Prospecting since 2012.
Gold Quest Montana
Welcome! We are Tim & Jessica Sutherland (and our daughters, Neroli - 11, and Raine - 5). For us, the journey of learning to prospect for gold began in 2012, the year our eldest daughter was born. Tim is the main prospector of the family, but we’ve managed to figure out how to successfully find gold and spend quality family time together. We’ve learned a lot over the years, and continue to learn more.
Gold Quest Montana, and our associated YouTube channel, is intended to connect with others in the world who have an interest in prospecting for gold. Whether you are interested and wondering where to start, are a seasoned professional looking to connect with other prospectors, or somewhere in between, welcome!
Coming soon, we’ll be sharing more of what we’ve learned on our gold prospecting journey. What methods have we tried? What worked well, and what didn’t? Tips for prospecting together as a family (and having fun doing it!). Tools of the trade? Where do you go? Recommended reading?
So, stay tuned, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel, and enter our GOLD GIVEAWAY!
Do you need some help deciding why you should learn more?
Gold has never been more valuable than it is today, so you can add substantially to your savings.
The process of detecting is a working meditation that really helps to clear the mind, which we all could use some help with in the world we live in today.
Fresh air and exercise improve your mental and physical health, and vitamin D has been shown to bolster the immune system.
We may be biased, but we think Montana is the most beautiful landscape there is!
As Tim always says, “I’ve never caught a fish and had it hand me a $5 bill.” In terms of hobbies, we don’t think there is a better choice!
There are a lot of things we’ve done in our ‘spare time,’ but none of them have paid, except gold prospecting. It was with this in mind that Tim’s personal prospecting philosophy was born: “I’ve never caught a fish and had it hand me a $5 bill!”
“Search every area as if you just found a piece of gold.” - Tim Sutherland, Gold Quest Montana
This is also part of Tim’s personal prospecting philosophy. He detects areas meticulously, and his tenacity tends to pay off more often than not. It is easy to get excited, go too fast, and miss faint targets. Slow and steady definitely wins the race when it comes to gold detecting!
“You can’t detect all day unless you start first thing in the morning.” - Tim Sutherland
Truth be told, when you are panning or detecting for gold, you spend more time looking than finding. Given the ‘needle in a haystack’ nature of prospecting, to succeed, it is best to have the self discipline to start the day early.
It is so easy to get bogged down in all of the gear choices, like with any ‘hobby.’ All of the various tools of gold prospecting are great, but to get started you only need a shovel, a pan, and the proper mindset. Remember, you will spend 80% of your time looking, and hopefully 20% of your time finding. Don’t get frustrated and quit before you succeed. There’s gold out there! Go get it!
You only get better with practice, so don't wait any longer to start looking for your first nugget! If you are already prospecting, good! Keep going! Gold is where you find it!
If you want to get on the gold bad enough to detect after the ground has frozen, focusing on south facing hillsides that thaw faster due to more sun exposure is the best use of your time. As a bonus, the sun will warm you a little as you detect and dig, the digging, which is harder due to the frozen ground, will warm you up nicely, and the frequent thawing and freezing of southern exposures often turns up new targets on previously detected hillsides.
Sutherland Family Gold Detecting - An Evolution
Up until the summer of 2021, if we wanted to go gold detecting/prospecting as a family it was a full ‘production’ that generally involved camping, loading the four wheeler into the truck, travelling many hours to our target location, and a lot of general preparation.
No matter the methodology used, prospecting for gold requires a lot of patience and perseverance - both skills that kids need to learn and practice - but, honestly, many adults don’t have what it takes to ‘stay on the gold.’
As Mom I am ‘Director of Alternative Activities,’ so I’ve always tried to come up with fun things to do when Tim is still detecting and the girls have met their limit. When you are camping, or out on the four wheeler, it needs to be compact and easy to do ‘on the go,’ so for us we bring mobile art kits & sketchbooks, snacks, our phones for photography, a deck of cards, current reading books, and foraging books for learning about the environment. The list of possibilities of things to do expands as the girls get older, but no matter the age, I think it is wise to have something planned for ‘downtime.’ Gold prospecting is fun, but it is also difficult and time consuming, so it is smart to have ‘alternate activities’ planned.
