Time of our lives! It's a reasonable drive from almost every major city in Central CA. Family owned, and ran like a well oiled machine, it's well worth the trip. Everyone you'll speak with is very personable. We took the Saturday evening tour which includes a dinner. A scenic drive, with many switchbacks, gives you a stunning view of the valley and riverbank at sunset. During this drive, there will be historic insights provided by the driver until you make it down to base-camp. While dinner is on the grill, you'll be given a personal tour around the active mining area, cabins and general store. You'll have several choices of how you spend your time before dinner, and there is no wrong answer. I won't give away too many details, as everything is apart of the magic but we plan on coming back again either for their day tour or camping trip! read more

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We absolutely loved everything about Roaring Camp Gold! The setting is beautiful, the activities are fun and unique, and the staff makes you feel right at home. We brought our 10-year-old daughter and she had the best time--gold panning, tubing the river, exploring, and soaking up the adventure. It's such a rare find to have something both adults and kids can enjoy equally. We can't wait to come back next year! The camp site is so intimate you can go all day without seeing another person. It feels like your own personal oasis. read more

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We did this tour at least 6 years ago and I thought it was worth doing a review about it. Husband and I signed up for the early evening tour including riding an open air truck down into a river canyon with an entertaining history lesson of the mining operation of years past. Arriving in river canyon floor we were instructed on panning from dirt that was provided. It was entertaining to give it a try as the aromatic bbq was cooking nearby, with the relaxing sound of the nearby river. Once we were done with our attempt to strike it rich the meal was ready to feed the hungry diners. We were all seated at large picnic tables and provided with a hearty meal. Some of the other diners were staying at small cabins on valley floor and panning for gold each day for a week. This was a different adventure provided by the company. During dinner and afterwards there was a small stage with music and a singer performing country western music. After dark we headed back up the steep winding room up the hill. A perfect ending for a fun day. Their services are seasonal, May through September. read more

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Travel back into history with vacation or day trip to Roaring Camp Mining Company. Not only is there a historical element to this place but it still is a functioning mine which gives you the opportunity to mine and possibly leave with GOLD of your own. The fishing, hiking, and fun atmosphere is so relaxing. Float the river if you'd rather just relax, or sit in the shade down by the river. And the star gazing is epic! The Saturday night barbecue was amazing, and the live music did not disappoint! The family that owns it is so helpful, and will answer your questions, even silly ones (trust me I know.) This is my new must do yearly spot to go for our family vacation! read more

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Just went here on Thursday, was excited to go gold mining with my kids and wife. Was supposed to be from 10-4pm Spent $40 per adult for a day trip. They did not however mention that we had to drive to a different site at 10 then go on a truck and ride down on their truck to the gold site. Totaling the time was about 1.15-1.30 hours. Then they give us a "tour" of cabins and a small mine site for another 30 min. So already wasted 2 hours on a drive and tour. After you do get hungry so we ate and finished around 12:45. By the time we started to mine it was about 12:50. Which gave us Around 3 hours and 30ish min to try to mine and enjoy the river because you have to drive back up at 3:30 so they can get you out by 4pm. Honestly the day trip needs to be improved. Maybe leave at 9am so we can actually get down by 10 and skip the cabin tours. We spent $40 per person to go only to enjoy 3 hours of it. Felt like a waste of money honestly. You could go somewhere else and mine for cheaper and actually enjoy the full day. But by the time 1pm hit, it was almost 95 out and hot. To my family and I at the end it did seem like a waste of money for the day trip. I would recommend on going for a few days to actually enjoy everything they have. The Tour guide however was amazing and has a lot of knowledge and very friendly. Would not have chosen another one. *Caution* If you have back problem's do NOT do this trip. The road back up was so bumpy that everyone on the truck bounced out of our chairs several times and man my back is sore. But it was fun if you enjoy bumpy rides. read more

We just left this morning! It was amazing! This is my third time staying at the camp. First it's a family run business, which means they are vested in your stay. The whole family was welcoming, and you can tell that they love what they do. My first two times were as a kid 30 years ago, so I can't rate those times. However this trip we brought our daughter and came with our extended family of 12 total. This place is perfect to get your teens and kids off the screens, because there is no service, no cell service, no wifi. Enjoy it! I loved being away from the constant barrage of the news media cycles, and water cooler chatter. Our kids dug for gold, and found some! Also napped, read, played corn hole, horse shoes, saw all the animals that live there, took hikes and went in the river some. The river was uncharacteristically high for this time of year because of the long rainy and snow season. So swimming in the swimming hole was not possibly because the water current was too strong. We brought all of our own cooking supplies and needs and honestly probably too much food lol, but it was great to reconnect with our family and my parents. Meals became a group effort and let us all spend more time together after our different daily adventures or naps. The last night dinner is amazing, and the fry bread is nothing to be skipped, bring your favorite preserve to spread on it and savor it! This is not a trip if you can't handle dirt or being unplugged from the world. The showers are awesome and the bathrooms have electricity, not every cabin has electricity, but it harkens back to the days of the 49ers and makes the campfires a nightly event that gathers everyone around to s'mores or jiffy pop cook offs. Then you can retire back to your cabin and are lulled to sleep by the comforting white noise of the river. read more

