Managed by the Bureau of Land Management near Granite, Colorado, this public prospecting zone offers genuine recreational gold panning and digging without the tourist-trap polish. Vic’s Gold PanningThere is something wonderfully old-fashioned about Vic’s Gold Panning that I find completely refreshing. Bring rubber boots because creek panning gets your feet wet no matter how careful you think you are being. This locally operated mine reopened after the Gold Mountain Fire and currently advertises tours seven days a week at 95 Gold Mountain Trail, Ouray, CO 81427. Gold panning is available from water flowing directly out of Gold Mountain, which gives the experience a legitimacy that sluice-trough setups simply cannot match.