Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Fortymile River & Chicken, AK — built for the field.
Stretching along the Taylor Highway near the Canadian border, the Fortymile Mining District holds the honor of being Interior Alaska’s oldest gold rush area. Gold was first discovered on the Fortymile River in 1886, more than a decade before the legendary Klondike stampede in neighboring Yukon. Named because it joins the Yukon River forty miles below Old Fort Reliance, this rugged watershed features steep canyons, gravel bars, and historic mining settlements like Chicken, Jack Wade, and Franklin.
Mining in the Fortymile region involves navigating a mosaic of public land designations. A significant portion of the main river system is designated as the Fortymile National Wild and Scenic River, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. While parts of the corridor are closed or restricted to protect natural values, extensive state and federal mining claims line tributary streams like Mosquito Fork, Wade Creek, and Walker Fork. Geologically, the region lies within the complex Yukon-Tanana metamorphic terrane, where ancient river terraces perched high above modern stream levels hold unworked placer gravels. Prospectors frequenting the Taylor Highway use suction dredges, sluice boxes, and metal detectors, while rockhounds search gravel bars for garnets, tourmaline, jasper, and quartz inclusions.
19,013
Active Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claims
31,044
Historical Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claims
2,768
Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Rockhound Hotspots
52,825
Total Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claims & Hotspots
View Free Version · Premium Plans
Save any map area while you have cell service, then navigate active BLM mining claims, land ownership boundaries, and optional layers like elevation contours, roads, and creeks — with zero connectivity out in the field. Offline downloads are included on every paid plan. See plans below →
Official Prospecting Resources for Fortymile River & Chicken, AK
What it is: The official federal management portal for the Fortymile River system, detailing public access, camping, and river regulations.
Use case: Reviewing river access maps, recreational mining rules, and land status within the Wild and Scenic River corridor.
What it is: An official state land management document detailing non-commercial recreational activities, casual gold prospecting rules, and hand-tool allowances on Alaska state land without requiring a prior permit.
Use case: Verifying casual gold panning permissions, checking motorized equipment exemptions, reviewing public camping limits, and ensuring legal compliance while exploring state lands along the Taylor Highway near Chicken and Tok.
What it is: The principal state geological survey agency providing interactive mineral datasets, historical placer reports, airborne geophysical surveys, and geological maps across Alaska.
Use case: Researching historical gold production in the Fortymile Mining District, examining regional aeromagnetic maps around Tok and Chicken, downloading geologic quadrangle publications, and identifying mineralized rock formations along the Yukon border.
Plans
Basic
$0/mo
Local Miner
$29.99/yr
Everything in Free, plus:
Adventure Miner
$49.99/yr
Everything in Free, plus:
Rockhound Enthusiast
$29.99/yr
Gem & crystal hunters, Midwest/East users — everything in Free, plus:
Pro Prospector
$99.99/yr
Everything in Free, plus:
Staked Maps isn't crowd-sourced guesswork. Active and historical claim boundaries are parsed directly from the Bureau of Land Management's own MLRS/LR2000 case-recordation system — the same records BLM state offices use internally — and kept in sync with our database on a regular schedule. Rockhound Hotspots draw from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), cross-referenced by material so you can see exactly what's been found at a given site. For legal filings, always confirm current status directly with your BLM state office of record; Staked Maps is a research and navigation tool, not a substitute for the official record.
Directly from the Bureau of Land Management's official MLRS/LR2000 case-recordation records, synced into our database on a regular schedule — not scraped or crowd-sourced.
Yes. The free tier gives you the interactive claims map, land ownership overlays, and basemap layers for your current state, auto-detected via GPS — no subscription required. Paid plans add more states plus premium data like full legal descriptions, historical claims, offline downloads, and Rockhound Hotspots.
Active claims currently have valid, in-good-standing filings with the BLM. Historical claims are expired or closed filings — still useful for understanding an area's mining history and past activity.
Free users can search by county. Paid plans add search by claim serial number, plus each claim's full legal (aliquot) description and BLM records link.
A premium map layer of known mineral and gem collecting sites — sourced from USGS records and labeled by material where available (e.g. turquoise, opal, jasper) — for rockhounds looking for their next find.
Staked Maps currently tracks 19,013 active and 31,044 historical mining claims in Fortymile River & Chicken, AK, plus 2,768 Rockhound Hotspots — combining the BLM's federal MLRS records with the Alaska DNR's state mining-claim records, synced on a regular schedule.
Yes — the live map covers all of Alaska, not just Fortymile River & Chicken. Other Alaska counties with a dedicated page: Fairbanks & Circle District, Nome & Seward Peninsula, Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula.
BLM Fortymile Region is Fortymile River & Chicken, AK's primary office for filing and researching mining claims — see the Official Filing & Information Links section above for the direct link and more resources.
Information hosted on Staked Maps is compiled from publicly available data streams provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and relevant state geographic clearinghouses. Staked Maps accepts no liability for the content of this geospatial data, or for the consequences of any real-world exploration, land entry, or staking actions taken on the basis of the information provided via this application interface.
Staked Maps makes no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the pinpoint accuracy, reliability, completeness, latency, or programmatic utility of these geospatial data layers, or for the improper interpretation of these data grids.
These mapping layers and related graphics are visual convenience aids only; they are not legal documents and must never be used as such. The data may not be used to legally determine title, mineral ownership, valid description boundaries, jurisdictional authorities, or land restrictions in place on public or private land. Natural backcountry hazards may or may not be depicted on topographies, and land users are strictly mandated to exercise caution. Federal records are dynamic and change constantly. The end-user is exclusively responsible for validating current land classifications with local BLM field offices and managing compliance accordingly.