UK GOLD PROSPECTOR

Gold panning & prospecting sites

The UK's gold-panning map

Every gold river in Britain. One map.

300+ verified gold panning and prospecting sites across Scotland, Wales and England — with geology overlays, access notes, and the law explained in plain English.

★★★★★ 5/5 from 4 member reviews

Start exploring with a free account — full access £29.99, once, yours for life.

Placer gold in the pan — found in Britain

What's on the map

Not rumours. Researched, verified sites.

Every pin is a real location with the detail you actually need before you drive there.

Upland gold stream with exposed gravel bar

No. 1

300+ sites with access notes

From the Mennock Pass to the Afon Mawddach — each site carries what's been found there, how to reach it, and what to expect when you arrive. Because the most expensive part of this hobby isn't the kit — it's the petrol you burn driving to a river that never held gold.

Geology overlay on the UK Gold Prospector map

No. 2

Geology that shows you why

Toggle the bedrock overlay and see the gold-bearing formations under your feet — so you can read a valley the way experienced prospectors do, and find spots that aren't on anyone's list.

River Orchy, Scotland - gold panning location

No. 3

Stay on the right side of the law

UK gold has rules — landowner permission, Crown rights, and permits in some areas. The map flags what applies where, in plain English, so you pan with confidence.

Member reviews

Rated 5/5 by the people using it

Excellent website for both newbie, occasional hobbyists like me... and experienced gold prospectors in the UK. Interactive maps, packed with useful information which have helped me discover new locations I wouldn't have found otherwise. All of the information you could possibly need, in one place.

★★★★★ Sadie L

"Great app, easy to use and has helped me find new spots. Anyone looking to get into panning should start with this."

★★★★★ Darnold92

"Easy to use friendly site and great navigation tool. A simply must have site — very happy."

★★★★★ Lee Cutts

Every review is from a signed-in member and approved by hand — no bots, no bought stars.

One price, no subscription

£29.99 once. Yours for life.

Less than a tank of petrol to a duff spot — and you only pay it once. Start exploring free, then one lifetime payment unlocks the full map. No monthly fees, and every new site we add is included.

Straight with you — this is a guide, not a guarantee. Every pin is a real, recorded gold site, but whether you find colour still comes down to the exact spot, how deep you dig and how well you pan.

UK GOLD PROSPECTOR — ukgoldprospector.co.uk · built by Kerb

Pins are researched leads, not guarantees - gold takes the right spot, the right stretch and proper panning.

Built by Kerb Studio

BGS Bedrock Geology

Metamorphic

Igneous (intrusive)

Sedimentary (Paleoz.)

Sedimentary (Mesoz.)

Superficial deposits

🌊 River Flood Risk

Flood Alert

Flood Warning

Severe Warning

No Current Alert

England: Environment Agency
Live data — updated hourly

⚖️ UK Gold Prospecting Law

Know your rights — and your obligations — before you go out

⚠️ Gold and silver in the ground belong to the Crown under the Royal Mines Act 1693. There is no general legal right to take alluvial gold — only informal tolerance in specific circumstances. See the full guide below before you prospect.

No Guarantees - What This Map Is (and Isn't)

UK Gold Prospector maps places where gold has been recorded - BGS survey data, historic mines and documented finds. A pin is a researched starting point, not a promise of gold. Some records reflect trace amounts, or workings long since exhausted.

Finding colour still comes down to you: picking the right spot within an area, reading the river and working the right gravel - inside bends, bedrock traps, behind boulders - panning correctly, and putting the hours in. Most pans are empty. That is normal prospecting, and no map changes it.

Where These Locations Come From

Every location on this map is compiled from public sources: British Geological Survey (BGS) open data and Mineral Reconnaissance Programme reports, Ordnance Survey grid references, and public mineral-occurrence records. Gold occurrences in the UK are documented facts in the public record - we cross-check each site against these sources, and all geology is attributed to BGS.

Place names and OS grid references are facts, free for anyone to use. The research, verification and presentation here are our own - this map does not reproduce any commercial gold-location guide or copyrighted compilation.

For the complete legal picture — Crown rights, Scotland permits, Wales enforcement, wildlife law, and the Treasure Act — read the full guide:

UK Gold Panning Laws 2026: The Complete Legal Guide →

Country Quick Reference

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

Crown owns all alluvial gold. Crown Estate tolerates casual recreational panning — not a legal right. Landowner permission required for access. No public right to roam rivers.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales

Same Crown rights as England. NRW actively enforces SSSI and SAC restrictions. Brian Wright convicted 2022 for unlicensed panning in a protected river. Landowner permission essential.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland

Land Reform Act 2003 gives river access rights. Crown Estate Scotland (July 2023) states no permission is granted to remove gold. Kildonan, Tyndrum and Wanlockhead permit sites remain the safe option.

🇬🇧 Northern Ireland

No right to roam — landowner permission required. Crown mineral rights apply via Royal Mines Act 1693. Under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995, any search involving digging requires a Historic Environment Division (HED) licence — surface panning without digging is a grey area. Sperrin Mountains has active commercial mineral licence areas; check before prospecting.

What NOT to Do

⛔ Do not pan in any SSSI, SAC, or Scheduled Ancient Monument — criminal offence, unlimited fine

⛔ Do not dig into river banks — may constitute reckless disturbance of protected species (otter, water vole) under the WCA 1981

⛔ Do not pan Oct 1 – May 31 in known salmon spawning rivers — BGA Code of Conduct; some rivers legally protected

⛔ Do not use powered or motorised equipment without a Crown Estate extraction licence

✅ Always get landowner permission before accessing private land or rivers

✅ Fill in all holes the same day. Leave the site exactly as you found it.

✅ Pan and sieve only — hand tools permitted; no petrol pumps, dredges or suction equipment

The Treasure Act — What Prospectors Need to Know

Raw alluvial gold — flakes, nuggets, dust — is not reportable under the Treasure Act 1996. It is not an "object" under the Act.

If you find a worked object (coin, ring, torc, artefact) that may be 300+ years old:

Contact your Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) via finds.org.uk — this is the recommended first step
You have 14 days from believing an object is Treasure to report it
The coroner is involved later in the formal inquest process
Finders may receive a reward based on market value
Failure to report is a criminal offence

Useful Contacts

Crown Estate (mineral rights): thecrownestate.co.uk
Portable Antiquities Scheme: finds.org.uk
Natural England (SSSIs): gov.uk/natural-england
Natural Resources Wales: naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
NatureScot (Scotland): nature.scot
Scottish Outdoor Access Code: outdooraccess-scotland.scot

Data Attribution & Licensing

This application uses open data under the Open Government Licence v3.0:

Gold occurrence locations — Contains British Geological Survey materials © UKRI. Sourced from BGS/NERC open data reports (OR/10/034, RR/00/09, MRP series, G-BASE) under the Open Government Licence.
Flood & river data — Environment Agency Real Time Flood Monitoring API. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence.
Weather data — Open-Meteo (free, non-commercial and commercial use permitted).

All location descriptions have been independently rewritten from primary source materials. No text is reproduced verbatim from any copyrighted publication.

Every gold river in Britain. One map.