OPRD Ranger teaches her secrets of gold panning to a young visitor at the gold dredge in sumpter oregon!

Oregon Parks and Recreation
Rangers, Park Hosts, and
Volunteers down at the
Sumpter Gold Dredge
would like to give you the opportunity of gold panning!
You won't even need your
own gold pan! Borrow ours!
Our staff will give you
Gold Panning Lessons FREE!
If you find a Gold Nugget
or Flake....take it home
for a real small fee!
You can have fun and
learn something
new all at the same time!
Call us for details......
{541} 894-2472
or send us an email:
info@friendsofthedredge.com





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Dredge Superintendent's House

Gold Dredge Day Workers Reunion







Do have you a
Sumpter Gold Dredge Story
to share with us..........?
We love to hear from
folks who have personal
stories about the
Sumpter Gold Dredge!
So we would like to invite you
to join discussions in our
Sumpter Forum








Planning a trip to Sumpter?
Visit these local websites for
good information about our historic town!
Find lodging, food and other points of interest in Sumpter!

www.sumpter.org

www.historicsumpter.com

www.sumptermuseum.org

www.java-net.biz









come on down for some gold panning at the sumpter valley gold dredge in sumpter oregon, you don't even need your own gold pan!


Gold Panning
At the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge!
It's been a long, long time since gold was first discovered in the Sumpter Mountains back in 1862! gold panning at the sumpter valley gold dredge in sumpter oregon.  a volunteer park host shares his secrets of gold panning! Yet, the old techniques of hunting for nuggets with a
gold pan haven't changed at all!
Its called Placer Mining or is
more commonly referred to as
Gold Panning. New technology has brought us some new
fangled machines to make some
of the work a little easier these
days, but when it comes right down to it..............
a good old-fashioned gold pan
is still the most exciting way to
get your hands wet and discover
gold! So.....you want to do a little
gold panning like the old
forty-niners from days of old? Well then, why not come on up to the Historic
Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge in Sumpter, Oregon! We've got plenty of spare Gold Pans that we'll lend you for free! In fact............the nice folks inside
The Friends of The Dredge Giftstore will lend you a gold pan for free and the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Rangers will even show you how its done to
make sure you have the best chance of grabbing some of that gold stuff!
Then, you are free to head over to one of the Park Dredge ponds or try your
luck in the river like a real placer miner! What you find you get to keep!
Beware of that pesky fools gold! If you have a tough time knowing the real
gold from the fools gold, don't worry, the friendly folks in the Visitors Center
and the Park Rangers will help you figure out which is which! Once you have
some flakes and nuggets in your pan, you'll want to take them home and the
friendly folks inside the store have vials for sale so your new treasure will be
safe! Inside the Interpretive Store you will also find plenty of helpful information
and books on Gold Panning and how to hunt for gold. You can even purchase
a map showing all the historic mines and mining districts in the Sumpter area
and even the local ghost towns which are fun to explore in the Summer!

Enjoy some of our favorite gold panning photos below!


Park Ranger Lynn Christensen helps a young miner find the elusive gold nugget



Searching for gold dust gets serious at the Sumpter Gold Dredge!



       School Children practice the art of placer mining with a gold pan!


An old prospector helps a student discover some gold dust


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Friends of the Sumpter Valley Dredge
P.O. Box 291
Sumpter, Oregon 97877
{541} 894-2472

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