Ok , My husband has this idea of taking our family to california to pan for gold.... Does any one know where to go that is a great family adventure and great scenery and other places to see along the way?

Knotts Berry farm you can Pan for gold.

http://www.knottsberryfarm.com/

We have done gold panning in Coarsegold (by Yosemite) and in Coloma-both beautiful places!

Several generations ago, people in my family had the same idea

I would head to the Gold Country, which is basically along Hwy 49, which runs north/south in the foothills on the western side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. There are a lot of neat old towns that date from the gold rush days, you can tour mining operations, stay in old gold rush era hotels, check out wineries along the way if you are interested in wine, go caving, hike, bike, shop - just tons of stuff. This area is really interesting and makes for a terrific family vacation, IMO.

The Columbia State Historic Park has gold panning. It's a little fabricated, but you'll get some gold dust. There's plenty of other sights to take in while there too. It's near Sonora in the foothills.

I second the recommendation for Columbia. Not only do you get gold dust, but little tiny semiprecious jewels. It's fun and the town is cute. Definitely stop at Nelson's candy store.

I vote for Calavaras County or Tuolumne County. Besides gold panning there are lots of other things to do. You can go to Big Trees State Park, you can go to the caverns, raft on the Stanislaus River, go wine tasting and Yosemite is only like 90 minutes away. The whole train experience in Jamestown is great too.

http://www.csrmf.org/railtown/

Columbia is in Tuolomne county, just a hop skip from Jamestown, in case you were wondering.