Many people living along the Wasatch Front in Utah are unaware of the fact that gold can be found up American Fork Canyon. It should not be too surprising since across the valley and to the north there is one of the largest open pit mines in the world, Kennecott Copper Mine–they also find plenty of gold.
Anyways, if you are looking to do some gold panning up American Fork Canyon, I have found the area above Tibble Fork Reservoir to yield the most gold. Just follow the road around the reservoir, the road will curve but a dirt road will continue on near the river. Take this dirt road.
Gold can be found in the main river as well as at Mary Ellen’s gulch. Don’t expect to get rich as the gold in American Fork Canyon is extremely fine. I have had some luck panning the river gravels as well as mossing. The largest flake that I have ever found in American Fork Canyon was 1 mm long. Most of the gold is ultra-fine. The placer gold deposits are very spotty with most pans yielding only a couple specks of color.
There have been reports of nuggets coming out of the mouth of American Fork Canyon near the diversion gate. I personally find it hard to believe based on my experiences in the area. But gold can show up in unusual places. If you do decide to make the trip up past Tibble Fork, the dirt road can be kind of rough in spots and depending on the year. I highly recommend a 4 wheel drive vehicle.
If you find any nuggets up there and prove me wrong, be sure and let me know. Regardless, it is a fun place to go. You should also plan on doing some hiking as the river is a ways below the road much of the way unless you make it all the way to Mary Ellen’s Gulch.
In addition to the American Fork Canyon gold deposits, gold can be found in other location in Utah. The best source of information that I have found about these gold deposits is in a book by Alan J Chenworth. The book is called A Guide to Gold Panning in Utah and is a welcomed addition for gold prospectors interested in Utah’s placer gold deposits. Up until the release of this book, the only decent resource was the Gold Deposits of Utah bulletin, which was helpful but also vague at times.
Chenworth covers the prime prospecting locations in great detail and includes some history as well as maps. I was impressed by the quality of this book and highly recommend it to my fellow gold panners in Utah