Panning for Gold - Juneau & Ketchikan

[mgmcpa]

Our daughter would like to pan for gold while in either of these ports (Skagway we are booked up solid with other adventures already).

Does anyone know if there are places to do the basic experience in the downtown, or do we really have to book a tour to get to do this? I'm guessing there are likely some little touristy places to do this on the street in one of these towns ... anyone see anything like that?

Would like to not spend a fortune on this ... she's likely to get bored with it after 10 minutes.

Thanks!

 

[mgmcpa]

bump

 

[Deb in IA]

I've heard that the excursions actually sprinkle some gold flakes for panning, so you would have better luck with that.

I don't think there is any real gold anymore if you went on your own.

 

[stsomewhere]

We went last year. My kids had a blast panning for gold.
We booked a private tour with
http://www.juneaulimo.com/Pages/default.aspx

Judy, the driver, picked us up at the ship, She took us on a driving tour of the town, told us about the sights and buildings,

panning for gold - a different location than regular tours

Menenhall glacier- we hiked to the glacier, she told us the best places to see bears, eagles, etc. ( We saw about 25 bear.)

She took us to some scenic photo stops

Then, more panning for gold sine the kids enjoyed it so much. She dropped us off at the ship.

She had candy and drinks in the limo for us to enjoy. We rented it for 4 hours.
We had an amazing time. We thought it was very affordable. Probably the best day of our cruise.

ETA: I did not see any panning in the towns.

 

[Orsino]

Would like to not spend a fortune on this ... she's likely to get bored with it after 10 minutes.

Thanks!

Last year I did an excursion in Girdwood (pre-cruise) that had a bit of gold panning on the side. The main event was canyoneering. I would agree that there is a strong possibility that she will get bored quickly. They do seed your pan so you can actually see how panning for gold works, but after that, I found the idea of panning for likely nothing to be too boring to even attempt. The planted panning was enough for me (and kinda cool). The attack of the mosquitos also made additional panning much less compelling.

One thing that works in favor of additional panning is that many people are not good at panning their seeded flakes and lose a flake or two while panning their seeded dirt. Others panning in the area from the stream might get lucky an pick up someone else's flake. Other than that, you are panning dirt and rocks.

Hopefully you can find an excursion that includes panning as a side attraction.

Looks like someone's got you covered.

 

[stsomewhere]

I wanted to add that we panned in a stream. We were finding gold flakes. Don't know if they were real or more likely fools gold. My son and I had rainboots on, so we could wade into the stream. My DD and DH just stayed on the shore, Judy gave us a little glass bottle to keep them in.

My son (13) and Dh had gold fever. I think that they could of panned all day. My DD (10) enjoyed it a lot ,too.

We were the only people at the stream.

We rented the black limo. The kids knew we were during a private tour but did not know what we had planned. The look on their faces when they realized the limo was for us was priceless.

 

[Orsino]

Don't know if they were real or more likely fools gold.

Fool's gold has a lower density than real gold. The difference is significant. If you used the panning method, that relies heavily on the high density of gold to work (the gold sits at the bottom while dirt and rocks move with the water). You could measure the density of your find to confirm; might be a nice little and safe science experiment for the kids.

If I were at a stream were finding gold flakes was a higher probability, then I can see the appeal. Realistically, that isn't likely to happen. Gold is crazy expensive. Those flakes are worth a couple of dollars each.

 

[stsomewhere]

Fool's gold has a lower density than real gold. The difference is significant. If you used the panning method, that relies heavily on the high density of gold to work (the gold sits at the bottom while dirt and rocks move with the water). You could measure the density of your find to confirm; might be a nice little and safe science experiment for the kids.

If I were at a stream were finding gold flakes was a higher probability, then I can see the appeal. Realistically, that isn't likely to happen. Gold is crazy expensive. Those flakes are worth a couple of dollars each.

They kids just had a good time finding gold colored rocks and chips......We knew it wasn't real.

 

[mgmcpa]

So ... sounds like no little cheapy fake pan-for-gold along side a gift shop in town ... bummer

 

[staxia]

We did not do gold panning in Juneau, however, we ended up at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake as part of our whale watching excursion. Some of the gold panning excursions include eating there as well, and then that's where many people get on a shuttle back to the ship.

Our driver back to the ship also ran some of the gold panning... he made it sound like there's still gold to be found.. but what do I really know? He said it's fun to pan and kids love it. The company that Disney worked with for a good portion of the excursions and that does the Salmon Bake is Alaska Travel Adventures. Their website is http://www.bestofalaskatravel.com/alaska_day_tours/pages/j_best_of_juneau.htm for Juneau. It doesn't look like they offer gold panning in Ketchikan.

The prices are listed.. I don't know what your budget looks like. If you go with them you can go with or without lunch.. I'd assume these are the same things that are offered through the ship as well.. but prices may vary..

Google can be your friend on this one.. see what else is out there, especially if you've got a budget in mind. The cruise critic board might have folks more familiar with the area as well. I found over there some locals for various Alaskan ports that were quite helpful, too.. I'm not sure what it'd be like to get from the port elsewhere, however, this port seemed really industrial... but.. what do I know, really?! lol..

 

[mgmcpa]

FYI - if this is important to you, you must find in within another tour. We never saw it as a stand alone thing in any of the 3 towns.

DD wasn't sad, she had too much fun with the lumberjack show, dog sled riding, and the tram to notice!