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.
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.
20,087
Current / Not-Closed Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claim Records
31,052
Historical Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claims
2,699
Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Rockhound Hotspots
53,838
Total Fortymile River & Chicken, AK Claims & Hotspots
2,689
Metallic Sites
10
Non-Metallic Sites
Notable finds: Gemstone, Diamond · Gemstone, Jade · Semiprecious gemstone
Source records sometimes use broad or overlapping commodity labels; counts above preserve the underlying record classifications.
| Material | Sites Recorded |
|---|---|
| Gemstone, Diamond | 5 |
| Gemstone, Jade | 1 |
| Gemstone, Semiprecious | 1 |
168
Lode Claims
946
Placer Claims
Reflects BLM federal claims only — Alaska DNR's state mining-claim records aren't classified by claim type the same way.
| Claim Type | Current Claims |
|---|---|
| Lode Claims | 168 (15.1%) |
| Placer Claims | 946 (84.9%) |
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Save any map area while you have cell service, then navigate active BLM mining claims, surface-management 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.
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Single State, Tri-State and All-West all unlock the exact same features — nothing is pay-gated between them, they differ only in how many states you get.
Paid plans renew automatically at the monthly or annual rate you choose until you cancel. Cancel anytime and keep access through the end of your paid period. See our Terms of Use.
Staked Maps isn't crowd-sourced guesswork. Current and historical claim boundaries are parsed directly from the Bureau of Land Management's Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS), which replaced the legacy LR2000 mining claim system in 2021, 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 (Mineral & Land Records System) case-recordation records, synced into our database on a regular schedule — not scraped or crowd-sourced.
Staked Maps displays the status reported by BLM. Records with a case disposition of Active are labeled Active; historical records come from BLM's closed-claims dataset. These statuses are research information, not a Staked Maps legal determination of claim validity, discovery, ownership or compliance. Verify the current record through MLRS before acting on it.
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.
Staked Maps currently tracks 20,087 current federal mining claim/site records and 31,052 historical claim records from BLM's federal MLRS records combined with Alaska DNR's state mining-claim records, plus 2,699 Fortymile River & Chicken, AK mineral-occurrence records derived from USGS MRDS.
A premium map layer of documented mineral occurrences, prospects and mines sourced from USGS MRDS and labeled by material where available. These records are research leads, not a directory of verified public collecting sites.
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.
Regulatory and editorial content last reviewed against official records · Source: BLM Fortymile Region · USGS MRDS
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.