Geologists have speculated there is still 2/3 of the gold left in the mountains, hills and deserts. I've found some before sluicing and dry washing, but I have more fun hunting gems & minerals than gold these days. @derekrichardson has pull some nice nuggets out of the San Gabriel Mountains though.
As far as there being gold at the show, there were some nice specimens from John Garsow. They always have great specimens.