CENTRAL ALASKA NORTH & SOUTH

Drive North out of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway. The road is paved for 80 miles and then turns to dirt.

At mile 128 on the Steese Highway you will come into Central, Alaska.

You will come to a paved "T" intersection at the Central Corner store/restaurant.

Turn right onto Circle Hot Springs Road.

Drive past Cemetery Road and turn right on the next road.

There is no street sign, just a stop sign. This is Deadwood Creek Road. This road is two wheel drive most of the time, but it can require four wheel drive during bad weather.

Drive up the road 5 miles and you will come to a "Y" intersection and turn left.

Follow it down the hill to a large parking and camping area. The road is a little bumpy but not bad.

Just returned (Sept 2017) with three adult relatives. Written directions are adequate. We rented an AWD Toyota minivan in Fairbanks and drove. 4WD is not necessary but there is a restriction (prohibition) against driving on gravel roads. 70% of the roads outside the cities are gravel. Large gravel trucks kick up stones that can crack the windshield, so pull over to the right when a truck (or any vehicle) is approaching. We stayed in the bunk house in Central most nights ($60 per room) with showers down the hall and each room had a toilet and sink. One night we stayed in a B & B, which was very comfortable. The mine is just a 15 minute drive from Circle. Turn right at the stop sign that has some wood tied to it then the mine road is the fifth turn on the left. Watch out for moose. Interesting quick story: The owner of the mining supply store in Anchorage loaned his expensive metal detector to his good friend (a novice). He went to a common tourist claim, open to the public. The detector said a hit was iron, but he dug it up, anyway. It was a 3 ounce gold nugget. When he returned the metal detector and told of his experience, the store owner said he knew exactly where that spot was, as he had previously got that same "iron" signal there and never bothered to dig. The moral to the story is you should always dig every signal, even if the number is a "5", then retest the hole after you dig up the nail.

From Johansen Expy Turn Left onto AK2 go 9.2 miles
Turn Right onto AK6 (Steese) 113 miles. after 67.8 miles turns into
dirt road for 44.2. miles then road becomes paved again go another 1 mile on paved rd
Turn Right at Circle Hot Springs Rd.( there is an old Standard Gas Sign at corner. Small cafe is open.) go 1.9 miles, paved road ends 0.3th of a mile
Turn right onto Deadwood Creek Rd. (careful sign easy to miss as it is not a standard sign.) go 5 mile you will see a U.S Flag
Go left 0.3th mile to campsite. road is rough in some spots.
*DO NOT TURN LEFT AFTER 1.6 MILES WHEN ON DEADWOOD*
Family was nice but was getting frustrated

Craig Smith’s directions are spot on. We were at the claims early June and are returning this week. We took our truck and camper in. Didn’t go all the way down to the parking/camping spot but left the camper up in a large open area on Deadwood Creek road. There is plenty of area on the claims to spread out. We tried several areas including some bed rock in the creek. Each area had some gold to give up. Bring a lot of mosquito dope! There is a lot of activity on the surrounding claims also. We took a ATV with us and used it to transport gear and do some exploring.
If you are in Fairbanks and need dredge/sluice parts etc. Craig Smith will help you out. Lots of supplies and parts available.

Visited at end of September. The first left that goes to private land about 1.6 miles is was signed "Private, Not GPAA". First set of claims about 2 miles in had the turn marked by a Silver barrel with a tire on top. The second set had a US flag on a pole and a GPAA wooden sign. Didn't really explore the furthest South claims. Road was in good shape generally 4x2 but when extremely muddy or the snow starts falling 4x4 would be prefered, can explore much more of the area by ATV/SXS.