To feel just once in a lifetime like in former times at the Klondike and pan gold is possible in Rauris, where gold is mined since thousands of years. It was the highest gold mine in the world and 10 % of all the gold worldwide came from Rauris. Mining would not be cost effective any more. But there is still gold to find and you can try panning for gold as a hobby.
So we had to try that ourselves…
We parked our car at Gasthof Bodenhaus with costs and walked some minutes to the idyllic gold panning place.
Equipment like shovel and pan is included in the entrance fee and were given to us. In case that you did not bring your wellingtons you can borrow them as well. They even had Achim's size.
With that we were ready to start. The three steps of panning for gold were quickly explained and shown to us but then it was up to me. You need a lot of patience and practice. But right at the training ground we found gold. Of course I had to ask again how to do it right but soon I was rewarded with some itsy-bitsy smithereens of gold and could store them in a small test tube filled with water. A very nice souvenir. Self panned gold!
In the summer time it is a refreshing thing. The water in the river hast about 6 – 7 °C. I mean this is f****ing cold. And you stand all the time in the water. And it is also a quite wet affair. I could not do this for a living…
There is a water playground for the children as well so that everybody has fun.
One more piece of information: You may keep up to 2 kilograms of gold for free.
