Colorado built itself on gold twice, placer first and lode after. The creeks that started it are still open in more places than most states manage.
Clear Creek out of Golden and Idaho Springs is the most accessible real gold water in America: parts of it run through open public panning reaches where the 1859 rush literally started. West and south, the Fairplay and Alma beds on the South Platte headwaters were dredged for decades and still pan color between the tailing rows.
Cripple Creek was a cow pasture that turned out to be a volcano full of gold, the greatest lode camp in the state; the placers below such camps and through the San Juan country around Silverton and Telluride carry documented records shoulder to shoulder on the club map, along with the land status and live claims that tell you where you may kneel.
Western Colorado is Uravan-belt country, the most documented uranium ground on the club map next to Utah. It shares drainages with pretty rock country, so the hot-ground rules ride every pin: read them, keep out of old workings, and enjoy the plateau with your eyes open.
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