In July of 2021 a dream of ours came true & we were blessed to purchase and move to 12 beautiful acres of land (which luckily already had a lovely home on it) in an area south of Butte, Montana off HWY2 in the heart of gold country! The season of 2021 was consumed with the process of moving, and ever since we have been quietly orienting ourselves to the vast land surrounding us.
Tim has found some gold in the general area, and I have found many crystals on our own property! We are within four wheeler riding distance to where we used to camp as a family, as well as seemingly limitless other public land to prospect on and explore. There are many old homesteads to investigate, as this area used to be home to Highland City - where 10,000+ people lived during the gold rush!
We’ve been quiet the past few years as we orient ourselves to our new area and situation, but have fun things upcoming in 2023 & beyond, so stay tuned!
Family camping and detecting is the best!
A proper setup is key to family detecting success! This was one of our favorite places to camp and detect as a family. We can now ride to this location from where we live!
We really like our truck bed tent and air mattress. Campers are nice, but difficult to get into remote areas.
Digging for crystals at Crystal Park with our daughters. Everyone loves to dig for crystals, so a 'crystal break' keeps the family enthusiasm high!
We all enjoy digging treasures of all types in 'The Treasure State.'
Neroli, 8 years old in this picture, loves finding cool rocks, crystals, and other treasures. She hasn't found her own gold nugget...yet!
Raine was just 16 months old in this picture, but she has always loved to dig in the dirt like the rest of us!
Sister time, while Mom cleans up camp, and Dad looks for another nugget.
Cow neighbors with the Crazy Mountains as the backdrop.
Yellowstone River Valley, Paradise Valley, Montana
Endless variations in color in our morning and evening skies!
Montana sunsets never get old, I promise!
Our Golden Retrievers, Roscoe and Digger. Unfortunately, they do not retrieve gold nuggets. Roscoe passed away January 2023, but Digger is still with us and going strong!
Here are remnants of what looks like an old smelting stack in the area surrounding 'Highland City.' Fall 2022
One of the many 'back roads' we take with our 4 wheeler on the hunt for gold!
Tim heading out to detect on some old homesteads we have found.
Neroli (11) & Raine (4) have never known a life where we don't look for gold, so our little explorers are always down for an adventure.
Butte Reservoir - near our land. This area is just a tiny snippet of the public lands around our home base.
This is one of our favorite homesteads to visit, and on this day Neroli did a sketch of the main structure in her sketchbook.
Drawing in one of Neroli's many passions.
Raine loves seeing what snacks the 'Director of Alternate Activities' has packed for the day, and finding wildflowers to admire, photograph, or for Neroli to draw.
Arnica Montana - one of our favorites that is both beautiful and medicinal!
Exploring is Raine's preferred activity for now. The patience to detect for gold comes with age and is cultivated over time.
Exploring with Tim, aka Daddy, at our former favorite camping spot, which is now just a 4 wheeler ride away!
There are railroad tunnels near our home that we hike to that are a part of Butte/ Highland City's gold history.
My family was visiting over the 4th of July and the longest tunnel, which is over 1000 feet, still had very thick ice at one end! The tunnel felt like it was air conditioned, which was nice after hiking 3 miles to get to it (we still had to go 3 miles BACK home).
Coming up to our house, or going to the Montana City homesteads, you drive under this trestle bridge. The trestle bridge is also a hikeable distance, like the tunnels, and has its own history that we will be sharing.
Neroli has grown up hiking Montana, so now she leads the way, oftentimes, when we have visitors we are showing around.
The landscape is full of wildflowers, granite boulders, sparkly soil, and ancient trees. We are home.
Here are the crystals that I (Jessica) have found SO FAR on our property! They rest on a large Jasper (I think) chunk that came with the house, so I can't claim 'finding' it.