Gold panning is a great outdoor sport. It has some nice things going for it.

— it gets you outside in the fresh air and sunshine

— it gives you great exercise

— it teaches you things about how nature and gravity work

— it gives you the thrill of a treasure hunt

— basic gold panning supplies are inexpensive

— you might actually get some nice gold!

Panning for gold is an activity I was introduced to over 30 years ago. I live in Oregon, where gold streams are abundant and pretty easy to get to. I went with my cousin, and the first time I saw those golden flakes in the bottom of my pan, I was hooked.

So I went out and got some basic gold panning supplies, like a Gravity Trap gold pan and a snuffer bottle. I already had five gallon buckets and a GI folding shovel.

As time went on, I got more stuff and even built some equipment, like gold screens, a wooden sluice box and four rocker boxes. All part of the fun.

But the key thing I want to emphasize is the importance of really getting your panning skills perfected. If you become a good gold panner, then you will greatly increase the amount of gold you get from the sand and gravel. So practice is essential.

Gold panning relies on two critical things. One is that gold is heavy. The second thing is, you are using gravity to separate out the gold from the sand and gravel debris in your pan.

You dump a scoop or shovel full of what you hope is gold bearing material into your pan, then submerge the pan in the water. Use your hand to break up any clay or clods in the water and agitate the material with your hand to get the heavies to begin to settle to the bottom of the pan.

So your first goal is to saturate the material and get the gold sinking to the bottom of the pan, where it belongs.

Now you rotate the pan while submerged to get the material moving in a circular motion. Stop periodically to pick out and toss the large rocks. Eventually, you will end up with just sand and smaller stuff.

As you rotate the pan, you can tilt it forward occasionally and let debris wash over the lip of the pan, then tilt the pan the other way to settle things back again. Keep repeating this process until you have greatly reduced what is left in your pan. You will finally end up with heavy black sand, and your GOLD.

The popular plastic gold pans have riffles built in, to catch the gold as material passes over the lip back into the water. So be sure you always run your material over the riffles as it exits the pan.

A good way to test your skill is to add several BB s to your pan when you start panning and see if you end up with them when you are done.

You will probably find some lead fishing weights or buckshot in your pan sometimes. Removing the lead from the stream is a good environmental thing to do.

May the bottom of your pan turn to gold!