A high adventure living history field trip with rafting
3 adventures, 6 meals, 2 nights
Ideal for classes looking for a longer trip and more adventure. We start with our beloved two night Double Jack, then we finish it off with a day of whitewater rafting. There are two options to choose from; Class III whitewater rafting or an educational Class II float. The Double Jack with Class III rafting is $289 per per person and ideal for 6th grade and up. The Double Jack with Float add on is $246 per person and is for ages 7&up. Note: In some years that water flows on the river are not always ideal for rafting with students in the Spring, so we might switch to outdoor Rock Climbing and refund you the difference in price.
Two nights gives us the time needed to experience even more of the hands on experiential learning activities that teachers have come to expect from our 49er Fun program, while adding in a little more time to rest, play, and grow in our Christian faith.
We meet each other at Gold Bug Park & Mine in Placerville California where you’ll meet our living history guides who will start to transport you back to 1854, just after the height of the California gold rush. While we are there we will explore some restored gold mines as we learn about mining, play some games, and get a feel for the lay of the land.
Next we’ll stop of at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. While we are there we will see the location where James Marshall first pulled gold out of the river back on January 24th, 1848, examine a replica of Sutter’s Mill, see mining equipment from the era, and take a few minutes in the surrounding hills for a short quiet time alone with God.
Then it’s on to our claim on the side of the South Fork of the American River (just a few miles downstream of Coloma), where you’ll set up your shelters for the night before setting in for a great dinner. After dinner an old time band will join us for a time of dancing and singing, followed by a time of worship and learning as one of your guides shares a devotional story with you about their experiences in the gold rush and how they have grown as a Christian and drawn closer to God.
After a great breakfast we’ll get our hands dirty for a full day of experiencing what it was like to live in the California Gold Rush as we go gold panning right out of the American River, make rope and bead necklaces, learn how the Maidu Indians lived off the land, make candles, play some old fashioned outdoor games, make (and eat) tortillas and butter in the kitchen, make a leather gold pouch, and so many more things that this run on sentence could get ridiculously long. Somewhere in the middle of it all we’ll take a short quiet time devotional hike, and give you a little free time to play and laugh with your students.
For the second night of campfire, it’s a more old fashioned campfire as you might have experienced traveling over on the wagon train, with everyone contributing a little here and there. Our staff has plenty of skits, songs, and stories to keep the campfire going, but you’ll find it an even more meaningful of an experience if your kids or parents come ready to share a 1 to 5 minute skit, song, poem, story, or some other display of talent. We should have a little time during the second day for last minute preparations (and we’ll have a few ideas ready to offer if you need them).
The 3rd morning we’ll wave goodbye to the Double Jackers we might have been playing with and prepare for modern adventure going whitewater river rafting. After rafting we’ll pack up our shelters, have a light snack, and be on the road heading home.
- You can add dinner, campfire, and camping to your trip. Departing the following morning at 8 AM with breakfast on the road for just $35/person.
- T-shirts can be ordered for the whole group at $20/person.
- You can lead campfire and other teaching opportunities yourself, combine your teaching efforts with those of our staff, or just ask us to handle it all for you – at no additional charge.
- There are no additional taxes, fees, or other hidden costs.
Amanda Pabustan –
Our 7th graders loved Junior and actually learned a lot about the Gold Rush days. Getting to go inside the mines, make candles, eat cowboy lettuce, play bocce, pan for gold, make rope, fashion a necklace out of seeds, take short nature hikes and create a pouch out of leather made the time pass so quickly. But wait, there’s more… An AWESOME ho-down complete with square dancing and laughs aplenty. The kitchen put out super yummy food and I think this is the first time I’ve seen kids have fun while cleaning dishes! Our whitewater rafting trip was so exhilarating. Our captains let some brave souls jump out of the raft and ride some of the smaller rapids and managed to keep most of us in the raft during the bigger ones. The rafting guides and safety crew were professional and fun– not to mention hard working. When the wind kicked up to the point of creating rapids where there weren’t any and pushing us back up the river our captains jumped out and manually towed us along the rocky bank like billy goats until we could safely exit the river. Campfire time struck just the right balance of reverence and revelry with worship songs and funny skits. The super swing was a big hit too!
Eric Robbins –
Great people serving with creativity and love.
Elijah Avila –
It was an amazing experience
Hector Salcedo –
First of I want to thank the Lord for this place it was the best experience we’ve had my son and I. Overall it was the best camp loved it. I will come back to visit thank you for the best time ever!!!
Erin Colago –
What an awesome experience! From beginning to end my class and I felt this was a well-executed trip! The academic content was rich and fun for my students and the guides were incredible and fun for the kids as well! We loved learning about the gold rush while experiencing the daily trials and fun from the era as well! Highly recommend this trip!