Sierra Nevada Placer Claims

Prospecting Guides

Plain-language background for researching Sierra Nevada placer-claim locations. These explain the public records and terms behind the screening map so you can verify everything yourself with official sources.

Back to the map

The screening map narrows research to a handful of explainable candidate plots. These guides cover the concepts behind that screening — how public land records describe a location, how to read claim status, what the plot colors mean, and how to prospect responsibly. None of it is legal advice; it is orientation for the official verification you still have to do.

How to research where to file a placer claim in the Sierra Nevada
The end-to-end workflow: from a candidate area to the official records you must check before you ever set foot on the ground.
Reading PLSS: section, township, and range for prospectors
How the Public Land Survey System and the Mount Diablo Meridian describe a spot on the ground, and how to translate a legal description.
How to read BLM mining-claim status
What "active", "closed", "void", and "pending" mean in the federal record, and why a nearby claim matters for your search.
What green, yellow, red, and black plots mean
How the map's conservative screening colors are meant to be used — and the many things a color does not tell you.
Responsible prospecting and Leave No Trace
Low-impact practices, reclamation basics, and respecting access so prospecting stays open for everyone.

Looking for a specific area?

The guides above cover concepts that apply anywhere in the range. For region-by-region context — which drainages have the history, where land status gets complicated, how season and access differ from one forest to the next — see the Sierra Nevada prospecting regions, with a page for each of the nine national-forest units the screening map covers.