Glory holes-how to tell WHY they dug there?

[Pyledriver]

Ok, I'm here in lovely Woodland Park staying on 30acres of private land. My uncle took me In a hiking tour of the place and pointed out several of what he called glory holes. One of them is huge! So far I haven't found anything noteworthy except the tip of an old pick. The sites themselves don't seem particularly unique....could be random diggings. I'm wondering what characteristics of a site might indicate a worthiness to dig? I have done a very small amount of panning and didn't find any color yet in the two places I tried. I did get some black sand though!

 

[Digger Bob]

Well, first, it would help to know what state Woodland Park is in. That's a pretty genaric name. Secondly, what part of that state, north, south, etc.

Ok, I'm here in lovely Woodland Park staying on 30acres of private land. My uncle took me In a hiking tour of the place and pointed out several of what he called glory holes. One of them is huge! So far I haven't found anything noteworthy except the tip of an old pick. The sites themselves don't seem particularly unique....could be random diggings. I'm wondering what characteristics of a site might indicate a worthiness to dig? I have done a very small amount of panning and didn't find any color yet in the two places I tried. I did get some black sand though!

 

[Pyledriver]

Haha...in Colorado!

 

[dave wiseman]

Get the mining reports,talk to the locals etc......Is it gold,silver,copper?...If there are veins visable take samples,crush,then pan out...if you've permission to actually be on the property.......Dave

 

[Pyledriver]

After spending the day at cripple creek I think I know why several holes were dug! I'm gonna pay another visit to that large one...

 

[AUDuke]

A " Glory Hole" was a mine that produced ore, generally gold and usually rich. I think what you are talking about are prospect holes, They were dug looking for minerals. If you are in a gold producing area, that probably was what they were looking for ,and if they are deep they may have found a little..

 

[Pyledriver]

That's correct. My uncle was calling them glory holes but I kinda figured that might not be the correct term. We went down to Cripple Creek and Victor one of the days we were in Colorado and I got a much better understanding about what was going on with all the potholes on the mountain. Only one of these was very large, and that one is on my uncle's property. Most looked about 3 or 4 feet across and maybe 2 to 3 feet deep. The big one is 20 feet across and about 8 feet deep. I didn't find anything in there but I do wonder why THAT one was so big. I plan to investigate further when I go back!