Idaho City Gold: From Gold Rush to Modern Gold Panning

Do you have gold fever? You’re not the only one. The price of gold has been skyrocketing over the past few years, hitting record highs. This isn’t the first time the nation went crazy for gold, and it won’t be the last. Idaho City has a long history with gold that continues today. 

Here’s everything you need to know about Idaho City’s gold.

Chemistry of Gold

Pop quiz: What is gold made of?

Answer: gold 

Gold is an element, represented by AU on the periodic table. This means that gold isn’t “made” of anything. This means gold cannot be made (despite what medieval alchemists believed), it has to be found. So, the next question is, how do you find it?

Geography of Gold Mining

Gold can be found all around the world, but there are some geographic indications that a location may have gold deposits. 
Gold indicators to look for:

• Quartz Veins: Gold is often found alongside quartz veins. Other hard rocks, like granite, slate, and schist, are also potential indicators.
• Iron Staining: Gold-bearing veins may also be rich in iron oxides, which may leave stains.
• Contact Zones and Faults: Deposits often occur in “zones” formed along faults or where two types of rock meet.
• Topography: Coaster gold tends to stay upstream. In deserts, they tend to form in areas with moderate or flat slopes.
• Rocks and Soil: In desert areas, look for a lot of quartz vein materials. Near rivers, look for black soil and rocks with a rusty color.

Mountains are a common place for gold to be found because the same conditions that form mountains also move gold from deep within the Earth’s mantle and up into the crust.

Boise Basin Gold

Thousands of miners flooded the Boise Basin when gold was discovered in 1862. While the area isn’t known for producing large nuggets, almost all streams in the area produced a lot of small “picker-sized” pieces of gold. This made the basin an attractive area for prospectors, who have produced an estimated 2.3 - 2.9 million troy ounces of gold to date.

Idaho City Settlement

Founded on October 7th, 1862, Idaho City (originally called Bannock) was one of the many mining towns that popped up during the rush. Idaho City had a longer water season than many of its contemporary towns, which allowed for a longer mining season. More stable mining communities also provided farm markets for early valley settlements, which were able to take advantage of the irrigable land around the Boise River.

Many mining boom towns became ghost towns after a few short years. At first, it appeared that Idaho City might meet the same fate. As gold became harder to find, Idaho City fell from a population of 7,000 in 1864 to 500 in 1900, and 104 in 1920. But the city didn’t disappear.

Explore Gold Mining History

Idaho City is still standing. While many of the buildings in the city today are newer, a handful of the original structures have been preserved. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the Idaho City Visitor Center to learn more about the historic sites of the city. 

Some highlights include:

• The Courthouse
• Miner Exchange Saloon
• Territorial Penitentiary
• Historic Village
• Pioneer Cemetery

Gold Panning Opportunities

You don’t have to have a lot of fancy mining equipment to look for gold. All you need is a classifier (screen), a bucket, some tweezers, and a magnet to sort through debris. Most creeks in the area have produced some gold for patient prospectors, so there are plenty of places to try!

We’ve already written a whole guide on gold panning in Idaho, but here’s a quick summary of what you need to know before staking a location. 

1. You can pan on public land (with a few exceptions)
2. You cannot pan on private property without permission
3. You cannot pan on an area with an existing mining claim

You can use our tips from the geography section above to guide you to a good spot, but there’s an even easier way to narrow it down. If gold has been found somewhere before, there’s likely more, so try spots where other panners have already had some luck.