The Hoffmans have to find gold and fast. The crew arrives in Porcupine Creek reinvigorated and in record time, they are on the gold. But just they celebrate their best clean out ever, "Dakota Fred" returns and drops a bombshell on Todd, Jack and crew.

The Hoffman crew heads north to the Klondike in a desperate bid to find a new claim and salvage their mining season. 16-year-old Parker Schnabel takes over the Big Nugget Mine, while Dakota Fred gets a new start at Porcupine Creek.

Jack and Todd go head to head over how to set up their new claim. At Porcupine Creek, Dakota Fred rips out the wash plant and finds gold that he forced the Hoffmans to leave behind. At Big Nugget mine, Parker continues to hit pay dirt.

The Hoffman crew confronts the permafrost that lies between them and the gold. As the Dakota Boys set up their new wash plant, Fred pushes his son too hard and Dustin storms off. Parker faces a breakdown that leaves his mining season at a stand still.

A crew rebellion forces Todd Hoffman to dig test holes on the claim. The tension mounts as they wait to see if they're sitting on a gold-rich paystreak or about to go bust. Then, Fred is forced to abandon mining as floods in North Dakota destroy his home.

The Hoffmans are finally on the gold, but a new love threatens to derail mechanic James Harness right when the crew needs him most. Desperate for pay dirt, Parker bulldozes a dangerous road up the side of a mountain and Fred returns to Porcupine Creek after facing the loss of his North Dakota home.

The Hoffmans realize they could be losing thousands of dollars of gold out of the end of their sluices and they are forced to tear apart the wash plant and rebuild. In his quest for virgin ground at Smith Creek, Parker turns into a lumberjack to get back on the gold.

With the washplant prepped, the Hoffman crew finally has their first clean-out of the season. Back in Alaska, Dakota Fred works furiously to win his "more gold in a week" bet that he made with Jack. At Big Nugget, Parker clashes with his grandfather when John wants to shut down the wash plant.

This Gold Rush special reveals never before seen footage from behind the scenes of the struggle to bring the gold mining action to the screen. Four film crews, spread over 600 miles, battle the wilderness in Alaska and the Klondike to capture every twist and turn of the three mining operations.

Jack Hoffman's precious excavator gets stranded in the creek and requires emergency surgery in the wilderness. Meanwhile, the crew fine-tunes their wash plant which doubles their efficiency at finding gold. Parker does the work of two men until an argument with his mother threatens to shut him down.

Short on time, the Hoffman Crew decides to run night and day in a struggle to get to the gold, while a federal mining inspector pays a surprise visit to both Fred and Parker. The inspector finds safety violations and both operations face closure.

A broken excavator sidelines the Hoffman crew; Parker Schnabel returns the mine to his grandfather; efforts to reopen a mine beget a clash between the Dakota boys.

A key crew member calls it quits at Quartz Creek. Meanwhile, massive rocks break Dakota Fred's derocker and Parker reconsiders his future after smelting his 35oz season haul into a solid gold bar.

A heart attack has 91 year-old mining legend John Schnabel battling for for his life. The Hoffmans find a gold nugget that becomes a game-changer and Dakota Fred accomplishes what Jack Hoffman never managed to do at Porcupine creek.

The Hoffman crew risks its all to run through the night in a bid to finally break even for the season. Fred has to abandon his best paydirt yet when his excavator gets stuck in the pit. John Schnabel returns to the Big Nugget Mine after his heart attack.

The Hoffman crew battles frozen dirt and frozen pipes as they struggle to hit their goal of 100 oz. Parker makes a last ditch effort at Smith Creek Hill and the Dakota Boy's season may be over when Dustin smashes the side of the washplant.

The Hoffman crew is desperate to get 100 ounces, but Todd's decision to run the dozer on solid ice ends in disaster. The Big Nugget mine faces closure if Parker fails to hit a pay streak and Dakota Fred thinks he's finally found Jack Hoffman's glory hole.

In never before seen footage, the miners unearth the sometimes ugly truth about their 2011 mining seasons. In a shocking development, one miner is kicked out of the Hoffman crew. The miners also disclose plans for next season.