Gold Panning at Whiskeytown NRA

Ranger Recommendation: Become a gold miner for a day! Gold pan along Clear Creek at the Clear Creek picnic area. Gold was first discovered in Clear Creek in 1848 by Pierson B. Reading. The news of the discovery brought a wave of gold rush miners to Shasta County, many of whom set up camp in what is now Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. The former community of Whiskeytown got its start as a mining town as settlers worked along Clear Creek and its tributaries. Although the town and much of the Clear Creek drainage within the recreation area is now underwater, Gold panning is still a fun way to pass a hot summer day splashing in the creeks and streams that flow into Whiskeytown Lake.