Do you have any gold panning?

Skagway became Alaska’s first city for one reason – gold. The funny thing about this is that there isn’t actually any gold in Skagway. You can gold pan in the Skagway River until you’re blue in the face and you aren’t going to find one tiny speck of gold unless somebody dropped it in there by accident. For this reason, gold panning is more of a novelty in Skagway.

Few experiences in life offer the raw thrills of panning for gold.

But do you have any gold panning?

Yes. We sell multiple tours that include gold panning, but it’s more of a learning experience than anything else. You will learn the art of dipping a pan in water and swirling it around until all that’s left is whatever gold was hidden in your pile of dirt. If it sounds exciting, that’s because it is!

Just try and avoid coming down with gold fever!

When you first try gold panning, an entire world of endless discovery is revealed. It’s like you were living in a closet your entire life and now understand the endless intricacies of the universe. There, at the bottom of your pan, are sparkling flakes of pure gold. They call to you, “Find our friends, melt us down, and make yourself a pretty necklace!” When you hear that siren’s call, you must have more gold!

So, some guys found some gold… Why the rush?

It was only about 120 years ago when a few men in the Klondike found some gold. A ton of it. That’s a lot. In fact, it’s almost as much as Mr. T wears around his neck.

Now think about this – When they found this gold and shipped it back to Seattle, the newspapers ran with the headline, “GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!” Despite this headline’s subtlety, people all over the country suddenly were inflicted with gold fever. 100,000 of them decided to drop what they doing and head north to the Klondike. It was a veritable stampede! And that’s why they call them Stampeders.

Sadly, only about 40,000 of the Stampeders made it to the Yukon because getting there really sucked. Few actually found any gold because gold panning is hard. Not only do you have to find where the gold is, but then you have to bend over a stream all day swirling a pan around over and over and over again. Not fun. Fortunately, in Skagway you can spend a few dollars and do your gold panning in climate controlled water without ever bending over.

Is there a cure for gold fever?

The best cure for gold fever is gold panning. A sore back and numb hands were enough to send most stampeders back the way they came. If you want to cure gold fever, the worst thing you can do is find gold. Finding even a tiny speck of gold will make you want more. You’ll start dreaming of owning a yacht and sipping on champagne with celebrities like Winona Ryder and Jay-Z.

In this way, gold panning is a lot like playing the Lotto, and the end result is just about the same.

And you thought it was busy in Skagway on a four cruise ship day!

Imagine what it was like in Skagway with 100,000 smelly miners wandering around. Not cool. Even if you’re visiting the town on a busy day, there are only about 11,000 tourists milling about. Plus, you don’t have to travel 500 miles to reach the gold. Simply walk in the tour booth, book a gold panning tour, and make all of your wildest dreams come true.