Gold Dredging has long been part of California’s gold mining history. At one time dozens of dredges were operating here. Thousands of acres of dredge tailings scar miles of landscape across the state. Today I know of only two dredges still standing in California.

With the popularity of Discovery’s hit series “Gold Rush” and star Tony Beets’ Alaskan dredge assembly antics we decided to visit both known dredges here in California. I bet Tony Beets’ dredges look like toys compared to the Yuba Dredge 17.

I could only imagine the monthly cost to keep dredge 17 afloat and waiting on standby for gold prices to raise.