Lemhi County, ID Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Lemhi County, ID — built for the field.
Lemhi County, ID Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Lemhi County, ID — built for the field.
Lemhi County stretches along the eastern border of Idaho against Montana, framed by the Beaverhead, Lemhi, and Salmon River mountain ranges. Famed for the historic 1866 Leesburg placer gold rush and the strategic Idaho Cobalt Belt, the county encompasses extensive public domain territory managed by the BLM Salmon Field Office and the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Modern gold panners, suction dredgers, and mineral collectors explore dry washes, mountain creeks, and alpine gulches across this mineral-rich region.
Geologically, Lemhi County occupies a complex tectonic zone featuring Proterozoic Lemhi Group metasediments, Mesozoic granitic intrusions, and Tertiary volcanic structures. Hydrothermal fluids deposited gold-bearing quartz fissure veins, polymetallic copper deposits, and stratabound cobalt-copper-gold mineralization along the 34-mile Idaho Cobalt Belt. Weathering broke down hard-rock vein outcrops, concentrating heavy placer gold across expansive alluvial gravels in Wardboro, Napias Creek, Gibbonsville, and the Salmon River canyon.
For rockhounds and lapidary enthusiasts, Lemhi County offers outstanding mineral collecting. Public domain lands yield specular hematite, quartz crystals, fluorite, epidote, jasper, and agates. Successfully prospecting in Lemhi County demands accurate land boundary verification. Active unpatented placer and lode claims line major gold-bearing streams and critical mineral zones, intermingling with private ranches and wilderness areas. Utilizing a live Lemhi County mining claims map enables panners and detectorists to check current BLM MLRS records, differentiate claim boundaries, and locate open public domain land open to mineral entry.
8,140
Current / Not-Closed Lemhi County, ID Claim Records
41,942
Historical Lemhi County, ID Claims
1,000
Lemhi County, ID Rockhound Hotspots
51,082
Total Lemhi County, ID Claims & Hotspots
874
Metallic Sites
126
Non-Metallic Sites
Notable finds: Fluorite · Quartz · Opal · Gemstones · Kyanite · Jasper
| Material | Sites Recorded |
|---|---|
| Fluorite | 30 |
| Quartz | 5 |
| Opal | 4 |
| Gemstones | 2 |
| Kyanite | 1 |
| Jasper | 1 |
7,817
Lode Claims
154
Placer Claims
| Claim Type | Current Claims |
|---|---|
| Lode Claims | 7,817 (98.1%) |
| Placer Claims | 154 (1.9%) |
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Official Prospecting Resources for Lemhi County, ID
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Staked Maps isn't crowd-sourced guesswork. Current and historical claim boundaries are parsed directly from the Bureau of Land Management's Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS), which replaced the legacy LR2000 mining claim system in 2021, and kept in sync with our database on a regular schedule. Rockhound Hotspots draw from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), cross-referenced by material so you can see exactly what's been found at a given site. For legal filings, always confirm current status directly with your BLM state office of record; Staked Maps is a research and navigation tool, not a substitute for the official record.
Directly from the Bureau of Land Management's official MLRS (Mineral & Land Records System) case-recordation records, synced into our database on a regular schedule — not scraped or crowd-sourced.
Staked Maps displays the status reported by BLM. Records with a case disposition of Active are labeled Active; historical records come from BLM's closed-claims dataset. These statuses are research information, not a Staked Maps legal determination of claim validity, discovery, ownership or compliance. Verify the current record through MLRS before acting on it.
Free users can search by county. Paid plans add search by claim serial number, plus each claim's full legal (aliquot) description and BLM records link.
Staked Maps currently tracks 8,140 current federal mining claim/site records and 41,942 historical claim records from BLM MLRS, plus 1,000 Lemhi County, ID mineral-occurrence records derived from USGS MRDS.
A premium map layer of documented mineral occurrences, prospects and mines sourced from USGS MRDS and labeled by material where available. These records are research leads, not a directory of verified public collecting sites.
Yes — the live map covers all of Idaho, not just Lemhi County. Other Idaho counties with a dedicated page: Owyhee County, Custer County, Idaho County and Shoshone County.
Lemhi County Clerk & Recorder is Lemhi County, ID's primary office for filing and researching mining claims — see the Official Filing & Information Links section above for the direct link and more resources.
Regulatory and editorial content last reviewed against official records · Source: Lemhi County Clerk & Recorder · USGS MRDS
Information hosted on Staked Maps is compiled from publicly available data streams provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and relevant state geographic clearinghouses. Staked Maps accepts no liability for the content of this geospatial data, or for the consequences of any real-world exploration, land entry, or staking actions taken on the basis of the information provided via this application interface.
Staked Maps makes no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the pinpoint accuracy, reliability, completeness, latency, or programmatic utility of these geospatial data layers, or for the improper interpretation of these data grids.
These mapping layers and related graphics are visual convenience aids only; they are not legal documents and must never be used as such. The data may not be used to legally determine title, mineral ownership, valid description boundaries, jurisdictional authorities, or land restrictions in place on public or private land. Natural backcountry hazards may or may not be depicted on topographies, and land users are strictly mandated to exercise caution. Federal records are dynamic and change constantly. The end-user is exclusively responsible for validating current land classifications with local BLM field offices and managing compliance accordingly.