It used to be a busy gold mining town, 28 miles north of Fairbanks on the other side of the Cleary Summit. At least 70 million dollars in gold was taken out between 1926 and 1957. Today Chatanika is a 'gold camp resort' on the Steese Highway and a lodge with a very big derelict gold dredge across the way. The gold camp, with a hotel and a restaurant, is the old Fairbanks Exploration Company site. It features many Alaska memorabilia and mining artifacts.
The lodge is the home of the 'Chatanika Days Outhouse Race'. Each March five-person teams race a one-mile course, with four pushing and one riding in the specially built 'racing outhouses'.
The area is popular with local winter-sports enthusiasts, summertime hikers, and travelers who come to see the aurora.