MARION COUNTY OREGON

22 miles SE of Salem on the Little North Fork of the Santiam River placer gold can be found. This belt overlaps into Linn and Clackamas Counties. In T8S R4E & R5E There was roughly 1,000 ounces of gold produced from the Black Eagle, Capital, Crown and Silver King Group of Mines. The Little North Fork of the Santiam contains some very fine particles of gold.

Little North Fork of Santiam River

Reported by: Edwin Brown

I have made several trips over the years and sometimes have found abundant colors. On one trip with my cousin from Salem, we got into a shallow bar over bedrock and got lots of decent sized flakes plus several little pieces that rolled rather than slid in the pan when you tilted it enough. Nearby, this cousin with his brother found 5 small nuggets under a large boulder on bedrock that they pried out of position. One was pea-sized. I saw it and it was a pretty piece. Overall, in my experience, gold is harder to find in this stream than in the Calapooya (my favorite river) or Quartzville Creek but just wanted you to know that better than fine flakes is available here.