Cache Creek Area

Brief History

The Cache Creek placer area is located west of the town of Granite in northern Chaffee County. Cache Creek flows into the Arkansas River just below the Granite Bridge.

Cache Creek was one of Colorado’s largest and most productive hydraulic mining operations that operated from 1860 to 1911. Water used for hydraulicking activities was diverted from Lake Creek to Cache Creek via the 16 mile long Cache Creek Ditch which was completed in 1863. Nearly $3,000,000 in gold is reported to have been produced from the placers of Cache Creek and some high-grade gravel remains!

 

Small independent placer mining first took place along Cache Creek from 1860 to 1863. Significant increases in production took place in 1884 with the introduction of “booming” and again in 1889 when hydraulic placer mining was introduced. These operations continued until 1911 when the entire operation was shut down in one of Colorado’s first environmental lawsuits.  

Since major mining operations ended, a slow and natural recovery of the Cache Creek area began. The Bureau of Land Management recently acquired the land that includes Cache Creek. This acquisition was made primarily for wildlife habitat and open space but it is also recognized for its significant mining history. The Cache Creek Area has been of interest to the small scale placer mining community because placer gold was left behind when major operations were shut down in 1911. 

Recreational Placer Mining Location

The Cache Creek Area was acquired primarily for its wildlife habitat and wetlands so the area is withdrawn from mineral entry. The Royal Gorge Field Office has analyzed recreational placer mining as a benefit to the public and has decided to allow for this use in a manner that minimizes impacts to the primary values of this area. A 25 acre area has been established for motorized uses described in the Cache Creek Permit. The remaining public lands in the Cache Creek area are available for non motorized uses commonly called casual use such as pans, sluice boxes, and battery operated re-circulators.  The continued use of the area for this purpose depends upon the cooperation and good will of the users.

Season of Use and Operation time frames

In order to minimize impacts to critical wildlife habitat, the season of use is limited to  Memorial Day to November 30 of each year.  Within that time frame, operations are limited to ten user days.  The permit should be retained and dates filled in during time frames when using the site. 

 Equipment Size Discussion 

We originally listed the intake nozzle size as 1 ½ inches. Earlier this year we considered going to a larger nozzle size of 2 inches. The decision we made in environmental assessment CO-200-2002-0043 was that “only pumps of 5hp or smaller are authorized in this area with a maximum nozzle size of 1 ½ inches. The larger horsepower pumps may be needed because the placer work may be a long distance from the water sources”. The intent was to limit the size of the water intake hose which in turn limits the amount of material that can be moved. In general we would strongly recommend equipment size be limited to the smaller combination units that commonly have a 1 ¼ inch water intake hose and 2 ½ horsepower motors. Commonly this size of equipment is considered small enough that it can be carried on a backpack.

 

Camping

 

We strongly recommend camping only at developed campgrounds in the area based on limited parking, developed facilities, and our desire to keep this area open for recreational placer mining.   Developed camping facilities are avilable along the Arkansas River and near Twin Lakes and Clear Creek reservoirs. 

           

The camping regulations apply to individuals camping on public lands in undeveloped locations and for relatively short durations for recreational purposes. 

 

If it becomes apparent that a significant increase in camping has resulted in unacceptable levels of environmental damage or user conflicts that can not be mitigated, the Royal Gorge Field Office will consider discontinuing authorization of the recreational placer activities.