Open Saturday before Memorial Day through Labor Day Tours daily from 10 AM to 4:30 PM Adults – $5 Children 6-12 – $1 The Yankee Fork Gold Dredge is located in the central mountains of Idaho on the Yankee Fork tributary of the Salmon River. The Yankee Fork is close to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness area. The nearest town, Stanley, is 22 miles from the dredge. Yankee Fork Dredge Aerial ViewIn 1939 the Silas Mason company out of New York was looking for a place to invest some money to help out the economy. After doing some surveying they picked Yankee Fork valley as a place to do some dredging for gold. It was estimated that there were 11 million dollars of gold to be had in the 5 1/2 mile claim. They then contracted with Bucyrus Erie to build the dredge. All the material came from Milwaukee by railway to the town Yankee Fork Dredge Aerial far of Mackay then loaded on trucks and made the difficult journey to the construction site.