Kyle, I have been to Colorado a few times and have some favorite spots. Two places that I have had success are the Cache Creek BLM Public mining area between Leadville & Buena Vista and the GPAA claims along the Arkansas River just North of Buena Vista. Both areas are pans, sluicing and metal detecting only, only hand tools. The gold I've found is fine to small flakes. The best time to hit the river is outside the summer tourist season, when the river is kept high by lake discharge for the kayak & rafting businesses. This stops around mid Aug and the river drops considerably and you have access to the lower gold bearing gravel/sand.
The Cache Creek area is a large area set aside for public gold panning/sluicing. You have to hunt around to find a spot amongst the numerous tailing piles and there is a small stream where you can set your sluice up. Water flow can vary during the summer months. I've talked to many other prospectors at Cache Creek that have come from all over Colorado. They have said, that it's about the best there is as far as public areas to prospect. I guess that's why I return there.
There are numerous camping areas (private, state, boodocking sites) near both of these locations. Hope this helps and good luck.