The MILEPOST: Alaska Travel Guide and Trip Planner

Population: 23 in summer, 6 in winter.
Chicken is located at Milepost 66 on the Taylor Highway, 80 miles from Tok, 94 miles from Eagle and 108 miles from Dawson City, YT.

Chicken was supposedly named by early miners who wanted to name their camp ptarmigan, but were unable to spell it and settled instead for chicken, the common name in the North for ptarmigan. Mining began in the area in 1886, with the discovery of gold on Franklin Gulch. An estimated 700 miners worked the area until 1898, when many left for the Klondike Gold Rush. The post office was established in 1903.

Chicken Map Chicken is perhaps best known as the home of the late Ann Purdy, whose book Tisha was based on her experiences as a young schoolteacher in the Bush. Tisha’s schoolhouse and the former F.E. Company gold camp comprise Old Town, or historical, Chicken.

The highway community of Chicken is a popular stop on the Klondike Loop from Dawson City. Dining, lodging, camping and gas are available. Commercial Chicken consists of 3 businesses: Beautiful Downtown Chicken and Chicken Gold Camp & Outpost, both just off the highway on Chicken Airport Road, and Town of Chicken/The Goldpanner and Chicken Creek RV Park, located on the highway.

Attractions:

The Historic Chicken tour includes the only remaining roadhouse (built in 1899) on the Eagle Trail, Tisha’s schoolhouse, and other structures dating back to the early 1900s. Inquire at the Chicken Center/The Goldpanner .
Look for gold. Both Town of Chicken/The Goldpanner and Chicken Gold Camp & Outpost offer gold panning. Chicken Gold Camp also offers recreational mining on a claim.
Pedro Dredge No. 4, located at Chicken Gold Camp and Outpost, operated on Chicken Creek between 1959 and 1967, after mining Pedro Creek outside Fairbanks from 1938 until 1959. On the National Register of Historic Places.
Experience frontier Alaska with a visit to Chicken Creek Saloon and Café at Beautiful Downtown Chicken.