Matelot Gulch Mining Company is located in Columbia State Historic Park. It is a family-friendly, educational, and entertaining place for kids and adults to try their hand at panning for gold. The staff is professional, courteous, super friendly, patient, and very knowledgeable, providing wonderful panning lessons. There is guaranteed gold in the demonstration, and guests can find gold flakes, garnets, little crystals, and neat rocks. The experience is really fun and not all that expensive, with educational packages available for schools. The shop sells antiques from the 1850s, genuine gold nuggets, jewelry, and other great, unique souvenirs. It is a neat store in a realistic vintage mining town, and visitors should expect to stay for about an hour or more. Winter hours depend on the weather.