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My family had a fun day at Roaring Camp. The staff was very professional, informative and friendly. The cafe food was delicious. The river area had life jackets and floats to enjoy free. The switchback road down to camp and back up is bumpy but just hold on and listen to the driver's interesting stories and history about the area. Recommended for all ages!! read more

Great vacation spot. We have been spending time here for the last 16 years. Our adult sons still go with us.

I am in debate about the place because we went during COVID-19 (COVID concerns at end of review) and have some mixed reviews. Let me start with the Positives: +The staff was very helpful in preparing for this trip, we called several times to check in about mask wearing social distancing, food etc. +The views down the mountain were spectacular. +The river and swimming hole were beautiful and a great place to spend some time. +Learning how to pan for gold and panning and finding some gold was a fun experience. +There was a small variety of food to choose from and was able to accommodate for gluten free (we brought our own bread for burgers). +Fun to try fresh spring water and blackberry picking on tour. +If you enjoy history, you will get some good information about this place. Much better than a history book. +Was able to see how they are a working mine and get their gold with their machines. +Were told that food was at a to-go only and no one was to stay inside to eat. Masks were mandatory to walk around inside. +All day trip people wore masks. Now for the Could Have Been Better's- -The description of the day tour is a bit deceiving. While it states 10 am to 4 pm ALL DAY ADVENTURE, there are many things that happen during this time that are not mentioned. Here is how the day tour went... 10:00 Check In 10:10ish Panning Demo 10:30 Load into car and caravan to lower parking lot 10:45 Load into Open Air truck 10:50ish Head down the hill Several short stopping points to show history of trail and camp One 10 minute stop to try spring water, pick berries, lookout view 11:30ish Landed in camp, went to order lunch, bathroom break 11:45ish Walking tour around grounds 12:05ish Break for lunch, swim, panning if you know what you are doing 12:30 Panning Demo 3:30 Load back into truck and head uphill to cars 4:00ish Done for the day -We have 2 kiddos on the Autism Spectrum and we had our mother with us... Knowing the above information would have been so helpful to know as we have to prepare them for the day and we were under the impression by the description that we would be at the water for most of the day. -We felt that we had to order lunch once we arrived as though the kitchen would not be open after the walking tour to order food, ($100 for 5 people) -The $40 per person fee ONLY covers drive down the hill panning, demo, use of panning tray and "day dirt" to pan. For $40 a person could they not include a vial per person to hold our gold? -The walking tour, which the guide made seem mandatory, was just a sales pitch on their campsites and was not pertinent to gold mining or even the old tools that were all over the camp, think "time share spiels". -Be prepared to work hard to get a few gold flakes and maybe teeny nuggets. It is fun, but when you get less than 3 hours to do it, you may not get more than a few flakes. -Very bumpy truck ride and was only secured in by a loose chain, keep kids and elderly near front of truck. -Explanation that you can gold mining outside of the demo space tent was not explained well. The guide never informed us they have buckets you can put the "day dirt" in and head down to river to pan there, you don't have to stay under the demo tent to pan. COVID-19 Issues: Due to Masks being required, here is our experience: We were told multiple times (because we called a few times to double check) that all staff were wearing masks, everyone had their temperature checked upon check in, that social distancing was being practiced (down at camp there was no guarantee that campers would be wearing masks outside but they should be mindful of social distancing). +Office workers put masks on when we entered the building. -Main tour guide never wore mask, did not maintain any kind of distance, snuffed us off when we told him were were distancing. Demos were of close proximity and it made us uncomfortable trying to learn the techniques when he was not wearing a mask and being so close (both at beginning demo and down at camp demo). -At the restaurant/museum no one was wearing mask when we entered the first time. Several people sitting at tables- no masks. Worker put mask on after we made the comment of no one wearing them, worker even commented "yes mom". -Picking up food there were several more people there, no one wearing masks, not social distancing. As we reminded our kid to social distance, there was a kid who did not know what social distance was, and a man at the counter with no mask COUGHING and no one said a thing to him. -While much of this adventure is outside, there are many parts where you are closer than 6 feet to others and the guide is within a foot or two to help with learning how to see what gold is and isn't, he is not wearing mask. read more

Such a fun evening activity that's family friendly, very sweet family owned business!

