Gold Rush Originals

7/2/2021Have you ever planned for gold? We've never done it before and have always been curious! Truth be told, it was a planned field trip for our son's school but the pandemic caused the school to cancel it not once but twice in a row so our son was really looking forward to panning for gold when we signed up for the field trip. We made the drive out to Gold Rush Originals after making phone reservations a few days before for availability and after checking reviews on Yelp and other sites out of course. We arrived 30 mins early, had some ice cream next door and came over 10 mins early. We had to call Mike just to make sure we were still on as the shop was closed. Mike ended up calling back after my 2nd attempt and said his partner Dave was on his way to meet us. Dave did meet us at the shop with Mike arriving shortly after. These guys are super nice, friendly and extremely social. Mike is very passionate and knows his history, geology and more importantly his gold. Mike knew we had hiked earlier in the day and since we had kids wanted to take us to a local river to pan for gold knowing the kids would have some fun in the water on this hot day. Mike suggested the kids to change into their swim clothes and he brought some boots out for them to try in case they didn't want to wear sandals or sneakers in the rocky river.The tour is $49/per person and includes rubber boots if you need them. They give each person a small vial to put any potential gold in (flakes/dust/etc) if found while panning. No guarantee of course. We ended up with some gold dust and honestly we wouldn't have known how to even look or pan if it wasn't for Mike and Dave. Mike went to an area of Rocks/Boulders and started chipping at the rocks explaining how gold can be on them and where they potentially came from. It's a good bit of gold rush history for our boys. Our kids started off strong watching Mike and panning in the water but ended up enjoying the river more than panning. Good call Mike with the river and swimming clothes which we packed not for this adventure but for the hotel swimming pool we were staying at later. We loved the Mokelumne River! It's beautiful and is a true hidden gem. We met other people that were gold panning there as well and it wasn't super crowded! We'd come back out just to enjoy this river on a hot day! If you're curious about gold panning, you should definitely try it! It's super cool to learn about the history and geology of gold. If you're lucky and come on a hot day, bring swimming clothes, water and snacks! Mike has tons of stories to share!

We had a good time with Mile Darby and his son, Jospeh. He had everything plan down to spot to go panning for gold. Then we had a bbq lunch/ dinner on the boat with all of the fixings for a king dinner, no joke. He is very knowledgeable on the area, give great instructions on what & how to pan. I was impressed with his knowledge and would definitely go again. Going with a local is your best way to go!

Mike Darby has a passion for history, geology, and fun with just enough gold fever to be contagious. Booked an all day boat gold panning tour on Mike's pontoon boat with my kids ages 12-17. They had a fantastic time, worked like dogs panning gold and found some "color" thanks to Mike. His knowledge of the local area and history, with his sidekick, old Wayne, made the day go by too quickly. I can't recommend Mike enough--we have memories that will last a lifetime and so enjoyed the lessons of the local history and current status of local gold claims and "claim jumping." Mike is also a fantastic artist among other talents as a local guide and Mark Twainesque story-teller.

Cool place I stopped in a month ago.They really know their gold!If I had more time, I would of went gold panning with this place.

"Wild Mike's Adventures"Mike and his son were great hosts. My wife and I had a great time. We stayed longer than expected and feel we got more than our moneys worth. After meeting Mike at his store and getting boots, we followed him down to his claim. After that we went down river a bit to a new spot he wanted to prospect. I really feel the one bad review on here isn't fair, yea it was a bit of an adventure but it was pretty authentic. We were turning boulders and removing roots to find hot spots. Mike never asked for us to do the heavy lifting but I was more than willing. Seeing how far we could get was all part of the fun. I can really see how someone could get gold fever, even though I knew it was slim chances of finding a nugget, the dream was there. A yellow jacket got me and my wife stepped in a hole deeper than her boot, but we were having so much of a good time we didn't care. It's outdoors, stuff happens, you can pan in a trough anywhere, this was something different and exciting. Hoping Mike goes back to continue on that "honey hole" we found (even though he hates that term) and finds a lot more! We found a picker (mike called it, small nugget) and the time flew by. Never done anything like this before but certainly would consider it again.

I took my 9 year old on a gold mining tour at Angel's Camp, and he had such a wonderful time with Mike. As wonderful a guide as Mike is, he is a delightful storyteller as well. He was kind enough to help me through the rocky water as my balance is all off now. We had such a great time, and I would recommend the tour to anyone even considering it.

Had a blast panning for gold in the creak and learning where to dig. Mike Showed us the Fine Art of panning which took a little learning to get familiar with, but once you got it down made the experience better. Ended up finding a few flakes of gold to put in our vials and take home. I would recommend this trip for anybody looking to get an experience in gold prospecting. I would not recommend this trip if you are a complainer of everything just stay home. Like the lady who did the one star review below me, what do you think is going to happen when you bring a family of complainers.

Mike is amazing! We brought our 7 year old grandson who is interested in "rocks" and he was completely engaged. He loved swinging his pick at the quartz veins, collecting his bucket of rocks and bringing it to the panning tubs, then crushing the rocks and swirling them around to look for the gold. Mike has so much knowledge of the geology and history of the area, it was an educational day also. All of us had a fabulous day, this is the best way to experience what gold mining is actually like!

Awesome fun, informative and did I mention beautiful Gold Rush day and artwork, books, and knowledge and talent Mike has! Check him out! He's the real deal! So glad we met him and saw some great places to hang out!

Mike is really good at what he does. I never had a bad experience with him and he knows how to find Gold. Then there is the fact that he knows the history of the area. This is a great business, great way to spend a day and get to know the Mother Load. Not to mention you get to take home Gold that you find yourself.