|
When Joe Juneau and Richard Harris came to this area some 100 years ago hunting for gold, they didn’t know what, if anything, they would find. When you retrace their steps today, however, you’re guaranteed to turn up some of the shiny stuff—as well as have a lot of fun poking around this historic site.
During the roughly 1 ½-hour Historic Gold Mining & Panning Adventure tour, you’ll be escorted by a costumed, prospector guide from either your downtown hotel or Juneau’s dock, and driven to Gold Creek by way of the State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion. Once you reach the creek in Last Chance Basin, you’ll get a good view of the Alaska-Juneau Mine, once one of world’s largest hard-rock mines. You’ll learn about the many prospectors who came here in search of gold, and get some hands-on pointers on how to shake and maneuver your pan in the creek to get the best glittering harvest. Since the tour operator has sole access to the area, you’ll get the area to yourself.
Before you’re taken back to the dock or downtown, you’ll also get, just for fun, a certificate entitling you to a full square inch of the land there. (Hey, it’s more than some prospectors got way back when.)
|
top