Panning for Gold in Alaska

[beaming90]

Going on HAL Oosterdam in August and the only gold panning excursions I can find are at the exact same time the only whale watching excursions are and they are in Juneau.  Anyone know of a gold panning excursion I can take in Ketchikan or Sitka?  Any recommendations would be welcome.  No negative comments on the excursion itself as it is something I REALLY want to do!!! Thanks friends.

[relmondcrsise]

I'm curious about this too.  I have grandkids who really want to pan for gold and we're looking for the best options.

[mapleleaves]

Sitka and Ketchikan aren't part of the gold mining history.

In Juneau you might look at AJ / Gastineau Mine.   http://www.ajgastineauminetour.com/

I don't have personal experience with them ..  I've only done the gold panning in Fairbanks.  It was seeded but we had great fun !

[martincath]

If those are your only ports, could you change your whalewatch? There are many indy tours as well as many ships tour departure times in Juneau so this should not be too difficult even if you are only there for the afternoon/evening - so if even if it's a day with limited gold panning excursion start times, you should be able to find an alternative whalewatch. Sunset in Juneau in August is at least 8pm, and if you're early in the month will be after 9pm, so there should be whalewatch tours running at 4/5pm throughout the month.

[arpie05]

We looked for Gold panning in Ketchikan but couldn't find anything. I think there might be a booth set up with trought you can pan in like at some places have for gem stones....  We changed our plans so we could gold pan in Juneau. Unfortunately we have two more hours in Ketchikan than Juneau. I wish it was the opposite. To me Ketichikan is a throw away port.

[donaldsc]

On 5/16/2019 at 9:32 AM, mapleleaves said:

Sitka and Ketchikan aren't part of the gold mining history.

In Juneau you might look at AJ / Gastineau Mine.   http://www.ajgastineauminetour.com/

I don't have personal experience with them ..  I've only done the gold panning in Fairbanks.  It was seeded but we had great fun !

 

We did that tour when we took our granddaughter to AK.  She enjoyed it a lot.

 

DON

[nitroused]

Skagway was a gold town, I brought a frisbee and panned in the local river, found tiny gold flakes, but the water is punishingly cold!

[beaming90]

Actually, I dug a little deeper and found out that there is an evening whale watch in Juneau and the gold panning is at 1:30 so I can do both.  I am so looking forward to both now!!!  thank you for all the help.  We are going to Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Victoria.

[arpie05]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:29 PM, nitroused said:

Skagway was a gold town, I brought a frisbee and panned in the local river, found tiny gold flakes, but the water is punishingly cold!

The itinerary we're stuck with isn't going to Skagway which I think is crazy! Skagway is much better than Ketchikan (they must give major incentives). Our NCL ship is going instead to the Icy Point. I believe NCL invested a lot of money here - and CCL has bought the White Pass railroad last year, i think  

[beaming90]

We aren't going to Skagway either...:(

[twangster]

There isn't much gold in Skagway either.  It's gold fame comes from the gold rushers heading to the Klondike VIA Skagway.  Few of them sought gold in Skagway.

 

Most people who heard the call of gold in the late 1800's and rushed to Alaska to get rich ended up losing their life savings.  Very few actually made any money out of the gold rush.

 

In that sense gold panning in SE Alaska will yield an authentic gold rush experience - spending money for little or no return just like the gold rush victims of 1898.  Many of today's gold panning excursion operators plant gold flakes.  If gold could be had simply by dipping a pan in a river the mining companies would be all over that.    

 

Do it for entertainment if you wish.  Kids love it because an active imagination can create a fantastic family memory.    

Edited June 2, 2019 by twangster

[MarilynR26]

That's great that you were able to find a way to do the whale watch and the mine - we had that problem with scheduling too the first time we went to Alaska (ended up doing the Gastineau mine the first time and the whale watch on the 2nd trip). Gave me another excuse to return to Alaska so I was cool with it LOL 🙂

 

I can't believe you guys aren't going to Skagway though - I agree that Skagway is a much better stop than Ketchikan. I'd say that's my favorite port of them all...just something about the place and it's quirky charm. Plus the White Pass railroad trip is pretty awesome, I must say. 

[beaming90]

Wish we were, but that is not the trip that the people in my group that planned it planned.  Oh well!