Kenai Peninsula, AK Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Kenai Peninsula, AK — built for the field.
The Kenai Peninsula holds a special place in Alaska's mining history as the site of one of the state's earliest gold rushes. In the mid-1890s, years before the Klondike or Nome stampedes, prospectors discovered rich placer gravels along Resurrection Creek, Sixmile Creek, and Mills Creek on Turnagain Arm. Historic boomtowns like Hope and Sunrise quickly rose along the tidal inlet, attracting panners, hydraulic miners, and small suction dredgers eager to test the glaciated stream channels of the Chugach Mountains.
Today, much of the upper Kenai Peninsula sits within the Chugach National Forest, creating a unique regulatory framework managed by the U.S. Forest Service. While many stream stretches are covered by active federal unpatented claims or private property, designated public recreational gold panning areas exist along Resurrection Creek near Hope and Sixmile Creek near Sunrise. Geologically, the region consists of the Chugach Terrane—a massive accretionary complex of turbidite greywacke and slate cut by quartz veins. Glacial activity reshaped these valleys, concentrating placer gold in bedrock crevices and gravel benches. Rockhounds exploring Turnagain Arm beaches and creek beds frequently find fine quartz crystals, slate slate-hosted pyrite cubes, pyrrhotite, grey-green greywacke agates, and native copper trace specimens.
480
Active Kenai Peninsula, AK Claims
4,121
Historical Kenai Peninsula, AK Claims
320
Kenai Peninsula, AK Rockhound Hotspots
4,921
Total Kenai Peninsula, AK Claims & Hotspots
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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 Kenai Peninsula, AK
What it is: The official federal management portal governing mineral exploration, land rules, and surface use within Chugach National Forest.
Use case: Checking federal forest mining rules, submitting notices of intent for prospecting, and reviewing environmental guidelines.
What it is: An official recreational guide detailing public panning areas, equipment limits, and open stream stretches on the Kenai Peninsula.
Use case: Finding designated public panning sites on Resurrection Creek and verifying suction dredge intake rules.
What it is: The official Bureau of Land Management district office portal managing federal public domain lands, mineral entry, and surface management across Southcentral Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula.
Use case: Verifying active federal unpatented mining claim boundaries, checking public domain land availability around Hope, Sunrise, and Turnagain Arm, reviewing surface management regulations, and making inquiries regarding federal placer and lode claims.
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 480 active and 4,121 historical mining claims in Kenai Peninsula, AK, plus 320 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 Kenai Peninsula. Other Alaska counties with a dedicated page: Fairbanks & Circle District, Nome & Seward Peninsula, Fortymile River & Chicken and Mat-Su Valley.
USDA Forest Service - Chugach National Forest Minerals is Kenai Peninsula, 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.