Pan for gold on your own:

With an inexpensive gold pan (sold at the local stores) you may try your luck at panning for gold on the beach in Nome. Panning is permitted on the beach east of Nome between town and approximately one mile down the beach. This area is privately owned, but is available to visitors as a public service. All other areas of the beach or inland are owned by private claims, the government or one of the Native Corporations and are not open to the public*. There is gold in the sands and it is yours to keep, but do not expect to strike it rich. Gold panning can be fun and adventurous, but certainly constitutes no avenue to wealth.

Recreational Mining:

Every year, a handful of miners come to Nome to live on the beach and mine for gold. Recreational mining is allowed on the beach east of Nome, and is defined as: A miner using light field equipment, such as a hand-operated pick, shovel, pan, earth auger, or a backpack power drill or auger, or suction dredging using a dredge with a nozzle intake of six inches or less, powered by an engine of 18 horsepower or less, (anything over contact State of Alaska), and pumping no more than 30,000 gallons of water per day.

*May be open for recreational mining. Contact DNR or BLM for available areas.