Gold Rush Candy Shoppe

The last stop on the Oatman ghost town tour (
) takes us to the Gold Rush Candy Shoppe. One of the first draws about this place wasn’t the idea of sweet treats, but rather, was the sign (
) on the entrance to the shop. On our visit, the temperatures were mild (for the desert), but during the summer this is going to be a prime place to go to escape the insane heat. Their motto should be: Come in for the air conditioning and stay for the dental bill!
We were warmly greeted by the staff once we entered the shop and the table with their homemade candies (
) was front and center. After getting a very enthusiastic recommendation from the staff, the better half and I picked out two bags of the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels. Laina also grabbed a Dark Pecan Caramel Turtle and a bag of Rum Balls.
After we were done with the homemade table, we moseyed into the back of the shop (
) where all the commercial candies are located. This room was stocked full of taffy, old fashion sticks and plenty of other items to satisfy your sweet tooth. With a good mix of old (bubble gum cigars) and new (M&M Light Saber dispensers) it was hard to narrow my choices. In the end, I grabbed some Boston Baked Beans, several flavors of taffy and a bag of Gold Mine Nugget Bubble Gum (which I have seen in about 35 years). Here is what the entire haul looked like:
(
)
There is also a small refrigerator near the entrance and this shop has the cheapest bottled water in town (75 cents), which makes this shop a must stop during the summer months! The staff was very friendly, helpful and pointed some of the more popular items to us. A humorous moment came with I was grabbing the second bag of sea salt caramels and subconsciously stuck the bubble gum in my front pocket. I immediately realized what I had done, pulled the bag and made a comment to the affect of «What the hell was I thinking?!» which garnered a «get a rope» reaction from the shop staff.
Rohlinism: No better business hook in the desert than cold water and air conditioning!
The candy was mostly hits with a miss or two mixed in. The biggest hit was the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels. The combination of dark chocolate, sea salt and caramel was sweet and savory perfection. The slightly bitter chocolate and sea salt balanced out the sweetness from the chewy caramel. Laina isn’t a sweet and savory person, but we agreed this was a strong contender for the best candy ever. My better half even plotted to take my last two caramels while I was unaware … for shame! Laina said the Dark Pecan Caramel Turtle was good, but not in league with the caramels. We both tried the Rum Balls and were disappointed with the overall flavor and perhaps they were a little too nutty. The Boston Baked Beans had a nice crunchy shell and the peanuts weren’t stale which means they haven’t been sitting around since the turn of the last century. As far as the taffy goes, my favorites were the watermelon, huckleberry and maple bacon. The others were kind of nondescript insomuch as I don’t even remember the flavors. I am saving my Gold Mine Nugget Bubble Gum in the hopes it will eventually turn into real gold.
I didn’t find the prices extremely overboard (I think the total was just over $ 18.00 and included a bottled water) and it brought back some good childhood memories of attempting to rot out all my teeth before I hit puberty.

Such a cute little candy shop that the kids just loved. A great selection to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth. Although the kids gravitated towards the more commercialized candies (Pez and Jolly Ranchers) hubby got these amazing little dark chocolate salted caramels. The staff was very friendly and patient with the kids. Love the charm of the small and great way to end our visit to Oatman.

My entire family loved this place, and that’s saying something! My grandmother and great-​aunt loved the old fashioned candies, my husband and I loved that we could purchase candies that we enjoyed when we were children, and we got a cute little shirt with a picture that the store owner draw himself for my son! Aside from the burros and the cowboy show, this was probably our favorite part of our visit to Oatman!

We visited the town of Oatman to check it out and see the burros. Stumbled upon this cute and colorful little candy shop filled with lots of different types of candy. Some old favorites, some homemade. Very yummy. My favorite was the homemade caramels. Very chewy and delicious. Also bought the milk chocolate seam foam, rocky road fudge, German chocolate milk chocolates (Yum!), black licorice caramels, and a few other things. The staff was very friendly. We will definitely visit again. :)