Search for information about the area you want to prospect. Don’t just search for places where gold was found. You should also look at the size of the gold that was found in these areas. Some places discovered only very little gold. Gold can sometimes be found with little overburden, which is dirt and rock on top of it, so that is another thing you should look at. Get topographical maps of the area and learn how to recognize landmarks on them so you know where to go looking for gold nuggets.