Alaska Gold Panning Tour
You’ll Get the Gold – Guaranteed!
Experience real Alaska gold panning, be a part of the living history of Fairbanks and make memories that will last a lifetime. At Gold Daughters, you will learn how to pan for gold using real Alaskan “paydirt”. We play by the rule “finders keepers”, so you get to take home everything you find!
Your day starts with a bag of paydirt from Fairbanks Gold Co. You can then pan all day from piles of paydirt that we’ve hauled in from a local operating gold mine.
There’s more than guaranteed gold… you also have the chance to uncover ice age fossils and cool minerals. It is not uncommon to find pyrite, quartz crystals and garnets. We’ve even had people walk away with woolly mammoth ivory!
Your day starts with a short panning lesson.
Gold panning has an important history in the Last Frontier. Experience the thrill and excitement that brought people to Fairbanks during the “Alaska gold rush” over 100 years ago.
You’re Gonna Love it!
Our guides will provide you with a panning demonstration and coach you as needed until you have perfect gold panning technique and are comfortable and confident. Once you are an expert, it is time to roll up your sleeves and get to digging!
We provide the gold pans and shovels necessary for recovering gold as well as vials for you to take home your treasures. Our gold troughs have benches, so you don’t have to be crouched over a creek all day. Your back will thank you.
We have a beautiful timber frame awning to provide shelter from the Alaskan environment. But we also have uncovered troughs for those looking to bask in the midnight sun. Panning for gold in Alaska has never been easier!
Our Friendly Staff is Here to Help
Gold panning is a fun and educational activity for people of all ages. Children 5 and under get free admission and can pan from the piles we have on site (bag of guaranteed paydirt no included). Not to mention, while grownups relax at the troughs, the kids can run to the paydirt piles and fetch more dirt from their lucky spot.
Our friendly, helpful, Alaskan staff will teach you how to pan for gold. Many of our staff are from Fairbanks and are happy to answer questions you have about the area. We want to ensure that you have a great time.
GOLD DAUGHTERS IS THE HIDDEN GEM FOR RECREATIONAL TREASURE HUNTERS
Yes, Real Alaskan Gold
Gold Daughters works directly with Fairbanks Gold Co. to find an area that has rich paydirt. Gold Daughters locates the gold by panning, then Fairbanks Gold Co. delivers a dump-truck filled with it before they start mining! You will be able to pan through these piles all day long at no additional fee.
Take a Poke at the Paydirt
You can pan the poke of paydirt that is included with your $20 admission any time throughout the day. If you want to increase your chances of finding gold nuggets you can get higher concentrated gold bags in our gift shop.
Go for the Gold
We have several paydirt upgrades available ranging from $20 – $1,000. The bags of paydirt are all the same size, weighing around 1.5 lbs/bag. The only difference between the bags is the concentration of gold inside! As the price increases, the amount of gold and size of gold nugget in each poke increases as well.
Gold Daughters FAQ’s
What You Need to Know
We understand that Alaska is a large state and there is a lot to explore. This is exactly why we want you to pan for gold at your own pace.
The average visit is about 2 hours. but, if you want to do one pan just to tell your friends you “found gold in Alaska” – we get it! You can be in and out in as quick as 20 minutes.
Though, if you get hooked, you’re not alone! We’ve had many visitors stay a full 8 hours. We’ve even had visitors come back multiple times on their vacation because they loved looking for gold so much!
Read all our FAQ’s below.
What Our Guests are Saying
Check Out Other Features of the Park
Gold Panning Pricing
Goldstream
- Flakes of gold
- Included with $20 admission.
- 1.5 lbs/bag
Eva
- More gold
- One small nugget
- 1.5 lbs/bag
Cleary
- Even more gold
- Larger nugget
- 1.5 lbs/bag
Fairbanks Creek
- Increased amount of gold
- Even larger nugget
- 1.5 lbs/bag
Eagle Creek
- Extra gold
- Impressive gold nugget
- 1.5 lbs/bag
Mammoth Creek
- Most gold in bag
- Gold nugget bragging rights
- 1.5 lbs/bag