What can I say, we finally got a chance to go to Roaring Camp for dinner with friends and it was great! Totally what up country in Amador County is all about. Fun night with great hosts. read more

We went on the guided tour on Sunday. Had fantastic time. It was very well organized and worth every penny. Very thoughtful stuff treat you as family. Fantastic swim in the deep river even for teens who are afraid of water.... Got some gold for the first time! For rock collectors - sparkly shale with a lot of mica was everywhere (you are allowed to collect rocks). My 12 and 14 years old loved it and at this age they are difficult to please... Definitely coming back. read more

Went to the Saturday night cook out. It was fantastic. Great bunch of people. Then on Sunday we did the all day tour. Definitely well worth it. Again. Best staff. Mike, the tour guide is great. And he always finds gold while panning. You will learn a lot from him. Thanks Roaring Camp. read more

This was our second time down to Roaring Camp and it was once again, 5 hours of good, quality family time panning for gold, walking the grounds, swimming in the river, and enjoying the warm but cool weather! Kim prepared a great hotdog, hamburger, fries, and salad lunch while we enjoyed a little break in the lodge! Thanks Mike, Ricky, and the rest of the family! Roaring Camp is now a tradition for us every time we revisit the Amador County area! read more

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I have stayed at Roaring camp on four different occasions and have nothing but praise for the camp and especially the folks that operate it. Kim, Mike, Rick and Tammy all bend over backwards to make your stay as rewarding as possible. They treat you like family. They have everyday events that you can participate and two you can win gold. Let's not forget the fantastic saturday night steak dinner. All in all, this is a great place to visit as is proven by folks that have stayed at the camp numerous times. Do yourself and family a favorite and book a stay. Fred R read more

In today's day and age it's hard to find a place where they really care and every staff member knows their job. Ideal setting clean and availabe bath facilities and reasonable prices for thoes things you forgot. We will be back read more

We have been coming here for 6 years and love it!!!! By the end of the week everyone becomes a big family!!!! Thank you mike for all the help and I love Tammy , Kim and Tiffany . This is an amazing place read more

The people are phenomenal! What a great team! They treat you like family and work hard to ensure everyone is having a pleasant stay. We did the one week stay and bought a dirt pile to work. Such a great experience! Hoping we can talk the whole family into going next year. I would have given them 5 stars but the mattresses are old and very uncomfortable. Definitely bring a mattress topper or eggcrate foam or something. read more

For starters I wish I could give less than one star because this is the worst customer service story I have ever experienced and I have traveled the world. I recently moved to the area and was getting some drywall done on my house so I decided to stay in a hotel. I picked this place just on a whim because I saw it when I was driving past. When I first went in everybody was very pleasant, They were animal friendly which I did have my dog and the rooms were nice. There was lots of parties going on but it was Father's Day and it didn't bother me. The next morning I left. Two days later I went back because they're doing paint on my house. The office was closed so I waited a couple of minutes to see if I possibly saw somebody when a blonde heavy set woman looks to be in her 60's pulled up in a Chevrolet suburban. While talking on her phone she pointed at me and said that I need to get the hell out of here! I said to her "excuse me? "She said that my dog destroyed her room. When I asked her how was that. She told me that it ripped up the shower curtain. I told her that I was unaware of that and that I would be happy to pay her for the damages she told me "no and get the fuck out." I explained to her that if I knew there was damages and was trying to hide from it I wouldn't be coming back. Now I am back because I had a pleasant experience and I would be happy to pay for the damages which I was unaware of. She told me no that she wouldn't take my money and that I needed to get the hell out. I think that she had me mixed up with somebody else. I'm new to the area I don't know anybody here and I was going to give this place a great review but by far this is the worst place I've ever stayed at when it comes to customer service. I will never recommend this place and anybody that ever says they are thinking about staying here I will try my hardest to stop them. Nobody deserves to be treated that way. I was even willing to look past the earwigs in the bathtub and the cobwebs in the bathroom. Congratulations on losing a ton of business due to an alleged damaged two dollar shower curtain! read more

We went to Roaring Camp for the "Locals night" dinner and brought my parents along. This far exceeded our expectations. Who would have known that such a phenomenal gem was in our own backyard!! We had live music, fun tour and a HUGE plate of food (to include a steak), and wonderful people all around! We will be doing this again next summer as well as bringing family and friends for the camping you can do! WOW is all I can say... you all nailed it Roaring Camp, thank you read more

What a FUN time we had last night at Roaring Camp's Saturday night BBQ steak dinner! The food was great! The people were so nice! It was our first time going but this is on our list to do again. We got a tour of the property and a lesson in gold panning and anything we found was ours to keep. We had an enjoyable truck ride down to the river with people we didn't know and sat with them during dinner and we had live music played all evening. What a really fun way to spend a Saturday night! read more

Fantastic place and fabulous people. Went there on a day trip to try panning for gold. Will definitely come back another time, maybe to stay for a week. read more