the past and this was one of the major sources of gold after the surface placers were worked out. For those interested in visiting Poker Flat take the Johnsville Road east out of Gibsonville to the Poker Flat Road.
Port Wine
A group of miners were working and found a keg of port wine hidden in some bushes and this is where the district of Port Wine got its name. Hydraulic and drift mining were done here in the past. For those interested in visiting Port Wine take the Port Wine road east out of La Porte on the Quincy La Porte road.
Poverty Hill
Poverty Hill is the district that is right to the south of the Port Wine district. Drift and hydraulic mining were done in the tertiary channel gravels here.
Sierra City
Sierra City is a bigger district that consists of the areas of Gold Valley, Fumier and Church Meadows. In the past the placers in this area used to be very rich and some big course nuggets were found here. The first Sierra City was destroyed due to an avalanche that occurred in 1853. A number of rich surface deposits were worked on in this area and lode mining started in 1850 at the Sierra Butte mine. There was a pocket discovered in the Four Hills mine that contained more than $250,000 in it. For those interested in visiting Sierra City it is located on Highway 49 about twelve miles east of Downieville.
