Gold panning in Alaska
Where to pan for gold in Alaska, the official public panning areas, and the rules for each kind of land. Our map of Alaska draws on 8,664 gold records: old mines, prospects, placer claims and lab-tested stream samples.
Official public panning areas in Alaska
These places are set aside or managed for recreational panning, from the managing agency's own pages. Rules change: check the source before you go.
Bertha Creek panning area
What's allowed: Gold pans and hand-fed sluice boxes year-round in the active channel or unvegetated gravel bars; no digging in banks, no hydraulic or earth-moving equipment; suction dredges 4 in or smaller only May 15-July 15 with ADF&G and ADEC permits.
Season: Pans and hand-fed sluices year-round; dredges May 15-July 15
Fee: Free to pan; ADEC dredge permit $25/yr (ADF&G permit free)
Caribou Creek Recreational Mining Area
What's allowed: Gold pans and hand shovels year-round inside the active floodplain of the designated area; sluices, rockers, high-bankers and dredges only May 15-July 15 with a free ADF&G permit; no claims allowed.
Season: Pans/shovels year-round; other equipment May 15-July 15
Fee: Free (ADF&G permit free)
Crescent Creek panning area
What's allowed: Recreational panning from the Quartz Creek Road bridge down to the Quartz Creek junction; dredging only May 15-July 15 with a free ADF&G permit; active claims above the bridge and on the south side are off limits.
Season: Dredges May 15-July 15 (king salmon)
Dalton Highway open panning segments (Coldfoot-Wiseman area)
What's allowed: Metal detectors, gold pans and hand-fed rocker boxes or sluices on the listed creek segments; no motorized equipment; recreational suction dredging prohibited in most of the Inner Corridor; pipeline right-of-way closed.
Season: Summer
Fee: Free
Hatcher Pass Public Use Area (Little Susitna River)
What's allowed: Recreational panning with a hand pick, shovel and pan anywhere in the public use area except active claims; suction dredge (6 in nozzle, 18 hp) needs an ADF&G permit; other equipment needs DNR permits.
Nome Creek Valley gold panning area
What's allowed: Hand tools and light equipment only (pans, rocker boxes, sluice boxes, picks, shovels); no motorized equipment; no active mining claims in the NRA.
Season: Summer (campgrounds maintained about June to mid-September)
Fee: Free (campground fees separate)
Petersville Recreational Mining Area
What's allowed: Panning, pick and shovel and other light portable hand equipment need no permit; suction dredges (6 in or less, 18 hp or less) and pumps need ADF&G and ADEC permits; no new claims.
Season: Dredging May 15-July 15; road closed to through traffic in winter
Fee: Free to pan; ADEC dredge permit fee varies
Resurrection Creek panning area
What's allowed: Gold pans and hand-fed sluice boxes year-round in the active channel or unvegetated gravel bars; no digging in banks, no hydraulic or earth-moving equipment; suction dredges 4 in or smaller only May 15-July 15 with ADF&G and ADEC permits.
Season: Pans and hand-fed sluices year-round; dredges May 15-July 15
Fee: Free to pan; ADEC dredge permit $25/yr (ADF&G permit free)
Sixmile Creek panning area
What's allowed: Gold pans and hand-fed sluice boxes year-round in the active channel or unvegetated gravel bars; no digging in banks, no hydraulic or earth-moving equipment; suction dredges 4 in or smaller only May 15-July 15 with ADF&G and ADEC permits.
Season: Pans and hand-fed sluices year-round; dredges May 15-July 15
Fee: Free to pan; ADEC dredge permit $25/yr (ADF&G permit free)
Gold areas in Alaska
PlacerPro covers Alaska's known gold country:
- Circle, Central and Livengood (Birch Creek, Mastodon, Tolovana)
- Fairbanks district (Fox, Ester, Pedro Dome, Chatanika, Goldstream)
- Fortymile and Chicken (Jack Wade, Walker Fork, Mosquito Fork)
- Hatcher Pass and Petersville (Willow Creek, Peters Creek, Cache Creek)
- Hope, Sunrise and Crow Creek (Resurrection Creek, Six Mile, Girdwood)
- Juneau gold belt (Gold Creek, Sheep Creek, Berners Bay)
- Nome, Council and Solomon (Seward Peninsula beaches and creeks)
Try the Alaska map free for 7 days
Gold panning rules in Alaska
- Who owns the ground: much of Alaska is federal (BLM, national forest, parks and refuges), state, or Alaska Native corporation land, which is private: mining or camping there needs the corporation's permission. Land owned by the University of Alaska or the Alaska Mental Health Trust has its own rules. Land without a public-land color is usually private or Native land.
- Mining claims: this map shows federal (BLM) claims only. State mining claims cover many creeks and are not shown: check the Alaska DNR mapper before you work a creek. You can walk across a claim, but you can't pan or mine on it without the claim owner's permission.
- Open state land (managed by DNR's Division of Mining, Land and Water): recreational gold panning with a pan, pick and shovel, and a suction dredge with an intake of 6 inches or less and a motor of 18 hp or less (no more than 30,000 gallons of water a day), are "generally allowed uses" that need no DNR permit. Some land classifications and special areas don't allow it, suction dredging is not allowed in state parks, and a tent camp can stay 14 days at one site.
- Dredges and highbankers still need permits: a free Alaska Department of Fish and Game Fish Habitat Permit before working a fish-bearing stream (issued over the counter; in salmon streams dredging and highbanking are generally allowed only May 15 to July 15), and coverage under the Alaska DEC Small Suction Dredge General Permit (AKG375000: intake up to 6 inches, pump up to 18 hp; keep a copy with you). Bigger equipment needs an APMA (Application for Permits to Mine in Alaska) from DNR. On BLM or national forest land, contact the field office or ranger district before using a dredge of any size.
- Parks, refuges and wild rivers: national parks and preserves are closed to new mining claims (old valid claims inside them still belong to their owners). Ask the park or wildlife refuge before you prospect there. Federal land within half a mile of a river segment classed "wild" is closed to new claims.
Common questions
Where can I pan for gold in Alaska for free?
Alaska has 9 official public panning areas listed below, from agency sources. Beyond those, panning is usually allowed on open public land (national forest and BLM) that isn't covered by a mining claim, and on private land with the owner's permission.
Do I need a permit to pan for gold in Alaska?
Hand panning usually needs no permit on open public land, but the rules depend on who manages the land and what tools you use. Sluices, highbankers and dredges often need permits. The rules for Alaska are below.
How do I find gold-bearing creeks in Alaska?
Gold washes downstream from where it eroded out of the rock, so the best creeks drain old mining districts and gold-bearing rock. PlacerPro rates every creek in Alaska's gold country from old mine records, USGS lab samples and geologic maps, and shows public land and active claims.
Other states
- Gold panning in Alabama
- Gold panning in Arizona
- Gold panning in California
- Gold panning in Colorado
- Gold panning in Georgia
- Gold panning in Idaho
- Gold panning in Maine
- Gold panning in Montana
- Gold panning in Nevada
- Gold panning in New Hampshire
- Gold panning in New Mexico
- Gold panning in North Carolina
- Gold panning in Oregon
- Gold panning in South Carolina
- Gold panning in South Dakota
- Gold panning in Tennessee
- Gold panning in Utah
- Gold panning in Vermont
- Gold panning in Virginia
- Gold panning in Washington
- Gold panning in Wyoming