Taking a turn down another hallway, guests pass through a supply room that features both boating supplies (like oars and rope strands) and mining supplies (like pickaxes and lanterns). Guests even pass by a map of the Klondike River, covered in circles. Most of the circles are crossed out, with the last one given a note of MUST BE HERE. Leaving the map, guests then enter the loading area. Guests approach the pier in their assigned row, and once they’re given the okay by a Cast Member, they step forward and carefully enter the boat. Once seated, their boat heads forward and sails out of the boathouse.

Gently heading uphill, we behold the beauty of nature as birds chirp and rabbits peer among the snow-patched landscape. We also pass by a camp already set up by a group of prospectors, seated around a campfire as they sing “Up in Them Thar Hills” (an original song made for this ride). The song follows us as we pass by various scenes of prospectors in their search for gold. Some of them are stopped in spots as they search, such as a disgruntled prospector panning for gold while another peers out from a hole he’s dug in the ground. Others are continuing forward, like a prospector trying to pull their horse forward. Of course, some are already in trouble, like a prospector driven up a tree by a bear! It all makes for amusing sights, though as we turn up through another river pass, we find a prospector holding their hands up in fear. We soon see the source of the fear as we find a bandit standing atop a rock, two pistols in hand as they demand our gold claim! Two other claim jumpers glare at us as they stand by an improvised dam blocking the gentle river. We end up diverted, turning towards the river rapids path.

Our boat careens slightly downhill into the rapids, as the stormy waters shake our boat (courtesy of wave generators). Weaving in a serpentine pattern, we sail past jagged rocks and wrecked boats as we barely manage to avoid sinking. Along the river’s edges, the claim jumpers and prospectors are engaged in a fierce gunfight. The bullets fly between the prospectors and black hat-wearing claim jumpers, trying to maintain cover wherever they can. The scene is chaotic, but then a real danger arises: one claim jumper brazenly brandishing a stick of dynamite that’s already lit! Panicked claim jumpers and prospectors alike yell out to hit the deck as we careen past bursts of water (as if from explosions) before sailing straight into an opening of a rock wall, taking a drop into darkness as we hear an avalanche behind us.

Our boat eases to a gentler speed as we emerge from the darkness, finding ourselves in a cave. The mood seems ominous with pointed stalactites and stalagmites all around, but then we hear celebration. The cave walls shimmer with golden patches, as we find a prospector cheerfully brandishing gold nuggets in each hand. While he is celebrating his good fortune, we continue on and find signs of the earlier avalanche through a cracked opening in the cave wall. A massive mound of snow has poured in with three claim jumpers trapped in the snow and rock, glowering at us as we pass. Eventually, we reach the unloading area which resembles an indoor dock within a mine. Disembarking from our boats, we head for the exit hallway and emerge from a rocky structure within the canyon we had first entered.