Parker piles up gold and makes a big move; Rick banks his biggest haul of the year; Dustin is driven to extremes hunting for new ground; Fred shuts down; Tony goes off the beaten path to keep his operation running; Dave prospects two new lost mines.

Rick brings in a secret weapon in his hunt for nuggets; Tony faces a catastrophic issue; Parker bets on a greenhorn.

Parker gambles big and splits his crew in search of a massive score; Rick calls in a mining legend to save his season; the Beets move heaven and earth to get all three kids bringing in gold; the miners answer burning questions.

To strike it rich, gold miners take huge risks, which sometimes leads to epic fails and major screw ups, including flipped rock trucks, burning wash plants, sunken excavators, and more.

Dustin cleans up with his biggest gold haul, unaware of a deadly situation with Fred; after pulling the plug on his operation, Rick gets thrown a lifeline; Dozer Dave hunts for a new lost gold mine; Parker and Tony battle frozen pay dirt.

Parker gambles big and splits his crew in search of a massive score; Rick calls in a mining legend to save his season; the Beets move heaven and earth to get all three kids bringing in gold.

Rick tries to outsmart a vital piece of equipment that has a mind of its own; Parker splurges on a brand new toy to get more gold; the Beets bring in a hired gun to turn around their season.

An engineering disaster shuts Rick down; Parker sinks a ton of money into a new claim; Tony gets a third operation running.

Tensions rise when Parker introduces a new crew member and a radical plan; the Beets run a crucial test that could make or break their season.

Rick races to get Monster Red running after losing his only way to mine gold; a dangerous storm shuts down Parker's operation; the Beets family pushes to get Monica's potentially gold-rich cut up and running.

Rick buys a monster wash plant; a flood puts Tony's new claim in jeopardy; Parker needs to move Big Red in record time; Dustin's crew finds a claim, but must make it through the waterfall's pound zone; Fred introduces a miner.

Parker throws down a huge engineering challenge to his team; Rick decides to make a major upgrade to his operation; Mike and Monica Beets team up to open more ground.

Parker second guesses the ground he's mining and questions his new foremen; Tony Beets makes a big decision to move the family's entire operation; Rick's mechanic arrives at a critical moment.

Rick and his father fly into the mountains on a treasure hunt for massive nuggets; Tony and Monica investigate a gold hot spot the old dredges may have missed; Parker makes a decision about his crew that could determine the fate of his season.

Gold recovery expert tries to help; Todd discovers a flaw in the equipment.

The miners need to find $10,000 worth of gold or their families will be sent home; Dorsey struggles with the wave table.

The equipment malfunctions and the operation is brought to a halt.

Todd, Jack and their crew leave their homes with hopes of striking gold in Alaska; Todd and Jack clash as they face challenges that threaten to shut down the season.

Rick races to get Monster Red running after losing his only way to mine gold; Parker sinks money into a new claim; the Beets family runs a test on daughter Monica's Hunker Creek claim that could make or break their season.

Parker bets millions on his crew sluicing in record time, but things don't go as planned; Rick rushes to fire up his wash plant and find big nuggets; a showdown on the Indian River sends a Klondike legend scrambling.

Parker's quest to find the mother lode in Papua New Guinea sends him deep into the jungle where he joins locals in a sacrifice to appease the spirits; one final cleanup and gold weigh determines if he strikes it big in Kuta Village.

Back where their gold-mining adventures began, "Gold Rush" alumni Dakota Fred and son Justin persevere in the face of long odds, risking their lives for a fortune they may never realize. Assisted by a team of intrepid divers, mountaineers and bush mechanics, the Dakota Boys explore the white water rapids of McKinley Creek in Alaska, diving deep in raging torrents with a suction dredge. Not only could one wrong move prove deadly, but the guys also face wild animals, extreme temperatures and hypothermia.

The gold rush in Alaska isn't confined to the state's precious ground. It's taking place on the sea ... or more accurately, on the bottom of the frigid Bering Sea. This series, from the creators of the Emmy-winning "Deadliest Catch," follows four gold dredges and their eccentric and driven crews who risk their lives to find as much gold as possible before winter sets in and it's too dangerous to dive. The custom-built rigs, some barely seaworthy, include an 80-foot barge run by the most successful gold dredger in Nome, Alaska, and a modified skiff that seats only two people.

"Yukon Gold" follows four gold-mining crews who have merely four months in Canada's wild Yukon to earn a big payday. Fighting an impossibly short mining season and with their savings on the line, they work against difficulties to dig the precious ore out of the ground. The crews battle mechanical breakdowns, the elements and 18-hour days under the midnight sun -- all because of gold fever -- and it keeps them coming back year after year for another chance to wager it all.

Despite striking it rich mining in his home state of Alaska, "Gold Rush" star Parker Schnabel isn't satisfied. He's always wondered if he could follow in the footsteps of his forebears and take on the legendary Klondike Gold Rush trail. Wonder no more. In honor of his family -- especially his beloved grandfather, who always inspired him to push beyond his limits -- Parker attempts to mimic a journey that killed thousands of brave souls in the late 19th century. As winter closes in, he begins the trek across the Coastal Range and works his way to the fabled goldfields of the Klondike. He's joined by his foreman, Rick Ness; wilderness guide Karla Ann, who once worked with Parker as a rock truck driver; and cameramen James Levelle, who has known Parker for years.

In Discovery Channel's top-rated show "Gold Rush," gold miners, inexperienced as some may be, hope to strike it rich in the wilds of Alaska and beyond. Some dismal summers result, filled with injuries, malfunctioning equipment and constant fighting among the greenhorn miners, yet serious cases of gold fever always trump any talk of giving up and sometimes leads to dreams being salvaged. The companions series "The Dirt" presents the inside scoop on behind-the-scenes relationships between such miners as brash youngster Parker Schnabel and longtime Yukon resident Tony Beets, as the quest to hit the mother lode never stops.

Tradition collides with transformation in McCarthy, Alaska. The isolated town -- once considered to be the state's version of "Sin City" -- flourished during the Gold Rush but is now home to roughly 40 people, a mix of mavericks, risk takers and rabble rousers willing to brave extreme conditions to live free. While some believe in continuing the town's frontier way of life, others feel the future of McCarthy depends on dragging it into the modern age. Long-standing resident Jeremy Keller fights to protect its roots, while Neil Darish has purchased multiple properties in town and plans to restore its vibrancy. "Edge of Alaska" tells the story of a hinterland at a crossroads.

The breathtaking beauty of Alaska sometimes hides the fact its winters can be incredibly harsh, especially for those who live in the state's outlying areas. "Alaska: The Last Frontier" perfectly illustrates this reality, as the series profiles life for the Kilcher family in the isolated community of Homer. For four generations the Kilchers have lived off what their 600-acre homestead has provided, but cultivating that living is never easy. Led by patriarch Atz Kilcher and his brother Otto, the family spends the short summer and fall gardening, hunting and fishing for food, gathering supplies from the land and preparing their animals for the winter. Viewers, who may or may not have a fancy phone by their side while watching on their big-screen high-def TV, also see the Kilchers living off the grid, where running water and electricity aren't daily staples, nor is contact with the outside world. Atz, by the way, is the father of music superstar Jewel.

Before complaining about the market price of Alaska king crab, check out this gripping documentary series, revealing the mortal perils and intense discomfort that fishing crews face on the Bering Sea to catch the delicacy. Those perils include 40-foot waves, 700-pound crab pots that can easily crush a careless crewman, and freezing temperatures around the clock.