Panning for gold seems like a simple task on its surface; dig dirt, shake in water, collect yellow nuggets. And to some degree, that’s exactly what it is, though the yellow nuggets are always flakes and they’re far less plentiful than in your fantasies. Figuring out where to pan for gold, now that’s where things get complicated. Nowhere is this truer than with Mission Creek.
When we began our gold panning adventure a few years ago. We did the obligatory online research to find out where we could, and couldn’t, do it and learned about the fourteen recreational panning reserves in BC. We learned you couldn’t pan on existing claims or private land, First Nations reserves, or parks. And we learned that there were peculiar exceptions to those rules.
Tranquille River is probably the most prominent of these exceptions. A gold bearing river in a provincial protected area that, for reasons unknown, allows public panning. Mission Creek is another. It too is in a park.
We heard about Mission Creek early on in our hunt for places to pan. It’s well known in the online panning community and there are several YouTube videos of folks finding gold within it. This past summer we decided to give it a try ourselves, but deciphering where on Mission Creek we could do that was far from obvious.
I don’t for a minute understand why gold panning is sometimes allowed in certain parks. Enjoying this hobby, I refrain from prying too deeply for fear of jinxing it. I do know this, however. The naming convention for parks in the BC interior is unnecessarily obtuse.
Where is Mission Creek?
Mission Creek is found in Kelowna, BC. It demarks an arched southern boundary between the urban buildup of the city and the fruit orchards it was originally built upon. Approximately 16.5 km of the creek, from Okanagan Lake to Westbank First Nation’s Medicine Creek Reserve 12, is known as the Mission Creek Greenway, a narrow band of natural area and trails.
Along the way, Mission Creek Greenway passes through three regional parks (not to be confused with provincial parks). Those regional parks are … prepare to furrow your brow … Mission Creek Greenway Regional Park, Mission Creek Regional Park, and Scenic Canyon Regional Park.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why the whole of it isn’t simply one unified and singularly named park. And if multiple names are imperative, why such repetitive naming, save for one? But most importantly, where along this mishmash of parkland is gold panning allowed?
Where to Pan for Gold on Mission Creek?
To the best of my knowledge, gold panning is allowed along the entire greenway though I can find no official documentation to support this assessment (or refute it). Neither is there much online evidence that panners are actively hunting all of it.
Using my crack research skills, I determined that most panning on Mission Creek occurs in a 2.5 km stretch of the greenway running north-south from Mission Creek Regional Park to Scenic Canyon Regional Park. The best location to access this stretch of the greenway is at the Mission Creek Bike Skills Park on Hollywood Road South. So, that’s what we did.
The bike park is an elaborate dirt track allowing young cyclists to practice their offroad riding skills and tricks. It has a gravel parking lot with a garbage bin and porta-potty that I wouldn’t step foot in if you paid me in gold ingots. With no trees to speak of, the parking lot and porta-potty bake in the hot Okanagan sun for hours a day. Expect everything in your vehicle to cook. Ditto the porta-potty.
Getting to the Water
Just beyond the bike park is the main Mission Creek Greenway trail system. This broad, gravel trail runs north, south, and beyond, taking you pretty much anywhere within that 16.5 km of parkland.
From this primary trail there are random, narrow dirt trails heading to the creek. These trodden paths are organically created by treasure seekers and those looking to play in the water. Whereas the primary trail typically meanders through grassland, these offshoots cut through the trees lining the creek.
Mission Creek is pretty much like every other mountain river but with some telltale evidence of human civilization. The creek bed consists of mud, sand, and myriad rocks and boulders. Portions of the valley are actively eroding including what I think are glacial deposits.
Water levels in rivers like this vary seasonally. As summer progresses the amount of exposed ground increases. You might even be able to wade across the creek itself should you want to. We weren’t so adventurous, choosing to stick to the near shore.
As it was a travel day on our summer road trip, we only had a couple hours available for gold panning. We focused our attention on the portion of the creek immediately next to the bike park and then briefly just south of the East Kelowna Road bridge.
Is There Gold on Mission Creek?
Finding gold was an erratic affair. Some holes were productive, others barren. The gold seemed depth limited with no gold to be found beyond maybe a foot down. We had much better luck digging into the creek bed than digging up on the banks, amongst the tree roots. Similarly, we had little luck in the area south of the traffic bridge.
As expected, the gold in Mission Creek is limited to flakes, mostly small. We’d get one or two flakes in some pans while others were empty. I hit one great hole which resulted in a nice five flake pan. This came early in our hunt and got us excited. Sadly, it was never replicated during our short stay.
It was obvious that many other panners had been there before us. Several holes, filled and not, were evident all along the creek. On the other side of the creek there were a few big holes dug into the larger bank of glacial deposits. They looked like caves but I’m certain they are the efforts of gold panners. Judging by the size of these holes, there must be gold within those tills. That’s an awful lot of digging if there’s none to be found.
Prior to leaving Kelowna, we drove further south to the main Scenic Canyon Regional Park entrance. We had hoped to try some panning there as well but discovered that the hike to the creek is a lot more onerous due to substantially greater elevation change. Our time was too short and our energy lacking, so we didn’t bother. Perhaps another time.
I should note that Scenic Canyon ends where it meets Westbank First Nation Medicine Creek Indian Reserve No. 12. I understand there is a large erratic in the water that roughly denotes the boundary between the two and thus the end of public gold panning in that direction. There may be ambiguity as to where you can pan along the Mission Creek Greenway, but you most definitely cannot pan on the reserve.
Is Mission Creek Worth Panning?
Much like our stop at Hope Recreational Panning Reserve, our time was limited at Mission Creek. I wouldn’t proclaim our experience as definitive, but we did find gold, with one pan being quite exciting. With more time, I’m sure we would have found additional gold including some other mutli-flake pans.
With that in mind, I’d recommend adding Mission Creek to your public gold panning destinations. It does have gold, more than some of the official public panning reserves. If you’re vacationing in the Okanagan, it’s a no-brainer activity for an afternoon. Or week. And while you’re at it, maybe you can figure out the cockamamie park naming system.