Treasure Hunting Travel: Gold Mining Edition
6/17/2008 at 10:30 AM
Tags: Treasure Hunting, Outdoor Travel, California Travel, Active Travel (all tags)
With the price of gold at an all-time high, it's no wonder it costs $500 a week to camp in a tent at Roaring Camp Mining Co. in the Mokelumne River Canyon southeast of Sacramento.
One you've got your site and you purchase an inexpensive gold mining pan from the general store, your hard work could pay for the site and then some if you strike it rich in the river. Included in the steep price of camping is an instructional gold mining course for beginners. If you own your own dredging machine, you're alloted a stretch of river in which to harvest some materials for DIY grillz.
This is a family operation, so every Saturday night they host a big camp barbecue that includes a New York Strip steak and the camp's famous fried bread.
We know this part of the state well, and it's definitely backwoods. While this was a popular spot for 49ers, it was so inaccessible that there's still lots of gold--or so says the mining company. There's only one way to find out, but we're not going to be the first to report back on this one.
Gold mining has been very popular with the well-heeled San Francisco finance set, kind of the same way trust fund hipsters drink PBR and live in abandoned warehouses. So bring your banjo, your hopes and your dreams and maybe you'll head home with more than an empty bottle of Goldschlager and wet legs to show for it.
Related Stories:
· Roaring Camp Mining Co. [Official Site]
· California Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Outdoor Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of Roaring Camp's locomotive: Vicki & Chuck Rogers]
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