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Important News


Chapter President

Tim LeGrand
contact email info@tngold.com

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Click for Cokercreek, Tennessee Forecast

 

 

Directions

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Ruritan Club: This is where we have our indoor meetings
Directions to the Ruritan Club: On Hwy 68, heading south from Tellico Plains, go to Coker Creek (about 10 miles or so). Where the post office and little shops are, on the corner going to the left (towards doc Rogers field) you take a right, instead... go about 1/4 mile, and you will see a school sitting back off the road on the left. On that street going to the school, you will see a sign for the Ruritan club. Turn left towards the school, and the Ruritan club is the white building just before the school, on your right. We use the back section for our meetings.
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New Claim - requires a GPAA membership - Special outings are usually open to the public check with Tim.
Directions: The new GPAA property, in Coker Creek, Tn. is located at 13431 Hwy 68 , Coker Creek, Tn. 37314. From I-75, take Hwy 68 east through Tellico plains and follow south about 12 miles, to 13431. You will see the signs marking where to turn in. Turn left, into the property, and follow the road to the parking area. Signs will be marking the way in from Hwy 68, at our main gate.
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Doc Rogers Field
Requires a free permit from the Ranger station, and has fairly easy access, once you realize where it is. It is not well marked, at all.

If you travel south from Tellico Plains, or north from Ducktown, you will get to the small town of Coker Creek. You will only know you're there because on the east side of the road, you will see a set of shops, and a post office. There is a snack shack, and a small store.

Once you find this, you are less than a half mile from Doc Rogers field. The shops are sitting on a road that slants off to the southeast from the highway. Follow that road less than 1/2 mile. Keep an eye open for a small dirt trail/road (sometimes the grass is high) that goes off to your left. There are small round posts on each side.

Follow that road back a couple of hundred feet, and it turns left and has a nice large turn around and parking area. I have even seen some people camp out there.

You know you missed the road/path if you cross the creek. So, if you do cross the creek, turn around and look to your right in about 100 feet or so.

Ok, once you get in, there are 3 ways to get to the creek.

One trail heads off to the east, directly towards the creek. There is showlow bedrock and several turns in the creek in this area. I have seen people prospecting here, and haven't heard a lot of good news.

One trail heads north from the road, right at the turn to the parking area. This is actually both of the 2 other ways.
Follow this path a short ways, and there is a wide path that turns toward the creek. You can follow that and get there quickly.

Once you reach the creek along this second path, there are mowed trails going along the creek in each direction (horse trials that make a large loop around the property).

I have seen people dredge, sluice and pan in each direction from here. I like turning left, and walking upstream a few hundred feet or so. Sometimes more... sometimes less.

While walking up the creek, make sure to watch out for dredge holes. They can be filled with silt, yet you will quickly sink 2 to 5 feet. It is like a mine field.... walk around them and you will be fine. We pull our dredge on a little wagon, and walk around them, usually without a problem. Once in a while, they don't leave room to get around, but not too often.

If you follow the main trail, and do not turn directly towards the creek, you can go along this trail around the field, and to the far end of the property. This is like an old logging road, more so than just a trail. You can go back in quite a ways, then turn off onto some deer trails and reach more remote areas of the creek; perhaps find a spot that hasn't been prospected too much, and do real well.