Even though we could have gone to Lincoln, MT, taken buckets of gravel home to classify, sluice or pan, eaten chicken with the Blackfoot River Prospecting Club, we chose an alternate route propelled by car issues and schedule adjustment was necessary. It didn't affect anyone so we were good.

      We knew the Lincoln trip would provide gold, but what about striking out in another place? Plenty of information about the Lincoln claim on our webpage, but nothing about the Sluice Boxes. It was time.

      The choice to go to the Sluice Boxes was a good one. the experience surrounded the natural creation of Montana’s original history of prospecting, a tribute to the sluice, a major component of finding gold. 

      Montana’s Sluice Box State Park is likened to a mini Grand Canyon. From the photos you can see why, but that is ignoring the idea that the landscape is arranged so to create the ripple effect of a manmade sluice. The effect of water running over rocks, depositing gold around them,  the crevices, and further downstream for the catch, is a natural beauty that doesn't compare to the simulation of the metal, manmade sluice. The opportunity to pull out your prospecting equipment of choice can land you pay dirt for sure.

      One cannot be complete without taking a trip to prospect in the Sluice Boxes, even though Bob Rosteck says there is no gold in the entire Monarch Neihart area as he has panned it a lot, those early prospectors thought something different as there even was a train up to Hughesville where they hauled minerals out of the area for mining. 

     We had to try our hand at finding gold as the cell phone app of where to find gold has tons of sites all over the area. In the search for gold, this area is worth the stop.