February 18, 2006
Panning for gold in Jamestown California
I've always thought that panning for gold would be a great way to relax on vacation. I've heard one person saying good things about Gold Prospecting Adventures (18170 Main Street, P.O. Box 1040, Jamestown, CA 95327-1040) in Jamestown, CA. This is about 2 1/2 hours north of Yosemite, three hours east of San Francisco and three hours west of Lake Tahoe. The camp is wheelchair accessible.
Jimtown is a replica of an 1849 Gold Mining Camp run by Gold Prospecting Adventures. Along with panning for gold, vacationing prospectors can explore the camp's old mine tunnel, Indian grinding holes, live animals, and Mark Twain's cabin.
Jimtown has been the site of several movies and documentaries. "Little House on the Prairie", "Pale Rider", "Bad Girls", and "Back to the Future III" are a few of the projects filmed in Jimtown.
Vacationers in Jimtown help with chores which include working the old rocker boxes, long toms and flumes. Two-day adventure packages have modern lavatories and showers. You choose to sleep in a tent, cabin, or dormitory style rooms with meals and a swimming pool. The camp provides the pans necessary to "pan" for gold and boots to keep you dry in the river. All the gold you find is yours to keep.
You might think very little gold is left but one person recently panned a nugget weighing a bit over a quarter ounce. It was the largest nugget found in a while, but smaller nuggets are not uncommon.
Posted by James Trotta at February 18, 2006 1:26 AM