Grand River — Ionia County

Source: Tom Ashworth's Prospectors Cache (tomashworth.com / Mike Higbee / 49erMike). Author: Tom Ashworth. Original page: ionia_mi.shtml. State index: https://web.archive.org/web/20040830075749/http://www.tomashworth.com/goldloc.shtml Area: Grand River. Map coordinates are an approximate county centroid — not a precise claim site. The Grand River Below Lyons is said to contain gold and diamonds. Reported by: Rudy Evonich The Grand River runs through the Portland State Game Area which is located south of Portland off of Charlotte Highway. The gold here is a result of glaciers and where it can be found is often unpredictable. I have found a couple of spots that produced up to 3 colors per pan (don't laugh, in Michigan that's not bad). The biggest flake I have found yet in this are was about 3mm. I use my 4" Bazooka and enjoy dredging there, but Michigan has no dredging permits (not yet), so you need to keep a low profile. I have never heard of anyone being fined for panning or sluicing, but when using a dredge you need to use some common sense and find an out of the way spot where no one is likely to stumble by.