Gold Canyon on the Middle Fork of the Yuba River, south of Alleghany in northern California, has been worked for gold since the early 1850s, with placer and hard-rock mining continuing into modern times. Major operations included the German Bar, Gold Canõn, Independent, and Plumbago mines. In 1859, after Chinese miners reportedly made a large strike there, the area became the first to ban Chinese miners, a policy later echoed elsewhere and connected to the U.S. Mining Act of 1866. The canyon also preserves evidence of its industrial past, including the former Plumbago power system, surviving cabins built from its dismantled penstock, and dredging piles along the river.