Document Actions
El Dorado Gold Mine (half-day)
Vendor: Alaska Riverways, Inc.
Telephone:
907-479-6673
Toll Free: 1-866-479-6673
Fax: 907-479-4613
www.eldoradogoldmine.com
info@eldoradogoldmine.com
Dates: Saturday, June 26 (afternoon); Sunday, June 27 (morning); Tuesday, June 29 (morning)
Option 1: Provide your own transportation to the dock
Times: 9:45 am – 11:45 pm for morning tour; 3:00 – 5:00 pm for afternoon tour
Price: $31.46/adults, $20.66/children 3-12, infants under 3 – FREE
Option 2: Ride shuttle bus from River’s Edge Resort
Times: 8:40 – 11:45 am for morning tour OR 1:55 pm – 5:45 pm for afternoon tour (times include transport from/to River’s Edge Resort)
Price: $36.46/adults, $25.66/children 3-12, infants under 3 – FREE (includes $5 transport fee available from/to River’s Edge Resort ONLY)
Minimum: None
Description: Join the Binkley family for a trip through Alaska's gold mining history at the El Dorado Gold Mine. A two-hour guided tour takes you through a permafrost tunnel. Enjoy a walking tour of our mining camp. Meet and talk with Alaska miners as you learn about present day placer mining methods. After a short course in gold mining, grab your own "poke" filled with pay dirt right out of a sluice box and try your hand at panning for gold. Everyone finds gold at this adventure into the gold fields of the Interior!
Your 2-hour adventure begins with a ride on a replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad near some of the original rail routes. You'll enjoy a short narrated journey to the mine, learning about mining from actual working hands at sites along the way. The original Tanana Valley Railroad served over two dozen gold camps scattered throughout Interior Alaska in the early 1900s. Supplies arrived in Alaska on vessels that traveled from Seattle to the mouth of the Yukon River. Freight was then transferred to sternwheelers, which hauled it up the Yukon and Tanana Rivers to Interior Alaska. From there the Tanana Valley Railroad carried supplies to the gold camps.
You'll ride a replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad through the original gold fields of Interior Alaska. Your journey takes you through a permafrost tunnel where a miner with a head lamp and pick-axe gives a thorough explanation of underground mining in days gone by. While inside the tunnel, you'll see the kinds of rock formations and mineral veins and that tend to produce the most gold. You'll also have the opportunity to view prehistoric bones up to 30,000 years old.
You'll see how gold is recovered using modern day techniques
typical of family operations in Interior Alaska – how to work a sluice box (the
slanting wooden box that miners use to shovel dirt into) and then wash with
water. The riffles on the bottom catch the gold concentrate, and after that, Alaskan
miners will show you how to pan the concentrate for gold. You'll receive your
own poke filled with pay dirt right from the sluice box. Comfortable benches
and warm water make this an easy and enjoyable experience.