When we told people we were going to spend the weekend in Chicken, Alaska we got one of two questions: "Where??" or "Why??" Chicken was actually named after a local grouse - ptarmigan - though the local miners back then weren't quite sure how to spell "ptarmigan" and figured "Chicken" was close enough. This teeny gold-mining community is 100 miles from the nearest services and has less than 20 year-round residents. There is no cell service, no grocery stores, and the outpost and saloon/cafe/liquor store/gas station take payment in cash, credit, and gold. Mail is delivered by plane twice a week. Talk about off-grid! What could there possibly be there that would interest us for a whole weekend? It turns out, there's a whole lot to do! We had a blast and we knew we had found a hidden gem. First things first, we checked into our campsite at the Chicken Gold Camp. They did have electricity hookups for us, though most of the town doesn't have electricity and runs off generators. They did have fresh water but advised that it was limited and that we really needed to pack in our own water. Their reservation email advises to arrive with "full water tanks and empty holding tanks" because the nearest dump station is about 100 miles away, in Tok, Alaska. Limited running water also meant limited indoor plumbing. I truly am unaware of any bathrooms and wouldn't be surprised if everyone in town is using ye old outhouse ;). We already mentioned that there was no cell service but the campsite does offer free wi-fi! It runs off a satellite and is also very limited. Each person in camp gets their own passcode that lasts for 24 hours. Each passcode gets a small amount of data during the 24 hours so we were advised to turn our phones on "low-power mode" so we wouldn't run out of our data. I ended up having my phone off unless I was checking messages and I still ran out of data before the allotted 24 hours. But we definitely had enough entertainment without needing our phones! The outpost at camp serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner including wood-fired pizzas on Fridays! But get there early because supplies for this are also extremely limited. Exploring Chicken Gold Camp was a great activity, even if not staying there. First of all, there's a giant chicken that the kids had a great time running around. This famous landmark was made by high school students out of recycled lockers! Next to the chicken was a fun sign listing out other chicken-related towns around the world. Fun fact: We've been to Hatch, NM! It holds a special place in our hearts after our time living in New Mexico and is quite famous for it's Hatch Green Chilies! You'll have to let us know in the comments if you've been to any of the other towns listed! We thought it'd be a fun travel bucket list, what do you think? Within view of the giant chicken is the historic Pedro Gold Dredge. It is perhaps the most complete bucket line dredge open to the public in North America. It was actually assembled closer to our home in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1938 where it operated for 20 years and was then disassembled and trucked to Chicken. In it's 8 years of operating in Chicken, it mined roughly 80 million dollars worth of gold. For a proper tour, you'll want to schedule a time in the outpost of the campground. We weren't able to line one up because of a few scheduling conflicts. First, we were told at the office that tours need a minimum of 6 people (and kids count as 1/2). The men went out hunting for the day so we only accounted for 3 1/2 people though I wish we would've thought to just pay for 6 tickets so we could take the tour! The reason for the minimum number of guests is because they have miners come down from the operating mine during a break to do tours. Besides the Pedro Gold Dredge, the whole campground has historic artifacts all through the property. It was really fun to walk around the miners cabin and the old mining equipment scattered about the property, as well as check out all the old photographs in the outpost. A visit to Chicken wouldn't be complete without a visit to the downtown! Which consists of 4 buildings (the cafe, the saloon, the liquor store, and the mercantile gift shop) and an outhouse. The one pump gas station is also run out of these stores so it definitely gives you a feel of just how rural this place is. The cafe closes at 4 but they do serve delicious pie, including chicken pot pie! Which can be ordered after closing right there at the saloon. Speaking of visiting essential community building, the post office sits on a beautiful little piece of property - tiny log cabin with a great view of the surrounding area - also boasting a display of the inner workings of a gold dredge with information on what and how each piece does it's job. If you're lucky, you'll meet the post master of 20 years, Robin, and her dog, Zeke and she'll show you all the fun tricks Zeke can do, including a dramatic "playing dead" enactment which is quite entertaining. When we were visiting with her, she was so entertained by the kids in our party and had such a good time visiting with them and chatting. It wasn't until later, and a few more experiences with the locals like this, that I realized they probably had so much fun seeing littles running around because it's kind of a rare sight in this remote community! Okay, we've talked so much about historic gold mining practices but Chicken is one of Alaska's last surviving gold mining towns! Every summer the population of Chicken grows from about 20 to 100 with miners coming in to work their claims. Hang around the outpost long enough, and you may run into a miner bringing in their days' work to get it weighed. Beware: if you're anything like us, you may just catch a little gold fever if this happens! It was pretty exciting to see people coming in with their real-life treasure! We actually did bring our own gold pans and had a great time at the troughs with the pay dirt at camp. But if we ever end up in Chicken again, it would be so fun to set up a day excursion and go work the Chicken Gold Camp claims that they have opened to the public. These are scheduled through the outpost and sounded so fun! They mentioned learning about all different kinds of techniques of digging up gold. After all these activities, if you are still interested in gold, you can drive by the active gold dredge at Lost Chicken hill. The Cowden Gold Dredge in Mosquito Fork River is also visible to see from a 2.8 mile trail that gives a great view of the dredge below or you can rent kayaks and explore it close up. A visit to Chicken was as close to traveling in a time machine as it gets! We really had a great time exploring this historic town where the past meets the present. Another activity that Chicken is great for is world-class moose and caribou hunting! Jon and our friends took some ATVs out to try their luck and while they were successful in seeing caribou, they weren't successful in the hunt. It was a great learning experience and they are more prepared for next time, though! Last, but not least, if you can get to Chicken during the 2nd week of June, you will get to experience the Chickenstock Music Festival! Bringing in over 1,000 people to the Chicken Creek Valley for a weekend of camping, live music, contests, food and drinks, it has quickly become one of Alaska's better known summer weekend music gatherings. We left Chicken wishing we hadn't waited so long to visit! Is Chicken on your bucket list? If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help plan a custom trip to Alaska, check out our options here!
Comments or questions? We'd love to hear them! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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