T-1 LOWER THOMPSON CREEK CLAIMS

Pictures of Mining Activities at Thompson Creek

LOCATION

RIVER:Thompson Creek

COUNTY:Siskiyou County

STATE:California

Are located on Thompson Creek, which is 10.9 miles upriver from Happy Camp. The creek is marked with a sign on the Hwy. 96 bridge which crosses the creek. Since there is private property at the lower end of the creek (Thompson Creek Lodge), the claims must be accessed by a Forest Service road which is located .3 of a mile towards Happy Camp on Hwy. 96 from Thompson Creek. The Forest Service road is #18N01. Since the claims take in most of the entire creek, there are several points of access. Approximately 1.6 miles up the #18N02 access road, it splits three ways. Taking the right hand road will lead you to the lower end of the claims (T-1 Lower Thompson Creek Claims). The middle road will take you to about the center of the claims (to the upper end of T-1 and lower end of T-2) The left turn will lead you to the top of the mountain - and by a series of toads, will lead you to the upper Thompson Creek claims (T-2 Upper Thompson Creek Claims). To access the lower end of T-1, Take the right hand split in the road. The road will lead you to a small bridge that crosses Thompson Creek 1.3 miles from the split. Just before the bridge you can take a right turn into a camping area and creek access. The lower creek boundary is posted on a tree approximately 200 yards down the creek from the bottom of the campground. You can also take a left turn just before the small bridge that will take you onto a 4WD very primitive road, which splits left and right, just after crossing a small feeder creek. Both of these primitive roads are overgrown with brush and may require some work before use. They lead to creek access points further upstream. There is limited camping space in both areas. I highly suggest you look before driving into these areas! There is another lower creek access and camping area which can be reached by crossing over the small bridge and taking an immediate left up another primitive road. I suggest you look before driving in. To reach the upper access area of T-1, rather than take the right split in the road (1.6 miles up #18N01 from Hwy. 96) which leads you to the small bridge, you would take the center split in the road and follow it 4 miles from the split. Watch for a large gravel pile on the right. There are two directional signs posted on a tree alongside the road. One points straight forward which leads to mid way along T-2. The right hand turn follows an overgrown and primitive road which leads to a parcel of private property. The private property is what separates T-1 from T-2. Watch for the appropriate posted signs. There is limited camping at the bottom. The bottom of the road is just upstream from the upper boundary of T-1. There were many slides up here in 1996 and I am not sure of the current condition of the roads. If anyone knows this please email and I will update this information.

Thompson Creek has good gold, and much of it is big and slabby. One old timer (named Briggs) found a pocket of gold up Thompson Creek that was so rich, he was able to retire. His gold was found in slabs - which is typical of Thompson Creek gold. Members have found gold all along T-1, wherever they have dredged. Some do better along the edges, and some find it in the center of the creek. The gold seems to be associated with boulders and bedrock. The gold is spotty - meaning that in some places you find none, and in other places you find plenty. Because access is not easy on most of T-1, member dredging has been limited to the direct access areas. We had several members doing well at highbanking in a gravel bar below the lowest campground, several years ago. They were finding fine gold and flakes in the stream bed gravels. Overall, the prospects look excellent. If you are dredging, you must reach bedrock, most often in the boulders, in order to do well. Some areas have bedrock exposed or within a foot or two. Others areas have several feet, or up to 9 feet of gravel and material on top of bedrock.